The hottest Strategy Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

What Are Companies Doing With Generative AI? A Tale Of 3 Strategies.

High ROI Data Science • 297 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Retail Data Strategy E-commerce
  1. Companies are using Generative AI tools to decrease training times and improve customer service in retail.
  2. Some companies are implementing Generative AI without a clear business problem statement, leading to undefined outcomes.
  3. Retailers like Walmart are strategically using Generative AI to change customer workflows, improve online shopping experiences, and increase revenue.

How to think about social effectiveness to protect creative budgets

The Social Juice • 24 implied HN points • 20 Dec 24
💼 Business Marketing Social media Strategy Branding Analytics
  1. When discussing social media success, it's important to focus on effectiveness, not just creativity. You need to tell a complete story about how your ideas impact the brand and business.
  2. To have a strong approach, measure three key areas: channel effects, brand effects, and commercial effects. This way, you can show not only how many people saw your content but also how it influenced brand awareness and sales.
  3. Always establish clear success measures before starting a project. This helps everyone understand how to evaluate success and can lead to better budget support in the future.

How to Formulate Your Unfair Advantage Strategy

Running Lean Mastery • 412 implied HN points • 01 Jul 23
💼 Business Strategy Competition Marketing
  1. Unfair advantages are characteristics that can't be easily copied or bought, like insider information or network effects.
  2. Unfair advantages differ from competitive advantages in that they have exclusivity and defensibility, making them harder to copy.
  3. Differentiate between a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) for customers and an Unfair Advantage directed towards competitors.
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15 Product Management templates to boost your productivity

Untrapping Product Teams • 393 implied HN points • 29 Mar 23
💼 Business Product Management Templates Strategy Discovery Delivery
  1. Product management is complex, and there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone.
  2. Utilizing various templates and methods can help create value and accelerate growth in product management.
  3. Premium materials and resources are available to help product leaders and managers understand key principles for success.

TBM 319: Surfing Inertia and Pendulum Swings

The Beautiful Mess • 158 implied HN points • 03 Nov 24
💼 Business Organizational Behavior Leadership Agility Change Management Strategy
  1. Companies struggle with finding the right balance between team independence and overall coordination. Too much focus on one can harm the other.
  2. Inertia can make it hard for companies to adapt, leading to bigger problems in the future if they're not addressed. Leaders should recognize this and take action.
  3. Being open to change and adjusting how teams work can help organizations respond better to challenges. Setting the right incentives also supports a flexible mindset.

Beating Hikaru

Zwischenzug • 373 implied HN points • 25 Feb 23
🎾 Sports Chess Competition Cheating Tournament Strategy
  1. The importance of strategic moves in chess and unexpected turnarounds in a game.
  2. The experience of being selected for fair play screening in chess tournaments and the stress it can bring to players.
  3. The challenges and implications of cheating suspicion in online chess tournaments, and the need for transparent and fair anti-cheating measures.

Apple

Business Breakdowns • 373 implied HN points • 11 Apr 23
💼 Business Technology Finance Retail Strategy Economy
  1. Apple's revenue is divided into five segments: iPhone, Mac, iPad, Wearables, Home and Accessories, and Services.
  2. Apple's Services segment has high margins and benefits from the large installed base of iPhone, Mac, and iPad users.
  3. Apple has a negative cash conversion cycle, giving the company leverage over its suppliers and improving working capital.

150+ Product Management Resources and 50+ ChatGPT Prompts: Your Complete 2025 PM Toolkit 🚀

The Product Channel By Sid Saladi • 16 implied HN points • 01 Jan 25
💼 Business Product Management AI Tools Resources Strategy Leadership
  1. There are over 150 useful resources for product management that can help professionals navigate topics like strategy, leadership, and AI integration.
  2. The toolkit includes more than 50 ChatGPT prompts designed to enhance productivity and creativity for product managers.
  3. New tools like ProductGPT can help product managers get customized answers and streamline their workflow, making their jobs easier.

Database Review

Zwischenzug • 353 implied HN points • 19 Jun 23
🎾 Sports Chess Poker Strategy Analysis Games
  1. In poker, understanding strategy requires looking at the big picture over many hands.
  2. Chess is a game of specifics and calculation, unlike poker which has too many possibilities to calculate precisely.
  3. In both chess and poker, it's essential to have a global view of your strategy to identify and correct systematic mistakes.

The 9 Fundamental Ingredients to Thrive with Product Management

Untrapping Product Teams • 157 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
💼 Business Product Management Ingredients Vision Strategy Learning
  1. Product management is like cooking: it's not just about the recipe, but also about how you do it and the ingredients you use.
  2. Recognize the fundamental ingredients for thriving in product management, such as product vision, strategy, goals, and testing assumptions.
  3. Having a strong product vision is crucial for inspiring and motivating teams to progress in the right direction.

Sneakily effective innovation

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 79 implied HN points • 24 Apr 24
💼 Business Innovation Product Development Strategy Workshops Consulting
  1. Organizations often avoid innovation because they fear failure and think it's too complicated or expensive. Instead, they can use small and simple experiments to explore new ideas safely.
  2. Learning to ask good questions and frame problems well is essential for effective innovation. This helps teams come up with better experiments that can inform their decisions.
  3. Workshops can offer hands-on experience for teams to develop their innovation skills. By collaborating on real challenges, they can create practical solutions that they can apply again in the future.

