The most valuable moat in the AI-era

I spend most of my time thinking about the game theory of how business and content will change in the AI-era.

Who will win, where is there untapped opportunity, and what moves should I be making to make sure that happens?

My only goal with this newsletter is to help you get an edge on everyone else you’re competing against.

So here’s the most important shift I see coming, what it means, and why you should care.

By now you’ve probably realized that all of business, technology, consumer experience, and almost every other category of is being rewritten and back up for grabs.

This feels like a one time, generational reset on the rails that everything run on.

And as extreme as it sounds, “this time is different” is actually probably more right than wrong in this rare case.

If I could boil down the entire AI-shift into a single graphic, it would be this…

Pre-AI, the core constraint and moat was around building products.

In crude terms, it took a lot of talent, a lot of time, and a lot of resources to build a great product.

Because of that, there were far fewer products in the world, and in a way, it was much easier and cheaper to get attention on them (because of supply & demand).

That hardest part was making them great in the first place.

In the post-AI era, the constraint will shift from product to distribution.

It’s not that all of a sudden it’ll be super easy to oneshot a great product, but because of AI, the number of high quality products will go up by orders of magnitude.

This is because great builders are now free from the burden of team, time and cost, and can use AI to accelerate the product build cycle.

The hard part now will become getting reliable attention on your product.

There are plenty of paid vehicles to buy distribution (e.g., paid ads, etc.), but these costs are rising and the competition pool will increase as the number of products do.

The real advantage comes from companies developing their own organic distribution in house.

The companies that can do this are the ones that will thrive in the next era because they essentially have a machine that takes time in and spits dollars out.

This is the fundamental bet I made 3 years ago when I went all-in on content.

I never wanted/planned to become “the content guy,” but I realized distribution would be the final moat and so I sprinted to try and become one of the best in the world.

I’ve gone all in on building tools and systems designed specifically to help business owners to develop this organic distribution as fast as possible.

We’ve helped hundreds of business owners directly with personalized coaching and thousands more with our content software stack.

If you don’t have an answer here in the next 6-12 months, business is going to get incredibly difficult for you.

Make sure you have a solve in motion.

PS - Reply with “Distribution” if you want to work with me to install an organic content system that futureproofs your business and ensures you keep winning in the AI-era.