Software is getting easier to build, distribution is the real moat now

Ten years ago, the hardest part of a startup was building the software. Now, with AI, APIs, and no-code, building the first version of almost anything is faster and cheaper than ever.

That means your biggest risk probably isn’t “Can we build it?”, it’s “Can we get anyone to care?”

The moat is shifting to distribution. If someone can clone your MVP in 2 weeks, the thing they can’t instantly copy is your audience, relationships, and channels.

Some things I wish I’d done earlier to build distribution:

1. Pick one “home” channel and go deep. Call it founder-channel fit. Every channel can work, but if you don’t enjoy posting there, you’ll quit too soon.
2. Collect emails from day zero. Even if it’s just a landing page in Webflow with “coming soon” and a ConvertKit form.
3. Create high-leverage content assets. A short, cinematic product video (we worked with Represent Studio) was our most shareable piece, we repurposed it for socials, ads, and onboarding.
4. Talk to customers, constantly. Schedule as many calls as possible and never delegate them until you cross $1M ARR. Nobody else can learn your customers’ needs for you. Your full-time job early on is understanding them.
5. Partner early. Find newsletters, YouTubers, or communities in your niche and build relationships before you need them.
6. Make content for your users, not your ego. Building in public can help attract early believers who’ll tolerate a rough product, but the real unlock is creating content your target audience finds genuinely useful, not just updates that make you feel good.

The tech barrier is disappearing. The attention barrier is getting higher every day. Founders who’ve done this, what’s the smartest thing you did before launch to set up your distribution?