Definitely user experience is the new IP. Some startups are getting some advantage over competitors just based on user experience. But do you think user experience is really defensible? How hard it is for competitors to imitate your user experience? (Apple just didn't have user experience. They had multi-touch technology as well, which was defensible.)

I remember reading one post from Union Square Venture blog about defensibility is not about features, or technology layer you use - but now a days its about the network effect (Craigslist, eBay), and accumulation of data asset (Google, Facebook).

So how startups can win over competitors in long run just based on User Experience? Sure, it can give great head start, but I think to sustain that leadership in the long run, you need to also innovate defensible technology or above mentioned network effect or data asset.