TL;DR: To create durable moat-status, your technology must be at least 10x better than the closest substitute. This is one of four monopoly characteristics alongside network effects, scale economies, and branding.
Incremental improvements get commoditized. 10x improvements are defensible because switching costs become absurdly high. If your product is only 2x better, competitors will catch up; users will defect when the gap narrows.
“10x better” doesn’t always mean speed or power. It can mean reliability, ease of use, cost structure, or a novel capability no one else has thought of. But it must create a moat—a structural advantage competitors can’t easily copy. (zero-to-one, seven-powers)