In a conversation with Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, Garry Tan shared an idea that really resonated with me: "Moat is actually a verb."

This one line explains why giants like Blockbuster, Nokia, and Kodak went from kings of the hill to cautionary tales. They mistakenly thought their competitive advantages were permanent fortresses. A moat is something you have to dig deeper every single day.

The depreciating nature of strategic insights

The core observation here is that "Every single insight that we have is a depreciating insight." Companies don't win because they had a brilliant breakthrough three years ago. They win because they revise their approach and reinforce their advantage consistently.

Even the most successful companies are at risk of loosing their edge if they stop pushing forward. Varun puts it in very clear terms: "If we don't continually have insights that we are executing on, we are just slowly dying."

The founder’s dilemma: Ego vs. Reinvention

Even as markets shift and disruption becomes evident, egos can pose a powerful barrier to adaptation. Many founders and senior leaders grow emotionally attached to their original ideas or business models, seeing them as extensions of their identity and self-worth. This attachment is especially common in companies that once had first-mover advantages and can create resistance to necessary pivots. Even when presented with overwhelming evidence that what worked before may no longer drive future growth.

History shows that resting on yesterday’s victories is risky because insights depreciate as technology, consumer behavior, and competition evolve. Founders who cling to past successes can unintentionally stifle reinvention, leaving their companies vulnerable to irrelevance. 

Masters of reinvention: Netflix and Garmin

Netflix: From DVDs to Streaming Supremacy

Netflix could have rested on its DVD-by-mail success, which was revolutionary in the early 2000s. Instead, leadership recognized that physical media would soon be in decline. They cannibalized their own profitable DVD business to bet everything on streaming, a move that seemed risky at the time but positioned them as the category king when broadband became commonplace.

Garmin: Beyond GPS Navigation

When smartphones with built-in GPS threatened to make standalone navigation devices obsolete, Garmin could have doubled down on making better car GPS units. Instead, they pivoted hard into fitness wearables, aviation systems, and marine electronics.

The company recognized that their core competency wasn't GPS devices — it was location-based technology and precision instruments. By reframing their identity around these deeper capabilities, Garmin found new markets just as their original market disappeared. Today, they are a leader in fitness tracking and specialized GPS applications, proving that reinvention can lead to entirely new growth trajectories.

The adaptation imperative 

Adaptation isn’t optional. We must keep moving, keep learning, and never let pride block progress.

Being adaptable isn’t about chasing every shiny object or panicking at the first sign of disruption. It’s about having the courage to ask questions like “What business are we really in?”, “What needs to change?” and the discipline to make it happen.