Free Lesson
Waves -> Moats: How New Value becomes Lasting Value
60 min
Aug 26, 2026 3:00 PM
What you'll learn
Know when your wave is ending
Revenue keeps looking healthy long after the wave underneath it starts to weaken. Learn to read the earlier signal.
How Value Cycles Have Changed
The assumption most strategy rests on was written for a slower world. See what changed, and what it costs you now.
The Three Tests a Real Moat Has to Pass
Most of what founders call a moat fails one of them. Learn the bar, and how to tell a structure from a story.
The Six Ways a Moat Fails
Every moat has at least one failure mode pointed at it. Learn all six, and why one moat is never enough.
Making the Transition from Wave to Moat
Creating value and keeping it are different jobs. Learn the two questions that decide whether you get to keep it.
Why this topic matters
By Series A or B, most founders discover something uncomfortable:
The product was never the moat.
Products launch.
Customers arrive.
Revenue grows..
Competitors catch up.
What felt like differentiation becomes table stakes.
As value cycles shrink, one wave is no longer enough. Enduring companies create the next wave while building moats around the current one.
You'll learn from
J.D. Meier
Satya Nadella's Former Head Coach of Innovation
John Gusiff
Founder, Customer Centric Solutions LLC; author of Stacking Moats newsletter
