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The only moat left is money?

elliotbonneville.com

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Re: The only moat left is money?

#221

Post by prmph »

kldavis4 wrote: post #52

looks like the real tension here is that "money" and "reach" aren't quite the same moat though. I think the post kind of conflates them. existing audience is the actual barrier - money can buy ads but it can't buy trust or distribution, not quickly anyway the gravitational threshold thing is real ngl. I've seen the same dynamic in product launches - identical quality, completely different outcomes based on whether yo…

So where are the AI clones of MS Office, JetBrains IDEs, Whatsapp, Obsidian, Sublime Text, Claude Code, etc. so far?

Re: The only moat left is money?

#222

Post by UltraSane »

Epa095 wrote: post #196
pier25 wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can you automate a tailor?

Isn't tailors by and large already outcompeted by cheap new clothes?

Rich people still get suits custom made specifically to their measurements and preferences. They cost about $20,000 USD. It would be cool to have this process automated and affordable to the masses.

Re: The only moat left is money?

#223

Post by prmph »

AstroBen wrote: post #14

People here saying creativity or having a good idea is the moat You know that if anything you build gets traction, it'll be cloned by 100 people, right?

So where are the AI clones of MS Office, JetBrains IDEs, Whatsapp, Obsidian, Sublime Text, Claude Code, etc. so far?

Re: The only moat left is money?

#225

Post by bubblewand »

dolebirchwood wrote: post #205
Epa095 wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't tailors by and large already outcompeted by cheap new clothes?

A big point of seeing a tailor is getting yourself fitted for custom clothing that is specifically made just for you. As someone who's bought $200 off-the-rack suits and $2,000 tailor-made suits, there's a world of difference between the two, especially when you have an atypical body type. (Granted, to the main point, I still think a tailor could be automated in some distant future, but we'll need robots to perform p…

Tailors are a niche thing for weirdos, now. It's not exactly a growth market. Most folks only wear a suit to weddings and funerals, and maybe job interviews. They have basically no need for more than two suits, and many try to get by with just one (in black, probably). Lots don't own one at all, maybe just a cheap fused-construction blazer or two, if even that. Outright bespoke clothes are a niche of a niche.

Normal people wear clothes containing minimum 2% elastic and perhaps never, ever visit a tailor in their whole lives, except maybe one at a tux rental place or a wedding dress store, for their own wedding. If they repair clothes, it's sewing on the odd button at home or using iron-on denim patches. Past that, it's just not worth fixing, normal folks' clothes are so cheap.

The whole market for tailors is practically an affectation. It's not serving much actual need any more, not from the perspective of the overwhelming majority of people who are happy with stretch-denim jeans and polyester sportswear jackets and such. It's basically 99% of the way to being an obsolete job, kept from total death by a few enthusiasts. Only a bit more lively than the market for, say, authentic regency-era footwear or something like that.

(I am a fellow weirdo, for the record)

Re: The only moat left is money?

#227

Post by sowbug »

esseph wrote: post #163
sowbug wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Creativity is a kind of labor. Like all labor, it never earns pay more than once.

Then what are acting and music royalties?

They're the exceptions that prove the rule. For every Taylor Swift, there are probably tens of thousands of songwriters who have never earned a dollar from their creations.

The vast majority of valuable copyrighted/patented creations are works for hire, which is compensated just like other labor. Or the creator signs or licenses the rights away to a publisher and maybe receives contractual royalties, rarely more than the initial advance.

(An alternative answer is "the pay for your creativity is a capital asset. That asset can earn royalties. Usually it doesn't.")

Re: The only moat left is money?

#228

Post by apsurd »

bubblewand wrote: post #225
dolebirchwood wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A big point of seeing a tailor is getting yourself fitted for custom clothing that is specifically made just for you. As someone who's bought $200 off-the-rack suits and $2,000 tailor-made suits, there's a world of difference between the two, especially when you have an atypical body type. (Granted, to the main point, I still think a tailor could be automated in some distant future, but we'll need robots to perform p…

Tailors are a niche thing for weirdos, now. It's not exactly a growth market. Most folks only wear a suit to weddings and funerals, and maybe job interviews. They have basically no need for more than two suits, and many try to get by with just one (in black, probably). Lots don't own one at all, maybe just a cheap fused-construction blazer or two, if even that. Outright bespoke clothes are a niche of a niche. Normal…

I mean, you do you.

Clothing is really _fashion_ for tons of people. Fashion is art. People like art.

Re: The only moat left is money?

#229

Post by wan23 »

MichaelRo wrote: post #186
apsurd wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sounds like the author is discovering business. I didn't read the article, but yes, going from 0-1,1-10 is really hard and really rewarding. And it got easier with the Internet. Going from 10-1k and 1k-1M is a different ball-game. Always was. The dream of running my own company got me to learn programming. 20 years later I'm an employee at a company still dreaming of running my own company. But now I can realize that…

>> The dream of running my own company got me to learn programming. 20 years later I'm an employee at a company still dreaming of running my own company. But now I can realize that reality and dreams are not the same and that's ok. As in, I probably really don't want to run my own company. We'll see =P To me having one own's company was just a means to the end: making enough money to live comfortably without the need…

It's absolutely wild to see how unevenly distributed the future we're living in is.

Re: The only moat left is money?

#230

Post by lelanthran »

prmph wrote: post #219
lelanthran wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The moat isn't money for out-marketing your idea that 750 other people are building, it's having a good idea that solves a problem that nobody else is solving well. This is a very naive take. Any good idea you have can now be cloned trivial in no time at all. The clones just need to out spend you on marketing even though it is your idea that the LLM cloned.

So where are the AI clones of MS Office, JetBrains IDEs, Whatsapp, Obsidian, etc. so far?

Obsidian has plenty of clones. The others have money as a moat, which is exactly my point.
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