[convolvatron]

its not really a moat, but its a difficult model to emulate.

what they offer is a set of standard parts, tailored for verticals they think are important. but the secret sauce is that they are willing to customize just that much to make things work the customer.

even if you are a small startup and can't promise more than 100 units/yr, its entirely likely that they will build a custom PCB or riser or chassis on the chance that you will be successful. not a whole design, but a tweak on one of their standard models. they've done that for me before with no NRE, maybe they do charge sometimes.

so their moat is that they have enough money to make those bets, and an engineering organization that can do that in a lightweight enough fashion to make the whole thing work. and they do this while remaining very cost competitive

[godzillabrennus]

Given how few people in a “startup” possess the skills to know and articulate their needs and have the network to reach the right people in a company that size, it seems like a reasonable bet to make.

[convolvatron]

their sales people are in on this - not a special deal. need a extra hole in this chassis? yeah sure, lets do that.

[amluto]

I have a system along these lines lying around. It’s a very low volume Supermicro board, made for a partnership between Intel and a little startup (not mine). The startup might, at their discretion and possibly with an NDA or two, tell you the model number. Then Supermicro would sell you the board.

I have no idea what money, if any, changed hands, other than the fact that I paid, IIRC, about $600 for the board.