The hottest Strategy Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

Database Review

Zwischenzug • 353 implied HN points • 19 Jun 23
🎾 Sports Strategy
  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.

How to Sell AI Consulting at High Margins

Enterprise AI Trends • 189 implied HN points • 05 Jul 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. AI consulting is tough for many businesses because they struggle to be unique. Most try to offer either simple products or expensive custom services, but neither works well.
  2. OpenAI is changing the game by expanding its consulting services to focus on big clients. They want to build long-term relationships, not just make quick money.
  3. OpenAI sees consulting as a way to embed its technology into companies for the future. This strategy helps them create a profitable service while also deepening their involvement in enterprise tech.

Priced‑In Flaws: from cars to colleagues to couples

Five Links (and three graphs) by Auren Hoffman • 170 implied HN points • 13 Jul 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. When you buy something, like a car, you need to accept its flaws. If you choose an orange car, complaining that it's not blue isn't fair because you knew it was orange all along.
  2. This idea applies to people too. If you hire someone who is great but struggles with deadlines, you can’t blame them for that flaw if you knew about it first.
  3. In relationships, if you accept someone's weaknesses, like being late, you shouldn't complain later. You chose to be with them knowing those flaws were part of the package.

17 experts sharing their best tips founders shouldn’t skip in their 0-1mil ARR journey?

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 34 implied HN points • 07 Dec 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Match your positioning to market reality by honestly assessing market maturity, choosing a clear product category or use case, and crafting a simple sales story backed by a central messaging library.
  2. Build your Ideal Customer Profile from real customer behavior and early wins, niche down to the segments that get the fastest ROI, and make the ICP a living system that guides product, marketing, and sales.
  3. Treat go-to-market as repeatable processes: start content once you have an MVP and one sharp narrative, run pricing as a regular iteration tied to company stage, and keep CRM and KPIs simple so you follow up and make data-driven decisions.
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TBM 275: "Bad" Strategy. Why?

The Beautiful Mess • 1256 implied HN points • 01 Mar 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. A company strategy is actually a collection of individual strategies. Each person within a company has their own strategy they try to advocate for.
  2. The communicated strategy in a company is often a negotiated narrative, and the real strategy might not be fully disclosed. There are subtleties and contexts behind the scenes.
  3. Strategies are a negotiation. What may seem objectively right might not align with the current status quo. Different people in different roles might perceive and act on strategies uniquely.

Resilience Series Part 3: Bakkafrost

Business Breakdowns • 334 implied HN points • 26 Sep 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Bakkafrost is a family-run salmon farming company with extensive vertical integration.
  2. The company owns every part of the operation, from fish eggs to processing, creating a resilient ecosystem.
  3. Despite challenges like a new 20% salmon tax, Bakkafrost remains focused on expansion and diversification for long-term growth.

Launching Something New

New World Same Humans • 40 implied HN points • 30 Nov 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. A new paid project launches on Thursday, December 4 — tied to the full moon — to create a fresh space for thoughtful analysis.
  2. It will explore the intersection of technology, business, culture and creativity, focusing on how emerging technologies and shifting norms are reshaping work and society.
  3. It's aimed at designers, marketers, strategists, consultants, founders and other practitioners who need to keep pace with fast-changing consumers and build impactful products, services, or campaigns.

Updated figures: US aid to Ukraine

Speaking Security • 334 implied HN points • 10 Jul 23
🌍 World Politics Strategy
  1. At least $137 billion in aid has been sent to Ukraine since February 25, 2022, with two-thirds being military aid.
  2. The structure and volume of US aid suggests a trend towards endless war in Ukraine.
  3. Access to accurate data on civilian deaths, military losses, and aid totals could challenge misleading narratives about the costs of war.

The 9 Fundamental Ingredients to Thrive with Product Management

Untrapping Product Teams • 157 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
💼 Business Strategy
  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.

