The Moat Is Dead. Long Live the Runner.
By Vitaly Golomb. Managing Partner, Mavka Ventures and Mavka Capital
Dear {{First_Name|Friend}},
We're trying something new with The Mavka Report — alongside our regular updates, we'll occasionally share longer-form essays on the themes driving our investment thinking. Today's piece is one we're especially excited about, as it ties directly to something we've been building behind the scenes: Mavka Ventures, our dedicated Embodied AI fund focused on companies bringing intelligence into the physical world through robotics, autonomous systems, and hardware-AI integration.
We believe this space is at an inflection point — and we're actively having conversations with aligned partners who see it too. If this is on your radar, reply to this email or book a call directly — we'd love to walk you through our thesis.
For decades, VCs asked one question above all others: "What's your moat?" Proprietary tech, network effects, switching costs. The whole framework assumed you could build walls high enough to keep competitors out.
Now software moats have evaporated. Hardware is next. Big tech learned to move fast. And in every category there are now dozens of well-funded competitors running at the same opportunity.
So what wins?
Read the full essay below to find out.
