Lecture 5: Building a Competitive Advantage That's Hard to Copy — why Google delayed its chatbot over ads
richardreis · x · 2026-10-18
Richard Reis released Lecture 5 of his startup course, 'How to Build a Competitive Advantage (That's Hard to Copy).' The opener: Google invented the transformer and ran chatbots internally for years, but only shipped after OpenAI forced its hand because leadership kept asking 'Where do the ads go?' The lecture covers what stops competitors from copying you, a caveat for early-stage founders, and the definition of power (benefit and barrier). Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and as a written version.
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