As more TradFi entities onboard into crypto, there will be increasing questions from investors like "What if they distribute better than you" or "What if they copy you." More than ever, current crypto incumbents need to build network effects, scale, and switching costs. From 7 Powers, power is relative. That means you need to perform better than the average TradFi, and the bar is already very high. Interestingly enough, as the book mentions, the benefits or ability to execute are not that strong as an advantage because TradFi, heck, maybe even Mag 7, can execute too. So, what truly gives you a durable advantage? The answer from the book is barriers. The stronger the relative barrier, the more protected you are. For instance, it's hard for a new stablecoin to compete against USDC and USDT because of their widespread adoption in crypto (network effects and switching costs). Maybe it's difficult to challenge AAVE because of its strong branding and economies of scale and negotiation power (i.e we have deep liquidity, so you should onboard with us) However, like most business competition, these advantages tend to erode over time, especially when others try to counter-position. For example, a TradFi firm might claim AML concerns over AAVE, where it hurts the permissionless narrative. (Whether this works out is yet to be seen, but this should give a good sense of what counter-positioning looks like.) In any case, we should be bullish on projects that are hell bent on: 1) Creating new products via a cornered resource or an aggressive counter-positioning against TradFi 2) Increasing retention via having switching costs and network economics 3) Increasing whatever volume, TVL, [usage metric] via all three network economics, scale economics, and switching costs.

Of course, this doesn't magically absolve you from the fundamentals of understanding the industry (Porter 5) and product management (user journey mapping, building superior products that solve problems etc) So you need to think from a top down PoV: 1) Highest level: Industrial level (Porter 5) 2) Middle Level: 7 Powers (Competitor analysis) 3) Low level: User story mapping and build products in a targeted manner