The hottest Strategy Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

Dev-Led Landscape: Transforming a Middle-Aged Startup

Tyler’s Musings • 5 implied HN points • 29 Nov 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Establish regular meetings and routines in your company. This creates predictability and keeps everyone aligned on goals.
  2. Transparency is key. Share important information openly with everyone in your organization to build trust and keep everyone informed.
  3. Always analyze your customer's needs and market trends. Understand who your customers are and how to best serve them to stay competitive.

Doing less with less

Seth’s Substack • 3 HN points • 01 May 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. During economic downturns, many companies adopt a 'do more with less' strategy by reducing costs and staff.
  2. A 'do more with less' approach can buy time and drive efficiency, but it may lead to hidden risks and instability.
  3. Consider a 'less with less' strategy of narrowing focus and cutting scope to continue innovating with a concentrated effort.

#36: Ready for the unexpected

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 39 implied HN points • 08 Jul 20
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Thinking about the future as uncertain helps organizations adapt better to surprises. They can adjust their plans quickly when things change unexpectedly.
  2. A risk mindset focuses on specific expected outcomes and can lead to scrambling when things don't go as planned. This creates stress and confusion in uncertain situations.
  3. Being prepared for the unexpected allows organizations and people to continue functioning normally, even when faced with surprises. This kind of mindset is especially useful in today's unpredictable world.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

#33: Preference uncertainty

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 39 implied HN points • 17 Jun 20
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Making choices is easier when we clearly know what we prefer. When our preferences are uncertain, it becomes tough to decide on a course of action.
  2. Preference uncertainty happens when we don't know how to rank different outcomes or when we lack complete knowledge about them. This can make it hard to choose what to do.
  3. Businesses also face preference uncertainty, which affects their decision-making, especially when weighing options like safety versus profit or investing in new ideas versus sticking with what works.

Scenario Planning: Strategy, Steps and Practical Examples

Product Mindset's Newsletter • 11 implied HN points • 28 Jan 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Scenario planning helps organizations prepare for a range of possibilities in an uncertain future.
  2. The scenario planning process involves steps like predicting future drivers, understanding impacts, and gauging effects of scenarios.
  3. Best practices for scenario planning include focusing on key uncertainties, keeping it simple, and fostering a culture of resilience.

How To Start a New Role - Part 2

Fish Food for Thought • 4 implied HN points • 24 Dec 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. When starting a new role, it's really important to listen more than you speak. Spend your first days understanding the team and the work they do instead of rushing to make changes.
  2. Use the 90/10 rule for communication: listen 90% of the time and speak only 10%. This helps you gather insights to make better decisions later.
  3. Focus on stopping projects that don't add value rather than starting new initiatives right away. This helps clarify priorities and shows you're willing to make tough decisions for the benefit of the team.

How can R&D impact CAC, LTV & profitability

Brick by Brick • 9 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Understanding unit economics is crucial for businesses to determine profitability and optimize operations.
  2. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is a key metric in evaluating marketing and sales efficiency, while Lifetime Value (LTV) predicts the profit from a customer's entire relationship with the company.
  3. R&D can significantly impact profitability by lowering CAC and increasing LTV through delivering superior products, enhancing user experiences, and attracting customers organically.

The 3 key jobs of a product manager: Recognize the problem, Structure a solution, and Execute

amivora • 9 implied HN points • 28 Feb 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. As a product manager, it's crucial to recognize the customer's problem by understanding their struggles and spotting patterns in their experiences.
  2. To structure a solution, PMs need to frame hypotheses, identify target audiences, set milestones, define success metrics, and make consistent decisions.
  3. Executing on the solution involves creating urgency, holding the team accountable, dividing work efficiently, and being willing to fill in gaps to ensure the product ships.

Capital Planning for Early Stage SaaS Founders

desknotesaz • 1 HN point • 29 Feb 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Capital planning includes budget preparation, strategy formation, and team alignment. It helps create a framework for quantifying decisions and deliberate capital allocation.
  2. A capital plan involves mapping out a medium-term business strategy and creating a budget that outlines resource allocation and implications on cash balance.
  3. Navigating from Series A to B requires increased complexity and possibly hiring a financial expert. Their role is crucial in managing operational details, translating them into a comprehensive budget, and challenging proposals for realistic alignment.

20/36 : 🧠 Outcome based Product roadmaps?

