Write your competitive advantage

Strong competitive advantages are sustainable over time, not easily copied, and create compounding benefits as you scale. Weak advantages are temporary (being first to market) or shallow (we work harder, we care more). Investors hear 'we have better technology' or 'we have superior customer service' constantly. Those might be true today but don't explain why they'll still be true in three years when well-funded competitors attack your market. Real moats are structural: network effects where your product gets better as more people use it, proprietary data or IP that competitors can't replicate, unique expertise that takes years to build, or cost advantages from economies of scale.

The best competitive advantage paragraphs explain three things: how you're different, why that difference matters to customers, and why competitors can't easily copy it. Structure matters. Start with differentiation (what you do that others don't). Explain customer impact (why that difference makes you better for customers). Close with defensibility (why this advantage persists even as competitors try to catch up). Use specific examples. Don't say 'we have unique technology,' say 'our proprietary recommendation algorithm, trained on 10 million user sessions, delivers 40% better matches than rule-based systems competitors use.'

To test your competitive advantage, imagine a well-funded competitor launches tomorrow copying your product. Do you still win? If yes, you have real moat. If no, you might have temporary lead but not sustainable advantage. Also ask customers: why did you choose us over alternatives? Their actual reasons (often different from what you think) reveal your real competitive advantage. Strong advantages are clear to customers, difficult for competitors to replicate, and become stronger over time. If you can't articulate why you'll still be leading in three years, keep refining your moat.