Stop Chasing Shadows
Most founders waste their edge stalking competitors in the same lane.
It’s defensive, not strategic. Ninety percent of those “competitors” are broke, irrelevant, or copying someone else’s homework.
The real threat isn’t the shop across the street. The real opportunity is in the blind spots: industries that look nothing like yours but serve the same people with different leverage.
That’s where the real money is made.
When Hotels Met Hackers
A luxury hotel chain had maxed out the usual playbook: suites, spas, wine lists, and Michelin menus. Nothing left to differentiate. Margins were capped.
On the other side, a cybersecurity firm dealt with clients who couldn’t relax - family offices, billionaires, politicians, all paranoid for good reason.
Then came the fusion. Together, they created discreet digital detox retreats:
- Suites turned into Faraday cages, blocking every signal.
- Ephemeral staff rotated daily, so no one remembered a client’s habits.
- Cyber teams monitored digital threats and ran live counter-surveillance.
- The hotel wrapped it in spa robes, organic food, and curated luxury.
Outcome? They charged four times the usual suite rate. They built a nine-month waiting list. And they eliminated direct competition overnight, because who else could pull off a hotel–cybersecurity hybrid?
Why This Worked
Most so-called “innovation” is iteration. Cosmetic upgrades. Safe tweaks.
This wasn’t innovation - it was fusion. Two industries that never should have spoken created an offer nobody else could even describe, let alone deliver.
The moat wasn’t capital. It wasn’t tech. It was coordination. Trust between two alien industries is not something competitors can knock off. That’s why it worked.
How to Play the Same Game
Look at your most paranoid or premium customers.
Then ask: what keeps them from fully enjoying what I already sell?
Now go hunting. Which industry has the skillset or infrastructure to remove that block? Which outsider could fuse with you to create something absurdly premium?
The best ideas always look “too weird” at first. That’s the point. If it feels obvious, it’s already too late.
The Drill You Can’t Skip
Write this at the top of a blank page:
“What business do I not own that could 10x the value of my existing assets?”
Force yourself to list five.
Cross out the obvious.
Keep the weird.
Those “ridiculous” combinations are where you’ll find the uncopyable moat.
Seven Moves That Turn Weird Ideas Into Revenue
- Audit what you already own - list your resources, networks, licenses, assets, choke points. Not what you sell, what others can’t access without you.
- Map the outsiders - industries that never touch yours but serve the same wealth bracket. Ignore the usual suspects. Go wide.
- Spot the intersection - one frustration your clients would pay anything to erase and one indulgence they’d overpay to amplify. That’s the sweet spot.
- Shortlist real partners - pick 3–5 outsiders who could deliver those outcomes.
- Frame the pitch - either “you’re missing my audience, I’m missing your capability” or “together we sell something that doesn’t exist yet.”
- Lock the gate - design it so all customers enter through you, not them. If the partner can bypass you, you just trained your replacement.
- Pilot quietly - run it small, private, loyal. No press, no bragging. Prove it works, lock down the terms, then scale.
Closing Signal
Stop guarding breadcrumbs in your lane.
Start building banquets with strangers.
Your next moat won’t come from inside your industry. It will come from coopetition in places your competitors can’t even see.