(Last updated: 20 October 2022)

Strategy is mostly around creating competitive advantage/ moats/ secrets (what Thiel calls it). Here are a bunch of frameworks/books to think about the same

Frameworks from some of my fav books on Strategy

  1. Thiel’s 7 questions: He explains how Tesla is different from other clean tech companies (check the end of the post). Zero to One is a must read if you work in startups/planning to startup.

  2. Hamilton’s 7 powers: Scale economics, Network economics, Counter positioning, Switching cost, Branding, Cornered resources, Process power. Something you should read if you are interested in business strategy.

  3. Munger’s 5 elements which create moats: Supply-Side Economies of Scale and Scope, Demand-Side Economies of Scale (Network Effects), Brand, Regulation, Patents and Intellectual Property.

  4. Platform revolution has a bunch of frameworks to think about how to build and grow a platform. It is highly relevant if you are working in a startup in the on demand space.

  5. Blitzscaling is a good read if you want to understand how to build hyper growth business. It also has a lot of frameworks for growth: things which can turbocharge it or limit it.

  6. Only the Paranoid Survive is a great playbook on surviving 10X changes and has lot of war stories from Intel.

  7. Obviously Awesome is one of the best books on product positioning.

  8. Blue Ocean Strategy is one of the first strategy books I ever read.

  9. My fav one: Understanding Michael Porter If you read this one you don’t need to read another strategy book.

  10. Competing Against Luck: Customers don’t buy products or services; they “hire” them to do a job.

  11. Playing to Win: Strategy is about making specific choices to win in the marketplace.

  12. Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The most basic idea of strategy is the application of strength against weakness.

Honorary mentions: Good to great, Built to last, Blue Ocean Strategy, The Innovator’s Dilemma I read them long back. Have to re read and take notes.

Additional reads

Masterclass I completed on Business Strategy: Bob Iger teaches Business Strategy and Leadership

Books I plan to read in the future