Lakhasly

From there, it's a matter of sticking with that hook until it makes your business take off. However, the tricky part is that execution needs to be relentless, and it might take years before your vision starts to be shaped by the market!

Now that you are warned, what are some "strategy hooks," or as I like to call them, "strategy levers" to get you started?

A complete list is below, with links on the titles, which will bring you straight to the complete resource!

​These strategies are all discussed within the Business Engineering book!​

​Blue Ocean Player​
blue-ocean-strategy
A blue ocean is a strategy where the boundaries of existing markets are redefined, and new uncontested markets are created. At its core, there is value innovation, for which uncontested markets are created, where competition is made irrelevant. And the cost-value trade-off is broken. Thus, companies following a blue ocean strategy offer much more value at a lower cost for the end customers.
​Blue Sea Player​
blue-sea-strategy
In the business world, a Blue Sea is a space/market easier to navigate as it’s not crowded like the classic red ocean. However, the Blue Ocean focuses on creating uncontested markets. The Blue Sea ​strategy​ looks at zooming as much as possible within existing markets to find your minimum viable audience.
​Constructive Disruptor​
constructive-disruption
A consumer brand company like Procter & Gamble (P&G) defines "Constructive Disruption" as: a willingness to change, adapt, and create new trends and technologies that will shape our industry for the future. According to P&G, it moves around four pillars: lean innovation, brand building, supply chain, and digitalization & data analytics.
​Disruptor​
disruptive-innovation
Disruptive innovation as a term was first described by Clayton M. Christensen, an American academic and business consultant whom The Economist called “the most influential management thinker of his time.” Disruptive innovation describes the process by which a product or service takes hold at the bottom of a market and eventually displaces established competitors, products, firms, or alliances.
​Niche player​
microniche
A microniche is a subset of potential customers within a niche. In the era of dominating digital super-platforms, identifying a microniche can kick off the strategy of digital businesses to prevent competition against large platforms. As the microniche becomes a niche, then a market, scale becomes an option.
​Blitzscaler​
blitzscaling-business-model-innovation-canvas
The Blitzscaling business model canvas is a model based on the concept of Blitzscaling, which is a particular process of massive growth under uncertainty, and that prioritizes speed over efficiency and focuses on market domination to create a first-scaler advantage in a scenario of uncertainty.
​Continuous Blitzscaler​
amazon-flywheel
The Amazon Flywheel or Amazon Virtuous Cycle is a strategy that leverages on customer experience to drive traffic to the platform and third-party sellers. That improves the selections of goods, and Amazon further improves its cost structure so it can decrease prices which spins the flywheel.
​Octopus Strategy​
oyo-business-model
OYO business model is a mixture of platform and brand, where the company started primarily as an aggregator of homes across India, and it quickly moved to other verticals, from leisure to co-working and corporate travel. In a sort of octopus business strategy of expansion to cover the whole spectrum of short-term real estate.
​Gatekeeper's Model​
gatekeepers-model
In a world driven by tech giants that are locked in the digital distribution pipelines to reach billions of people across the globe, the gatekeeper hypothesis states that small businesses will need to pass through those nodes to reach key customers. Thus, those gatekeepers become the enablers (or perhaps deterrents) for small businesses across the globe.
​Surfer Model​
duckduckgo-business-model
DuckDuckGo makes money in two simple ways: Advertising and Affiliate Marketing. Advertising is shown based on the keywords typed into the search box. Affiliate revenues come from Amazon and eBay affiliate programs. When users buy after getting on those sites through DuckDuckGo the company collects a small commission.
Real-World Case Studies
Cirque du Soleil (Blue Ocean Player)

Situation: Traditional circus industry faced challenges due to animal rights issues and saturation of similar performances.

Strategy: Reinvented the circus by eliminating animal acts, focusing on theatrical narratives combined with high-level acrobatics.

Outcome: Became a globally recognized brand, with multiple shows worldwide, and commanding higher ticket prices.

Nintendo Wii (Blue Ocean Player)

Situation: Gaming industry dominated by graphics-heavy consoles like PlayStation and Xbox.

Strategy: Introduced Wii with motion-sensing technology, targeting a broader family audience.

Outcome: Wii outsold competitors, introducing a new audience to gaming.

Spotify (Blue Sea Player)

Situation: Music industry faced piracy issues; existing streaming platforms had fragmented user experiences.

Strategy: Focused on curated playlists, user-friendly interface, and licensing deals with major labels.

Outcome: Became the leading music streaming service globally, reducing music piracy.

