{"id":1489,"slug":"rule-treat-information-edge-as-temporary-rent","title":"Rule: treat any documented information edge as temporary rent, not permanent moat","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["data-moats","information-asymmetry"],"reference_body":"**Rule.** Frame information-asymmetry edges as *rent extracted while the data is proprietary*, with explicit decay assumptions. Reject \"permanent moat\" framings in editorial.\n\n**Why.** Levin ([[levin-stanford-public-information-shrinks-asymmetry]]) — making private information public unambiguously improves trade, i.e., the asymmetry shrinks as data diffuses. Concretely demonstrated in [[tesco-loyalty-card-now-common-practice-edge-decay]]: the same Tesco data leadership now says loyalty-card CRM is \"common practice rather than a unique differentiator.\" The mechanism that gave Tesco its 1990s edge has commoditised.\n\n**How to apply.** Pair any information-edge claim with a decay assumption: how long before this becomes parity? What's the competitive half-life? If the answer is \"indefinitely,\" the framing is wrong — re-examine. Cross-references the moat brief ([[research-brief-public-data-private-moat]]) without re-deriving it.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"research-brief-public-data-private-moat","title":"Research brief: Public data as a private moat — building proprietary intelligence from government open data (piece 11 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"research-brief-information-asymmetry-decision-edge-june-2026","title":"Research notes (capture-layer): the affirmative, inward decision-edge case for data intelligence — information asymmetry applied to pricing, demand, risk, retention, targeting (June 2026)","kind":"research-notes","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"levin-stanford-public-information-shrinks-asymmetry","title":"Levin (Stanford) — making private information public unambiguously improves trade; the edge erodes as data diffuses","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"tesco-loyalty-card-now-common-practice-edge-decay","title":"Tesco / Computing on dunnhumby sale — \"Using CRM data from loyalty cards is now common practice rather than the unique differentiator that it once used to be\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[]},"created_at":"2026-06-21T01:14:48.832Z","updated_at":"2026-06-21T01:14:48.832Z"}