Product Mindset's Newsletter • 15 implied HN points • 04 Jun 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. An outcome is a measurable change in customer behavior, not just a list of features.
  2. Product roadmaps are essential for aligning teams, communicating priorities, and providing strategic vision to stakeholders.
  3. Outcome-based roadmaps focus on outcomes over outputs, provide clarity and alignment, and empower product teams to solve problems.

Building a Business that Endures

Femstreet • 8 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Building an enduring company in 2024 involves iteratively testing ideas and speaking to customers before raising capital.
  2. An enduring business focuses on solving long-term problems, breaking down strategies into clear phases, and maintaining disciplined product development.
  3. To build an enduring company, prioritize people, product-market fit, and unit economics while embracing quick decision-making and continuous learning.

Deconstructing Clay's Pricing Strategy

Good Better Best • 4 implied HN points • 25 Oct 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Clay has a unique pricing model that doesn't charge per user. Instead, it uses a credit system, allowing teams to collaborate without adding costs for each user.
  2. Their pricing strategy has evolved over time with clear updates. Clay focuses on making sure customers understand how to use their credits effectively.
  3. They offer different plans that grow in features and flexibility, helping businesses of all sizes easily pick the plan that fits their needs.

How to prioritize marketing activities & avoid random acts of marketing

MKT1 Newsletter • 4 implied HN points • 21 Oct 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Prioritize your marketing activities by balancing new ideas with proven strategies. This way, you can test new things while also focusing on what works.
  2. Use a structured process for organizing your marketing ideas, including categorizing them into big projects, core work, and operational tasks. This helps keep your efforts aligned with your goals.
  3. Spend time upfront on prioritization to prevent wasting time on unrelated tasks later. A clear roadmap will keep you focused and efficient throughout the year.

Cheatcodes for Usage-Based Pricing (with Scott Woody)

Good Better Best • 1 implied HN point • 18 Jul 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Usage-based pricing can help businesses align costs with actual value, making it easier for customers to pay based on what they use. This model is preferred in industries like AI where services scale rapidly.
  2. Setting clear guardrails and allowing customers to manage their budgets can prevent unexpected costs. Providing upfront credits helps customers understand their anticipated spending.
  3. Companies should prepare for a shift in internal processes when adopting usage-based pricing. This includes changes in sales tactics, finance calculations, and product features to ensure visibility and control for users.

The Art of Moving Target Defense

Phoenix Substack • 14 implied HN points • 04 May 23
🕹 Technology Strategy
  1. Traditional defense strategies like firewalls and antivirus are no longer sufficient against sophisticated cyber attacks.
  2. Moving target defense involves knowing your network, understanding enemy tactics, and using deception to confuse attackers.
  3. Implementing a moving target defense strategy can help organizations stay ahead of cyber threats by evolving and adapting their defense tactics.

How to build your growth (marketing) strategy

MKT1 Newsletter • 10 implied HN points • 24 Oct 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Understand the four high-level ways to drive growth and prioritize them accordingly.
  2. Deeply analyze your audience, market, and go-to-market strategy to build the right foundation for your growth marketing.
  3. Identify strategic big bets or high-impact projects that can significantly change your growth trajectory.

The goal of a “strategy” is to change our own team’s behavior

amivora • 7 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. For a strategy to be useful, it should change the behavior of our team to create better outcomes for customers.
  2. A strong strategy should help every team member to make better decisions daily by understanding the vision, goals, and their role within the larger picture.
  3. Setting up a strategy involves asking specific questions upfront to build conviction, provide clarity on changes needed, and ensure it translates into practical guidance for day-to-day work.

The Battle of Bakhmut: Postmortem

Big Serge Thought • 12 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
🌍 World Politics Strategy
  1. The Battle of Bakhmut was a prolonged and bloody conflict, with slow progress and extensive destruction due to intense urban combat.
  2. Both Ukrainian and Russian sides debated the strategic importance of Bakhmut, with theories of it being used as a trap or a vital defensive anchor.
  3. The battle resulted in high casualties, with estimations of around 45,000 losses for Ukraine, 17,000 for Wagner, and a strategic advantage for Russia in terms of preserving its regular forces.

The Art & Science of Demand Generation

Market-ed-it • 11 implied HN points • 17 Jul 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Demand generation is not just about capturing existing demand but also about creating new demand by educating the audience about your product or service.
  2. To create original demand, educate your audience about how your product solves a pain point they may not even be aware of.
  3. Manipulating existing demand involves strategies like content marketing, influencer partnerships, and understanding where your target audience spends time.

