The Castle Trap
There’s a word that gets thrown around in startup circles like it’s a magical spell — something that, if you figure it out, guarantees your path to a multi-billion dollar company.
That word is: moat.
Like many startup nerds (and medieval warfare fans), I was fascinated the first time I heard it. A moat, after all, is that small water body built around castles in the middle ages to keep attackers out. In startup speak, it’s your defensibility — the thing that makes your business hard to compete with.
But here’s the thing no one talks about:
Moats are defensive. And great companies are built on offense.
If your entire strategy is to stay safe in your castle, you’ve already lost. Unless you’ve got the GDP of China and can afford to build a Great Wall, you’re setting yourself up for a slow siege — not a legacy.
Look at history: Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon — their names weren’t written in stone because they defended well. They were offensive masterminds. They moved fast. They took risks. They understood terrain, momentum, and human psychology better than anyone.
They didn’t wait behind walls. They redefined borders.
Let’s go to Warzone
One of my favorite examples — and arguably one of the greatest tank battles in modern history — is the Battle of 73 Easting, fought on February 26, 1991, during Operation Desert Storm.
Here’s the brief overview:
- 9 U.S. Abrams tanks
- Facing off against 80+ Iraqi tanks
- Iraqis were entrenched, well-scouted, defending their home turf, and had what looked like the ultimate “moat”
If you were a venture capitalist evaluating this as a startup war, you’d bet your fund and your kids’ college tuition on the Iraqis.
And you’d lose it all.
The Abrams tanks obliterated the Iraqi forces. Why?
- They had aerial reconnaissance (real-time market intelligence)
- They were faster (agile decision-making and tight feedback loops)
- They had superior firepower speed (distribution that rain shells on enemy)
This wasn’t just a win. It was domination. The “moat” turned into a trap. Comfort became a coffin.
The Startup Parallel
Great startups aren’t remembered for how secure they were. They’re remembered for how bold they were.
Yes, defense matters. But it only buys you time. Without offense — speed, distribution, insight — you’re a beautifully-engineered product that no one hears about until it’s too late.
Take a look around:
- Notion over Google Docs — no deep tech moat, just a better narrative, better community, better vibes.
- Linear over Jira — not more features, just actual delight. Fast bug resolution, elegant UI, and momentum.
- Perplexity over ChatGPT — not more intelligence, just faster, cleaner, and more focused.
- Figma over Photoshop — no complex tech edge, just better collaboration, speed, and user-first design.
None of these won on tech. They won on offense and clearer insights.
Moats Are Overrated. Offense Is Underrated.
Here’s what offense looks like in modern companies:
- Distribution: You know how to reach and scale to users fast.
- Speed: You ship fast, learn faster, and solve problems before Jira would even assign a ticket.
- Market Insight: You see the terrain clearer than anyone else — and you move before the rest realize what happened.
- Culture: You attract warriors, not castle guards.
If you define “moat” as only technological edge or patents, you’re using a myopic, defensive lens. And it’ll cause you to miss some of the most exciting, game-changing ideas.
The best companies? They build just enough defense — and then go absolutely wild on offense.
So stop over-indexing on castle walls and the depth of the moat. Find your aerial recon. Build your blitzscaling team.