The company is more than “techology”. It also marketing, sales, regional, leadership, market size, etc. That can be (and it is) a big moat preventing a well founded startup to replicate.
In short one needs to have something is hard to replicate - but that does not need to be technology.
I know, the point is that at early stages there’s little of it. That’s when they copy you, just like that unless you have something else that’s hard to replicate.
In short one needs to have something is hard to replicate - but that does not need to be technology.