On a BCG alumni webinar this morning two ex-BCGers (Michelle Wu and Jerry Ting) shared the good, bad and ugly of founding their respective AI startups over the past few years.

What hooked me most, aside from the resilience of both of them to keep building during a pretty turbulent period (including one who exited to Workday!)…

…was the conversation about building a moat.

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As one of them put it:

“You need something that keeps you from a couple of Stanford engineers putting you out of business.”

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And not just one thing.

A stack of differentiators.

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In AI startups, their take was that success doesn’t come from simply applying AI capabilities to a problem. You need:

• A proprietary or differentiated data source
• A solution that boldly shifts the business model
• Domain specificity

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Naturally, I started thinking about the solo consultant version of this.

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I’d say your moats are not your offer, or your charm, or your price.

Those are all quite easy to copy.

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Instead, your real moats are:

Your Niche: what problem you solve and for whom

Your Lens: your unique way of seeing that problem

Your IP: the codified, repeatable tools and frameworks you use to solve it

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Most people stop at the niche – if they even get there!

Some find the language to speak about their lens.

But only a few translate their thinking into tangible and truly signature IP.

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The deeper your moat, the harder you are to replicate.

And the easier it is for the right clients to find and choose you.

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💡

-Wes

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P.S. IP doesn't have to be more complicated that a few 'intellectual headshots'

Let's find yours and stake out your corner of the market.

The IP Builder Sprint still has a couple of 1:1 slots open for June.

And as always, book a free call if you'd like to discuss whether it's a good fit.