{"id":26538,"date":"2026-09-22T13:57:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T09:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/?p=26538"},"modified":"2026-09-22T13:57:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T09:57:57","slug":"%f0%9d%90%93%f0%9d%90%a1%f0%9d%90%9e-%f0%9d%90%a8%f0%9d%90%a7%f0%9d%90%a5%f0%9d%90%b2-%f0%9d%90%a6%f0%9d%90%a8%f0%9d%90%9a%f0%9d%90%ad-%f0%9d%90%a5%f0%9d%90%9e%f0%9d%90%9f%f0%9d%90%ad-%f0%9d%90%a2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/2026\/09\/22\/%f0%9d%90%93%f0%9d%90%a1%f0%9d%90%9e-%f0%9d%90%a8%f0%9d%90%a7%f0%9d%90%a5%f0%9d%90%b2-%f0%9d%90%a6%f0%9d%90%a8%f0%9d%90%9a%f0%9d%90%ad-%f0%9d%90%a5%f0%9d%90%9e%f0%9d%90%9f%f0%9d%90%ad-%f0%9d%90%a2\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud835\udc13\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc28\ud835\udc27\ud835\udc25\ud835\udc32 \ud835\udc26\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2d \ud835\udc25\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc1f\ud835\udc2d \ud835\udc22\ud835\udc2c \ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc1c\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc27\ud835\udc2f\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc20\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc27\ud835\udc1c\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc28\ud835\udc1f \ud835\udc1b\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc2c \ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc27\ud835\udc1d \ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc26\ud835\udc2c"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In July, I shipped a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lnkd.in\/p\/dh7Nz9Py\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">video<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about which moats actually survive in a \u201cpost-software\u201d world. The thesis: hardware, network effects, regulatory depth, frontier innovation, brand, owning distribution or owning data is what\u2019s left.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, I\u2019d like to double click on the hardware moat, how the defensibility moves to physical reality: the atoms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Bits (Software)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Asset: Apps, models, workflows, dashboards<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Time to copy: Days<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Risk: A frontier lab ships the feature or an AI agent rebuilds it overnight<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Atoms (Physical World)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Asset: Robots, chips, dark stores, fleets, clinics, power plants<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Time to copy: Years<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Risk: Someone has to physically rebuild supply chains and infrastructure<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look at where convergence of atoms & bits hold defensibility:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Device atoms: Hardware in homes or wearables (XPANCEO , Figure , \u014cURA)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Network atoms: Physical assets & logistics (Snoonu\u2019s fleet, dark store networks)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Permissioned atoms: Physical + regulatory depth (Geidea 700,000 terminals<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">behind the first non-bank acquiring license SAMA has issued)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What got me to this framing was last week\u2019s Y Combinator\u2019s read on startups in 2026, and their shift in acceptance numbers show exactly where venture is heading:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Robotics: 1% \u2192 6-7%<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Industrial Manufacturing: 4% \u2192 10%<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Defense Tech: 1.5% \u2192 5%<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Semiconductors & Photonics: 1% \u2192 4%<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Energy Infrastructure: 1% \u2192 3%<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The founder profile shifted with the category. 1 in 6 holds a PhD, and founders in their 30s, 40s, and 50s with deep domain experience in heavy industry, biology, and logistics are becoming the norm. I\u2019m curious to see how these researchers turn into serial entrepreneurs in the next few years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My take on how this shifts the startup playbook:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> GTM changes: Success now requires regulatory depth, governmental buy-in, enterprise integration, and robust infrastructure from Day 1 rather than relying on cheap customer acquisition loops and treating regulation as an afterthought.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Brand as a force multiplier: Physical infrastructure provides the initial moat, but long-term trust, community, and brand are what prevent commoditization over time.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So while the convergence of bits and atoms isn\u2019t the only surviving moat, scaling it requires far more than a simple community launch and the brand remains your most powerful compounding moat in the long run.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Author\u2019s Bio<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-26541\" src=\"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PHOTO-2026-09-22-13-16-22-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PHOTO-2026-09-22-13-16-22-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PHOTO-2026-09-22-13-16-22-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PHOTO-2026-09-22-13-16-22-600x337.jpg 600w, https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PHOTO-2026-09-22-13-16-22.jpg 911w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/gigidevries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gigi de Vries<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Venture Builder & Brand Lead with 8 years of experience across GTM, brand, and growth strategy across VC, agency, and project environments. I write about building global ventures and MENA markets.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In July, I shipped a video about which moats actually survive in a \u201cpost-software\u201d world. The thesis: hardware, network effects, regulatory depth, frontier innovation, brand, owning distribution or owning data is what\u2019s left. Today, I\u2019d like to double click on the hardware moat, how the defensibility moves to physical reality: the atoms. Bits (Software) Asset: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26543,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26538\/revisions\/26543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleasenetwork.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}