Strategy expert and '7 Powers' author Hamilton Helmer explains the 'power progression' model determining which strategic moats are viable at different business maturity stages.
Insight
Helmer: Founders should evaluate strategic power before achieving product-market fit
“Even before you have product market fit,
It's worth thinking about strategy. Now it's not strategy in the sense of sort of this fully articulated strategic planning.
We're going to do this.
These are going to be the competitors.
This is going to, how we're goi…”
Insight
Helmer: Achieving true scale economies through data is rare
“People often think that they get
scale economies through data.
And I'd say that that's possible, but it's rare.
And the reason it's rare is not because there aren't scale economies in data, but rather that the range of scale that the existing competitors have…”
Insight
Helmer: Material network flywheels that alter returns are rare
“There are often flywheels, ones that really are material, are rare.
The key thing here is materiality, not whether the flywheel exists, but whether
The effect is strong enough to really tilt returns.”
Opinion
Helmer: Uber and Lyft lack true network economies
“You asked me earlier, or in the material you sent me about Uber and Lyft, I'd say that, you know, they probably have network effects involved, but not network economies.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Helmer: Generative AI will primarily benefit incumbent businesses over new categories
“I'm kind of the view from very much uncertain at this point that That generative AI will, its biggest impact will be that tertiary class. It will be used in a lot of things that that existed before and exist after, but are made better by it, like semiconductor…”
Insight
Helmer: Corporate value creation reduces entirely to power, market size, and execution
“There are this incredible, I mean, business is really hard, right? And there are just a multitude of things you have to pay attention for. I'm right because all those things fall into those three categories. So it's an exhaustive set, and it's just, it's, it s…”