The hottest Competitive Strategy Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Does OpenAI’s new financing make sense?

Marcus on AI • 10196 implied HN points • 27 Feb 26
đź’Ľ Business Competitive Strategy
  1. The financing looks more like vendor or supportive financing than arms‑length venture capital, which raises doubts about its true value and incentives.
  2. OpenAI struggles to make a profit because the product can be unreliable, operating costs are high, and there’s no clear technical moat, which has triggered price wars.
  3. With competitors closing the gap and valuation rising despite setbacks, the deal appears risky and may reflect an unsustainable overvaluation.

250 Roche Axelios Instruments In the First Year Possible?

ASeq Newsletter • 14 implied HN points • 28 Feb 26
đź’Ľ Business Competitive Strategy
  1. Informal polls on Discord and LinkedIn had low response and are hard to interpret, but they did identify a small group of respondents who actually have purchasing influence.
  2. Even though Roche's Axelios pricing isn't much better than Illumina's, the product still appears compelling to a subset of potential buyers.
  3. Using rough assumptions about market size (>2000 instruments) and the poll results, a back‑of‑the‑envelope projection yields about 250 Axelios units in the first year, but that number relies on several optimistic assumptions and substantial uncertainty.

How to crush AI native startups (as an incumbent): Part 1

Enterprise AI Trends • 21 implied HN points • 07 Dec 25
đź’Ľ Business Competitive Strategy
  1. Big incumbents are building playbooks to defend their enterprise market share from AI-native startups.
  2. Their main play is to force startups into expensive pricing and capital wars, turning competition into a high-stakes fight of resources.
  3. Pricing for enterprise AI (especially token pricing) is becoming a frontline battleground in 2026, with M&A and product moves set to follow.

Don’t Sell Yourself Cheap

Build To Scale • 19 implied HN points • 30 Jan 24
đź’Ľ Business Competitive Strategy
  1. When pricing software, focus on value over cost. It's vital to find the right balance and not undervalue your product.
  2. Adapt pricing based on customer segments. Small businesses and larger enterprises have different budgets and needs, so consider offering various editions or plans.
  3. Avoid commodity pricing and aim for a pricing model customers can easily understand. Make sure pricing generates positive margins and evolves with your company.
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