Barbara Abbott-Buch.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, WayBlazer offers its cognitive solution through application programming interfaces (APIs) or as a web and app interface for hospitality companies such as online travel agents, hotels and airlines to connect travelers and hotels in new ways. For example, the application could help a travel agent who primarily has domestic expertise recommend with confidence the right properties for a European vacation. It could enable an airline to customize its email marketing efforts, targeting its frequent fliers with fare and destination offers that would hold specific appeal. It could even enable a robot concierge named Connie at the Hilton in McLean, Virginia. And with companies like Luxury Hotels of the World, WayBlazer technology reads descriptions, looks at photos and peruses reviews, highlighting the best matches to better surface and merchandise the most relevant content. For example, someone who wants to book a hotel for a bachelor party would be shown different hotel …

The following mechanism follows: as a company adds more customers, it gains more data from each of them to train and refine their algorithms. With more data, the accuracy of the prediction goes up, as well as the overall quality of the product. A better product helps convince new customers to purchase it and contribute their data. The loop is closed.

Network effects at play in marketplaces are a great example of moats. The more places there are to rent on AirBnB, the more likely it is that the demand will come to the pla…