The Protocol as Product
Protocols are infrastructure. But the products built on top of them aren't all equal — and the ones that solve domain-specific problems tend to have the most durable advantage.
Mcp
The Deployment Gap
The gap between 'working code' and 'listed product' has collapsed. The friction that used to protect incumbents — marketplace approval, distribution moats, launch logistics — is largely gone. What that means for what's actually hard now.
The One Problem
There are eleven thousand MCP servers. The top one wins by 2x. The difference isn't capability — it's specificity.
The MCP Window
Less than 5% of registered MCP servers are monetized. Category leaders in new marketplaces get locked in early. These two facts point in the same direction.
The .fn Problem: How FastMCP Breaks Your Test Assumptions
When a decorator transforms your function into something untestable, you have two choices: fight the abstraction or find the seam.