Netflix (Disruptor)

Situation: Video rental stores were the main way people accessed movies at home.

Strategy: Introduced mail-order DVD service, later pivoting to streaming with heavy investment in original content.

Outcome: Disrupted video rental and TV industries, becoming the top streaming service worldwide.

Etsy (Niche Player)

Situation: E-commerce dominated by broad platforms like Amazon and eBay.

Strategy: Created a platform specifically for handmade, vintage, and unique goods.

Outcome: Became the primary platform for unique items, building a strong seller-buyer community.

Uber (Blitzscaler)

Situation: Traditional taxi services dominated urban transportation.

Strategy: Introduced a ride-hailing app with dynamic pricing, rapidly expanding across cities.

Outcome: Transformed urban transport, leading to the rise of the gig economy.

Amazon (Continuous Blitzscaler)

Situation: Growing e-commerce market with challenges in user experience and delivery.

Strategy: Emphasized customer experience, invested in logistics, and introduced features like Amazon Prime.

Outcome: Became the world's top e-commerce platform, setting standards for delivery and service.

OYO (Octopus Strategy)

Situation: Hotel industry was fragmented with no standardized experience.

Strategy: Aggregated hotels, standardizing the experience, and rapidly expanding to other verticals.

Outcome: OYO became a significant player in the hospitality industry, expanding globally.

Apple's App Store (Gatekeeper's Model)

Situation: Developers wanted to reach the growing iOS user base.

Strategy: Created the App Store as the exclusive platform for iOS apps, setting rules and standards.

Outcome: App Store became essential for developers, with Apple ensuring quality and security.

DuckDuckGo (Surfer Model)

Situation: Search engine market dominated by Google, with growing privacy concerns.

Strategy: Positioned as a privacy-focused search engine, earning through non-intrusive ads and affiliate marketing.

Outcome: Carved a niche, attracting users who prioritize privacy, with steady growth.

Recap: In this issue, there are ten strategy levers!

Blue Ocean Strategy: This approach involves redefining market boundaries and creating new markets with uncontested spaces. The goal is to provide exceptional value to customers at a lower cost. It involves finding new ways to innovate and render competition irrelevant, thus breaking the traditional trade-off between value and cost!

Blue Sea Strategy: Similar to the Blue Ocean concept, the Blue Sea strategy emphasizes finding less crowded spaces within existing markets. The focus is on identifying a minimum viable audience and delivering unique value within those niches. This starts from the assumption that you can build an extremely valuable business by looking at a tiny niche (a microniche). The exciting thing is, with the Blue Sea Strategy, you create options to scale over time!

Constructive Disruptor: This strategy involves being open to change, adaptation, and innovation to shape the industry's future. It focuses on pillars like lean innovation, brand building, supply chain optimization, and leveraging digitalization and data analytics. Through this strategy, you leverage the company's existing distribution network to launch new products that further tap into that distribution.

Disruptor: Disruptive innovation, coined by Clayton Christensen, describes how new products or services initially target the bottom of the market and eventually displace established competitors through innovation and market adaptation. The disruptor will start from the bottom of the market and slowly, then suddenly, move upstream!

Niche Player: A microniche is a subset within a niche, which can be leveraged by digital businesses to prevent direct competition with large platforms. As a microniche grows into a niche and eventually a market, scaling becomes feasible.

Blitzscaler: Blitzscaling emphasizes rapid growth under uncertainty to establish a first-scaler advantage. This approach prioritizes speed over efficiency and aims for market domination.

Continuous Blitzscaler (Amazon Flywheel): This strategy, used by Amazon, focuses on improving customer experience to drive traffic, thereby enhancing the selection of goods and decreasing prices. The positive cycle continues as lower prices attract more customers.

Octopus Strategy (OYO Model): The OYO business model involves expanding into various verticals from its initial aggregator role, covering a broad spectrum of short-term real estate offerings.

Gatekeeper's Model: In a world dominated by tech giants, this model suggests that small businesses need to pass through these gatekeepers to reach key customers, making them crucial enablers for global business reach. In that respect, a small business can learn the access key to gain distribution through these gatekeepers. And on the other side, if you want to build a gatekeeping company, you need to focus on building massive distribution.

Surfer Model: The Surfer Model entails crafting a business approach that capitalizes on inherent conflicts within the dominant player's business model. By strategically designing a model that exploits these conflicts, you create a structure that disrupts the entire established company's framework, rendering them incapable of effectively countering your approach. This method relies on identifying vulnerabilities in the dominant player's strategy and leveraging them to build a resilient and competitive business model.

Ciao!