TBM 323: Quick Tool Tips

The Beautiful Mess • 542 implied HN points • 21 Nov 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Make tools fit your needs by trying them out and getting feedback. This way, you can avoid forcing your team into a system that doesn't help anyone.
  2. Involve all kinds of team members in decisions about tools. If you only ask certain roles, you might miss out on important ideas and needs from others.
  3. Start simple before automating. Test simple methods first to see what works, then build on those ideas rather than jumping straight into complicated solutions.

Sneakily effective innovation

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 79 implied HN points • 24 Apr 24
💼 Business Strategy
  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.

AI Pricing Strategy 101: How to Use ChatGPT, Claude & Perplexity for Pricing Research — AI-powered refresh of your successful pricing frameworks post

The Product Channel By Sid Saladi • 10 implied HN points • 01 Feb 26
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Use each AI tool for its strength — Perplexity for fast market research, Claude for customer psychology and messaging, and ChatGPT for scenario math and modeling so your pricing work is faster and more accurate.
  2. Shift from effort-based to value-based pricing — charge for the customer impact and outcomes you deliver, not the hours you spent, and let AI help quantify and communicate that value.
  3. AI streamlines the pricing workflow by summarizing competitors, simulating tough customers, and running pricing scenarios, and you can automate much of this with ready-to-use prompts.

The Art of Experiment Design

Running Lean Mastery • 314 implied HN points • 15 Jul 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Running experiments is crucial for innovation, but simply running experiments is not enough.
  2. Formulating better guesses is key for quality results in experiments.
  3. Steps to improve experiment design: adopt a discovery mindset, shortlist promising campaigns, and test with small additive experiments.

Is the Tao smarter than the Dow?

What's Important? • 32 implied HN points • 14 Dec 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Companies that treat employees like family by investing in their welfare and communities build loyalty and long-term resilience, which fuels innovation and survival.
  2. Authentic leaders who stay open and 'receive'—drawing on mature love, contribution, and an external intelligence—unlock far more creativity, growth, and win-win outcomes than ego-driven or purely market-driven leaders.
  3. Wealth can create isolation, but putting even a small portion of resources into personal transformation and community connection can reintegrate capital and lead to outsized, positive returns where money follows the right contribution.

Starting a Substack

My Home Office Hacks • 10 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Treat a Substack like self‑publishing: building it doesn’t automatically bring readers, so you must actively market and consistently work to grow an audience.
  2. Right after publishing, post a Note and share your issue on your social channels; also subscribe to and recommend other Substacks to get visibility and attract curious readers.
  3. Good content starts with genuine interest, your own voice, and a clear point of view; stories build trust and engagement, and free subscribers can become paid ones later.

The 2x2 Edition

Why is this interesting? • 1568 implied HN points • 01 Aug 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. 2x2 charts are a common tool in consulting and presentations to explain ideas
  2. The concept of 2x2 charts originated from the worlds of game theory and business strategy
  3. 2x2 charts aim to simplify complex ideas for better understanding and execution in organizations

Lululemon

Business Breakdowns • 275 implied HN points • 23 May 23
💼 Business Strategy
  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.

Deep dive on Xbox leak

SuperJoost Playlist • 317 implied HN points • 21 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Strategy
  1. Microsoft accidentally leaked internal documents revealing plans for Xbox until 2030.
  2. Microsoft aims for significant revenue growth in its gaming division, especially from Game Pass subscribers.
  3. The leaked documents show insights into Microsoft's strategies, such as potential acquisitions and revenue targets.

Letter #73: Jon Pollock (2015)

A Letter a Day • 255 implied HN points • 15 Apr 23
💼 Business 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 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.

Inside Netflix’s $82.7 Billion Gamble: How Ted Sarandos Outmaneuvered Hollywood for Warner Bros. Discovery

Huddle Up • 26 implied HN points • 08 Dec 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Netflix is buying Warner Bros. Discovery for $82.7 billion, winning a bidding war and gaining major franchises plus HBO Max’s roughly 130 million subscribers. This would make Netflix far larger than any streaming rival.
  2. Industry concerns are that the merger could shorten theatrical release windows, hurt movie theaters, and weaken terms for many actors, writers, and production staff, making it a clear antitrust flashpoint.
  3. Netflix plans to pursue a legal strategy to win DOJ approval and believes the deal’s economics still work even if regulators push back or try to block the merger.

