A few weeks ago, Crunchbase published research we conducted that got a lot of reaction. I want to share the findings because they matter for every product builder right now.
We mapped 576 venture-backed AI B2B companies against Hamilton Helmer’s 7 Powers framework, layered with signals from our 600,000 product leader community. The question was which moats actually hold up when building is nearly free.
Only two held up. The first is counter-positioning, a business model an incumbent could copy but only by cannibalizing their own economics. It commands the highest valuation multiple in our dataset at 5.3x and shows up in only 5% of companies. As a product builder, it’s the most powerful strategic position you can be in.
The second is network economies, where value compounds as more participants join. Also 5% of companies, 4.2x multiple, and the most capital efficient path to building something genuinely defensible.
And then there are the traps. 44% of companies in our dataset lean on proprietary data as their moat, yet it produces the worst multiple at 2.6x. Data that felt proprietary in 2023 is increasingly replicable in 2026. Switching costs still command a 4x multiple but cost roughly 10x more to build than network economies, and AI is dismantling them by making migration easier than it’s ever been.
The question every product builder should be sitting with right now is what makes you harder to displace tomorrow. And if you found this useful, forward it to a product builder whose thinking you admire. This is the kind of conversation worth having together.
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It is beyond astounding to me that people still don't understand that Network Economics is marketing.
Not promoting your thing! Doing the market research, competitive analysis, SWOT, and market development work to determine WHO matters to what you're doing.
It is insanely simple to develop the network meaningful to your work. Not doing is justifies *entirely* why investors won't support a startup.