Moat vs switching cost

	Moat (competitive)	Switching cost
Definition	A durable competitive advantage that keeps rivals from copying you. The book argues pure-hardware moats erode fast, while software augmentation and data build ones that last.	What a customer must give up to move to a competitor. Every shipped update quietly raises it and deepens loyalty.

The difference

A switching cost is what one customer gives up to leave; a moat is what keeps a whole market of competitors from copying you. Every shipped update raises switching costs quietly. A moat needs more: data the rival does not have, a platform third parties build on, an installed base that compounds. Pure hardware moats erode fast, as iRobot found against Roborock and Ecovacs; software and data build the ones that last.

From the chapter of Tangibles that introduces these terms. Definitions are the book's glossary entries.

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