Remember, only strategies which your competitors might choose not to do are legitimate. Strategies which everyone would agree with, and which everyone would be keen to pursue, are illegitimate.

The problem is that founders are almost never aware of what these characteristics actually are.

how many of us have come across an actual real-life strategy which we truly found helpful?

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”

competitors •The inherent weaknesses of your product relative to your competitors •A helicopter vision of the market landscape •An understanding of your adjacent markets •An understanding of the norms of your category •Etc.

categories and have no competition.

Offer compelling value to your customers. Which lots of them want. Which they can’t get anywhere else. Which your products deliver effectively. And which your brand communicates memorably.

my adage to people has always been to “make interesting companies, not interesting advertising”. It’s expert-level stuff, admittedly, in a world where so few brands are capable of mastering the strategic basics – but it’s something we should shoot for, no question.

a little maxim coined by Srinivas Rao I want you to remember which will serve you well: Only is better than best. No matter how much better you think you are than the other brands around you, it’s nothing in comparison to being the only brand who does what you do.