Are the greatest companies in the AI era the ones selling shovels and hardware? They are now, but they definitely won't be in the future, because fundamentally they are still retail businesses with no network effects.

The most powerful companies:
1. Network effects: The more people use it, the wider the moat
2. Extreme efficiency: High capital efficiency and strong profitability
3. Vertical monopoly: Once scaled, they become indispensable
4. Hard to catch up: The window of opportunity is very short

$CRCL Barely meeting the standard