BRAVE: The Startup 10x Strategy and the Moats That Keep You Winning - E645

BRAVE: The Startup 10x Strategy and the Moats That Keep You Winning - E645

Update: 2025-11-19
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Jeremy Au outlines why founders must choose a single 10x advantage and commit to it. He explains how products win by being better or faster or cheaper than the status quo and why unfair advantages are required to defend that lead. He also highlights the Southeast Asian invention of the USB thumb drive as a case where a first mover delivered a better experience but still lost when fast followers and scale overtook them.



01:00 Spotify provides 10x better quality: Unlimited access to any song in any order is a better experience than CDs or using Napster or Kazaa.



04:45 Uber creates a 10x faster experience: Seeing when a car will arrive removes waiting uncertainty and feels much faster than waving for taxis or calling for bookings.



06:00 SpaceX wins by being 10x cheaper: The cost of sending one kilogram to space dropped from about 30,000 dollars to about 500 dollars and continues to fall.



09:00 Six unfair advantages that protect a 10x lead: Startups defend their position through first mover advantage, network effects, economies of scale, intellectual property, regulatory protection, and scarce expert teams. These moats determine whether a company can keep its 10x advantage as competitors enter.



14:00 Thumb drive first mover but lost advantage: Henn Tan, founder of Trek 2000 and creator of the USB thumb drive, built a better file transfer experience but lost his lead because patents were not enforced globally, fast followers copied cheaply, and competitors gained scale and network effects.



Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/first-mover-loses



Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com






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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravesea






English: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts






Bahasa Indonesia: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts






Chinese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts






Vietnamese: Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts






#10xStrategy #StartupMoats #BetterFasterCheaper #FounderInsights #SEATech #InnovationFrameworks #FirstMoverVsFastFollower #TechCaseStudies #VentureThinking #BRAVEpodcast







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BRAVE: The Startup 10x Strategy and the Moats That Keep You Winning - E645

BRAVE: The Startup 10x Strategy and the Moats That Keep You Winning - E645

Jeremy Au