Very good companies throughout history have succeeded without the initial push of sustainable advantage. Collins and Porras, in their book Built to Last , identify many visionary companies that began with lousy ideas and often bombed out for years before finding their way. We don't quibble with their ingredients for success. We stress that while Collins and Porras' companies and shareholders apparently could muddle through sometimes for decades before providing returns to investors, the nature of the RB strategy means that RB investors cannot. There's no question that there's lots of money in technology.
Sustainability has to come from vision and marketing, perhaps in concert with technology.
That's what creates long-term brand, and with it sustainable advantage. Sustainable advantage means that a company's sales literally are largely protected from competitors' attack. For Amgen, that means patents on its two blockbuster drugs and on the drugs it develops next. The community is eBay's sustainable advantage. So, in my opinion, either a company has a defendable sustainable advantage that you can write down on a sheet of paper at home, or it doesn't.