Sacrifice revenue for simplicity

Tiny Empires • 98 implied HN points • 11 Dec 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Marketing Sales Product Development Strategy
  1. Sometimes, it's better to simplify your business model even if it means making less money. This can save you time and reduce stress.
  2. Instead of making custom offers for every client, create standard packages to streamline sales. This way, you spend less time on individual deals.
  3. Automating your sales process can help you focus on growth. With self-serve options, clients can buy directly from your website, which saves you effort.

The Hagakure #86: One Job

The Hagakure • 61 implied HN points • 27 Jan 25
💼 Business Leadership Management Startups SaaS Strategy
  1. Giving control to your team is important, but first, you need to make sure they understand their tasks clearly. This way, people can make better decisions without relying on just one person.
  2. To help your team succeed, they need competence in their roles. This includes being good at problem-solving, communication, and understanding processes.
  3. As a leader, your job is to create a clear vision and help develop your team's skills. This allows everyone to work better together and feel more empowered.

Lululemon

Business Breakdowns • 275 implied HN points • 23 May 23
💼 Business Retail E-commerce Strategy Management Risk
  1. Lululemon dominates luxury athleisure market with loyal customers and high-quality products.
  2. The company has strong revenue segments, with high margins in direct-to-consumer sales.
  3. Industry trends and growth opportunities in menswear and international markets support Lululemon's continued success.

Letter #73: Jon Pollock (2015)

A Letter a Day • 255 implied HN points • 15 Apr 23
💼 Business Investing Activism Technology Management Strategy
  1. Jon Pollock discusses how activism fits into Elliott Management's overall investment strategy by seeking to positively shape investment outcomes and drive returns.
  2. Elliott Management excels in activism in the Technology sector due to the complex nature of the industry and the potential for unlocking value through operational improvements.
  3. Elliott Management's success in attaining board representation without launching proxy fights is attributed to strong relationships with institutional shareholders and the identification of situations where change is needed.

Trap Check

MatchQuarters • 255 implied HN points • 04 Sep 23
🎾 Sports Football Analysis Defense NFL Strategy
  1. The Chiefs' success formula in the modern game includes having a great QB, elite offense, and a middle-of-the-road defense that produces timely turnovers.
  2. The Chiefs have drafted strategically, with over half of their starters and eight of their 11 defensive starters drafted within the past three years.
  3. Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has been successful in creating a defense that leverages talent and uses MOFO coverages to play a bend-don't-break style.

Is Your AI Plan Just Paving the Cow Paths?

The Digital Leader Newsletter -- By John Rossman • 255 implied HN points • 16 Jun 23
💼 Business Innovation Strategy Technology Leadership Meetings
  1. Don't just automate existing processes with AI, redesign them completely for better outcomes and efficiency
  2. Prioritize rationalizing work processes before integrating and automating with technology
  3. Ensure AI implementations consider scaling, standardization, and design of new workflows for effective results

The Corner Store vs The Wholesaler

The Data Jargon Newsletter • 59 implied HN points • 21 May 24
💼 Business Consulting Entrepreneurship Marketing Sales Strategy
  1. The corner store model focuses on personal relationships and tailored solutions, while the wholesaler model is more about scale and efficiency. It's important to know what type of service you need for your business.
  2. Consulting firms can operate like either a corner store or a wholesaler, but they can't do both well at the same time. Understanding which approach fits your needs can save you money and frustration.
  3. Often, businesses think they need the efficiency of a wholesaler, but what they really need is the personal touch and problem-solving skills of a corner store. A personalized approach can lead to better outcomes.

The Dark Statistician Guide to the Office March Madness Pool

coldhealing • 235 implied HN points • 13 Mar 23
🎾 Sports Gambling Strategy Statistics
  1. The Dark Statistician Guide recommends using contrarian and statistical strategies in office March Madness pools.
  2. Focus on maximizing your odds of winning rather than college basketball knowledge when making your bracket.
  3. Consider decentralizing your picks, betting against popular choices, and adjusting strategies based on pool size for better chances of success.

The Measurement Trap

Fish Food for Thought • 32 implied HN points • 30 Oct 24
💼 Business Management Marketing Strategy Leadership Productivity
  1. Relying too much on numbers for management can blind you to important factors. It’s essential to recognize that not everything that matters can be measured.
  2. Nike's recent struggles show how chasing measurable goals can hurt a company's core values. Ignoring brand loyalty and innovation for data-driven decisions can lead to serious problems.
  3. Good leaders need to balance what they measure with understanding the unmeasurable parts of their organization, like team morale and creativity. The best insights often lie outside the numbers.

The End of Brands As We Know Them

The Intersection • 217 implied HN points • 01 Jun 23
💼 Business Marketing Technology Creativity Innovation Strategy
  1. The evolution of brands is being reshaped by AI, impacting how individuals can compete with institutions.
  2. Technological advancements are upgrading the cognitive operating system of human society, from the printing press in the 15th century to generative AI in the modern era.
  3. Business strategies are shifting from organizational scale to functional speed, from transactional to conversational, and from relying on unique selling propositions to clear points of view in order to stay relevant in the Intelligent Age.

9 tactics to get your first 50 SaaS customers in 2025

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 47 implied HN points • 19 Jan 25
💼 Business SaaS Marketing Sales Growth Strategy
  1. Networking can help you find your first SaaS customers. Reach out to people you know for introductions and referrals.
  2. Creating comparison and alternative pages on your website can attract customers in crowded markets. Show how your product stacks up against competitors.
  3. Understanding customer feedback is crucial. Ask customers how they heard about you and track why deals were lost to improve your sales process.