V · 56 models
Strategy
How do I win when others want the same thing?
Models for strategy and competition.
Finding your advantage
What makes you hard to copy, and how to protect it.
Barriers to Entry
The harder a market is to enter, the longer those already inside can keep their profits.
Center of Gravity
Find the one point everything depends on, then protect it or aim there.
Economies of Scale
When fixed costs are spread over more units, each one becomes cheaper to make.
Moats
Lasting success needs a structural defence, not just a moment of brilliance.
Niches
You don’t have to win everywhere; fit one need better than anyone else.
Punching Above Your Weight
Resources set the odds, but a smaller side can win by choosing where to fight.
Secrets
The most valuable insights are important truths that most people do not yet believe.
Seizing the Middle
Whoever controls the point that everything must pass through holds power beyond their size.
Sustainable Competitive Advantage
An edge only matters for long if rivals cannot copy it quickly.
Trademarks
A distinctive sign becomes a promise that customers learn to trust at a glance.
Winning customers
What people really want, and what keeps them.
Adverse Selection
When one side knows more about quality than the other, the best tend to leave and the worst stay.
Apostle Model
Satisfied customers drift away; only delighted ones bring others with them.
Churn
Growth means little if customers leave as fast as they arrive.
Customer Development
Treat every idea about customers as a guess, and test it with real people early.
Jobs to be Done
People do not buy products; they hire them to make progress in their lives.
Lock-in
Today’s convenient choice can become tomorrow’s trap when leaving costs too much.
Loss Leader Strategy
A price can be a doorway, not a destination: the bargain is meant to lead you somewhere.
Loyalists vs Mercenaries
Discounts buy attention quickly, but they rarely buy commitment.
Personas
You design better for people when you picture a specific person rather than “users”.
Pivot
Change direction on what you have learned, while keeping what you are good at.
Product/Market Fit
When something truly meets a pressing need, people pull it towards them.
How markets grow and tip
Networks, curves and the moments a market picks a winner.
Crossing the Chasm
What enthusiasts love, the mainstream still needs to see proven, complete and recommended.
First Mover Advantage
Arriving first can be worth a fortune, but only if you can defend the lead.
Flywheel
Many small pushes in the same direction build momentum that one big heave never could.
Long Tail
When shelf space is unlimited, many small niches can add up to more than a few hits.
Metcalfe’s Law
The value of a network grows much faster than the number of people in it.
Network Effects
Some products become more valuable every time another person starts using them.
Power Law
In many areas, a few things account for most of the results.
S-Curves
New ideas spread slowly, then suddenly, then slowly again as the market fills.
Supply and Demand
Prices rise when more people want something than there is to go round, and fall when there is plenty.
Technology Adoption Lifecycle
People take up new things at different speeds, and each group needs a different reason to join.
Winner Takes Most Markets
When being biggest makes you more attractive, a small early lead can become lasting dominance.
Staying ahead of change
Adapt before the world forces you to.
Creative Destruction
New ways of doing things grow by tearing down the old ones.
Cultural Evolution
Ideas, habits and tools evolve like living things, only faster: the useful spread and the rest fade.
Disruptive Innovations
Giants are often toppled by cheap, simple newcomers they once thought too small to matter.
Generals Fighting the Last War
The lessons of the last battle can leave you perfectly prepared for a fight that never comes.
Natural Selection
The environment decides what thrives, and when it changes, so do the winners.
Only the Paranoid Survive
Success breeds complacency, so look hardest for threats when things are going well.
Paradigm Shift
Sometimes a whole field’s basic assumptions are wrong, and progress means replacing the frame.
Red Queen Effect
When everyone else keeps improving, you must keep running to stay in place.
Survival of the Fittest
Success goes not to the strongest, but to whoever best fits the conditions.
Finding opportunities
Where good ideas and lucky breaks tend to come from.
Arbitrage
When the same thing sells for different prices in different places, someone profits from closing the gap.
Idea Maze
Breakthroughs come from exploring many paths and learning from every dead end.
Joy’s Law
However strong your team, most of the smartest people work for someone else.
Local Optimum vs Global Optimum
Being the best in your neighbourhood can stop you finding a much higher peak beyond it.
Luck Surface Area
You cannot control luck, but you can widen the area it can land on.
Simultaneous Invention
When the conditions are right, several people often reach the same idea at once.
Competing with rivals
Moves and counter-moves when someone is trying to beat you.
Arms Race
When rivals keep matching each other’s build-up, both spend more and neither ends up safer.
Asymmetric Warfare
A weaker side wins by refusing to fight on the stronger side’s terms.
Beachhead Strategy
Win one small, defensible position first, then use it to push further.
Counter-Insurgency
Persistent resistance is fed by something, and cutting off that supply works better than force alone.
Flypaper Theory
Draw a threat to a place of your choosing, and it stays away from what matters most.
Guerrilla Warfare
A small, nimble player can beat a giant by choosing where, when and how to fight.
Nash Equilibrium
A stable outcome is one where nobody gains by changing course alone, even if all would gain together.
Strategy vs Tactics
Brilliant moves cannot rescue a weak plan, and a good plan fails without good moves.
War of Attrition
Some contests are won not by the best blow, but by whoever can last the longest.