Can bricks and mortar also be a moat?
One of my clients, Towards, opened the doors of their first physical location on Monday.
It's quite an achievement for a company that only formed in February.
I visited the location last week, and when I saw the shop front, I couldn't help but burst into a smile.
It was a unique moment for me, as up to this point in my career, I had always worked on digital-only products.
This was my first experience of seeing something in the real world that I had contributed towards (no pun intended).
The elevator pitch is "Specsavers1 for mental health" - on the high street, high-quality and affordable mental health care.
There's an accompanying digital app - that's where I come in - but it's a tech-enabled rather than a tech-first business; the real magic happens in the training of therapists and how Towards will use technology (yes, including AI) to continually improve outcomes.
But at the risk of turning into a press release, I wanted to share this because I believe it may hint at a potentially wider shift in the tech industry.
It's already clear that AI doesn't behave like traditional software, and the economic calculus of the 2010s and early 2020s no longer applies.
But while many are (understandably and necessarily) focused on AI in and of itself, it's been refreshing to be part of a company that is embracing AI to move faster to achieve tangible, real-world impact.
I won’t lie; at times, I’ve looked at AI progress and what other startups are doing and wondered why I’m spending my time focused on compliance, IT procurement and 3rd party integrations and whether I’m missing the boat entirely.
And I may well be.
But.
I actually think we'll see more stories like Towards in the coming years. Leveraging technology to solve everyday problems more effectively and having an outsized impact on normal people’s daily reality.
They won't be as loud or as flashy, and they may not hit the incredible valuations as quickly as the Cursors of the world, but they will have a tangible and enduring impact on people's lives.
As much as I love technology itself, it's only truly valuable when it serves people; when it becomes part of the fabric of everyday life.
In an era when digital spaces are becoming increasingly saturated, competitive, and confusing, perhaps the real competitive advantage—the true moat—is reconnecting technology to tangible, real-world experiences.
According to ChatGPT, the US equivalent is LensCrafters, but frankly, there is no substitute for one of the best bits of UK advertising around. Should have gone to Specsavers!