TBM 340: Path to $

The Beautiful Mess • 304 implied HN points • 13 Feb 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Different teams have varying impacts on business outcomes, making it easier for some to show their value than others. For instance, a team focused on improving sales can clearly demonstrate their contribution, unlike teams juggling multiple tasks.
  2. Startups often change their team structure frequently to tackle immediate challenges, which can lead to chaos, but also strong focus when everyone rallies around a project. This flexible approach can help in growth and development.
  3. It’s important for organizations to recognize how their teams collaborate and support each other. Finding ways to help less effective teams focus or connect with important goals can boost overall performance and success.

40+ ICP marketing plays

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 465 implied HN points • 23 Oct 24
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Identify your ideal customer profile (ICP) well. Look at signals like company growth and tech usage so you know who to target.
  2. Use different marketing strategies together, like emails and social media, to reach your best customers effectively. It's better than just hoping your ads will land on the right people.
  3. Keep track of how potential customers interact with your business, like signing up for newsletters or attending events. These actions show they are interested and can help guide your follow-up efforts.

The Corner Store vs The Wholesaler

The Data Jargon Newsletter • 59 implied HN points • 21 May 24
💼 Business 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.

TBM 227: Explicit vs. Implicit Strategy

The Beautiful Mess • 1507 implied HN points • 18 Jun 23
💼 Business Strategy
  1. A strategy should be a clear description of challenges, decisions on what to address, and specific actions to impact those challenges.
  2. Translating strategy into tangible goals and budgets is crucial for making it meaningful to people in the organization.
  3. Creating a safe space for hard discussions, dedicating time for strategy development, and focusing on deployment are essential for making a strategy effective.

Clarity of Thought

Investing 101 • 156 implied HN points • 31 May 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Good founders have 'clarity of thought', which means they can explain their ideas clearly and logically. This helps others understand their vision and connects with the audience.
  2. Founders build a framework for their ideas that makes it easy for others to understand complex concepts. By using clear definitions and examples, they help people grasp their vision quickly.
  3. To make a strong pitch, founders need to present their main idea distinctly and also explain why it matters. They should avoid distractions and focus on what makes their idea important and valuable.

🧠 50 Ways to Leave Your Guidelines (And Actually Build a Brand)

the case for brand 💼 • 137 implied HN points • 27 Jun 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. A brand is more than just a logo or a marketing plan. It's about how a business operates and the decisions it makes every day.
  2. Every interaction a customer has with a business is a chance to express the brand. From emails to packaging, every detail matters.
  3. To build a strong brand, it's important to think about how brand values influence everything, not just marketing. This includes team culture and customer experiences.

The Dark Statistician Guide to the Office March Madness Pool

coldhealing • 235 implied HN points • 13 Mar 23
🎾 Sports Strategy
  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 Success Trap

Fish Food for Thought • 30 implied HN points • 26 Nov 25
💼 Business Strategy
  1. Success often feels like freedom but quietly narrows your options; the more you specialize and optimize, the harder it becomes to change course.
  2. The 'success trap' happens when you reward exploitation over exploration, so companies and people stop experimenting and become vulnerable to disruption.
  3. Avoid it by deliberately preserving optionality: make time for experiments, rotate roles, learn new skills, and treat success as stewardship that must be renewed.

Down The Path(ways)

QTR’s Fringe Finance • 13 implied HN points • 07 Jan 26
💰 Finance Strategy
  1. A favored sector is already making noticeable progress this year and appears to have real momentum.
  2. This piece is an early-January update, serving as an early-year check on how the sector is performing.
  3. The full write-up is behind a paywall, so you need to subscribe or sign in to read the complete analysis.