Everything you wanted to ask about the pricing in B2B SaaS | Alex David (Corrily, Segment, Simon-Kucher)

nonamevc • 8 implied HN points • 08 Dec 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Consider different stages in pricing strategy based on company revenue: early stage, growth stage, and scaling stage.
  2. Placement of pricing function within a B2B SaaS organization can vary in sales, product, or finance/operations departments.
  3. Testing pricing changes, preventing price anchoring, and understanding rational buyer behavior are crucial in B2B SaaS pricing.

Build for on-chain natives or mask crypto entirely

Parth's Playground • 12 implied HN points • 08 May 23
🕹 Technology Strategy
  1. If you're building a crypto consumer app, focus on on-chain natives or hide crypto completely until necessary.
  2. For on-chain natives, solve urgent problems they face, as they are more likely to try new things and bring in new users.
  3. Startups should not try to force a market to happen, but rather provide a platform to highlight new projects and quickly see what resonates with mainstream audiences.

📈 📊 How to Develop and Write KPIs: A Guide for Product Managers 📋

The Product Channel By Sid Saladi • 3 implied HN points • 27 Oct 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. KPIs are important tools that help product managers measure how well their product is performing. They show how close you are to reaching your business goals.
  2. To create effective KPIs, start with your business objectives and define specific, measurable metrics that relate directly to those goals.
  3. Regularly monitor your KPIs and be prepared to adjust them as necessary. This helps you stay on track and make informed decisions about improvements.

Demystifying Strategy

SAURABH SAHA • 11 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Strategy is more than just a plan; it involves exploiting weaknesses to achieve goals.
  2. An effective strategy involves comprehensive analysis, guiding principles, and tactical execution.
  3. To excel in strategy, one must be flexible, learn from the past, and adapt to changing environments.

No More Pitch Deck

Venture Prose • 39 implied HN points • 27 Feb 18
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Pitch decks may not effectively represent the best entrepreneurs.
  2. Focus on understanding your customers to pique investor interest.
  3. When meeting with investors, emphasize team, market knowledge, and customer understanding over a pitch deck.

Ukraine's Only Hope: Diplomacy + Neutrality

John’s Substack • 5 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🌍 World Politics Strategy
  1. Ukraine's best hope lies in pursuing diplomacy and maintaining neutrality.
  2. The importance of discussing the future of the Ukraine war and strategizing for the benefit of Ukraine and the West.
  3. Engagement in 'The Deep Dive' conversation with Lt. Colonel Danny Davis to elaborate on the Ukraine war's direction and strategies for the future.

The Best of Good Better Best, 2024

Good Better Best • 2 implied HN points • 20 Dec 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. AI in pricing is becoming really important. Companies are trying different ways to charge for AI features, and it's exciting to see how they'll do it.
  2. Seat-based pricing isn’t going away. Companies are getting creative with how they charge per user, making it more flexible for different types of customers.
  3. Customer support is changing too. Businesses are exploring how AI can help with support, but some are still focusing on personalized service to keep things human.

How to make a compelling pitch deck

Venture Prose • 19 implied HN points • 11 Nov 19
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Pitch decks can be helpful to reflect on your venture, explain it clearly, and convince others with strong arguments.
  2. When addressing a problem or opportunity, start by engaging with customers/users and then explain the reasons why the problem persists before talking about your solution.
  3. In a pitch deck, focus on the product/service first, demonstrate its value proposition, and show its benefits from the customer's perspective before diving into the target market and competitive landscape.

How to run effective campaigns

MKT1 Newsletter • 5 implied HN points • 12 Dec 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Effective campaigns require a combination of the right marketing strategy and execution done collaboratively.
  2. Plan campaigns in advance and prioritize them based on their potential impact.
  3. Assign a single DRI for each campaign and ensure tight coordination across all marketing functions.

20230303

Curious futures (KGhosh) • 4 implied HN points • 03 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Strategy
  1. Friction drives engagement and human connection in a world that's constantly in motion.
  2. Keep up with exciting 2024 trends, tech innovations like AirCanada's bot, AI limitations in job automation, and LLMs in wargame scenarios.
  3. Consider strategies like open vs. proprietary AI systems, governing agentic AI systems, and the importance of data quality for genAI.