Get powerful allies to fund / protect you if necessary

Uber:

• Uber did this by:

  • raising money from Google and top VC firms

  • raising a huge amount of money

• Contrast Uber's approach with Taxi Magic's, where they grew by themselves but then were overtaken by the powerful VC-backed Uber.

  • Each dollar of capital is like a soldier, and a collection of capital is like an army; you have to always be aware of the other armies out in the world that might come after you if you discover some new profitable area.

That pharma startup did this by getting powerful government people on their board

Palantir did this by having In-Q-Tel as an investor, and that powerful government-VC-firm as investors.