How things win — Steph Ango
How things win
November 18, 2023 · 6 minute read
Why do people flock to something? What creates an edge, an advantage, a moat? How do things win, or at least survive, in a highly competitive landscape?
Organisms, people, products, organizations, networks. All are able to overcome competitors and accumulate energy by developing strengths along certain vectors.
Successful things tend to optimize competency on a narrow set of strategies, often a unique and unusual combination of strategies. Here are seventy such strategies, grouped in broad categories.
Accumulation
Strategy<br>Description<br>Examples
Usership<br>A critical mass of users, network effect<br>Phone system, the internet, scaled social networks
Completeness<br>All-in-one tool, one-stop shop<br>Swiss army knife, Walmart
Aggregation<br>An environment or marketplace designed for broad participation<br>Cities, malls, Amazon, Craigslist
Diversification<br>Low-dependency on any one stream of resources<br>Conglomerates, omnivores
Price
Strategy<br>Description<br>Examples
Affordability<br>Comparatively low-cost<br>Mass production, fast food, fast fashion
Luxury<br>Intentionally high-cost, often labor-intensive, or status symbol<br>Veblen goods, supercars, luxury watches
Skimming<br>Ingests a large volume of very small transactions or resources<br>Credit cards, baleen whales, planktivores
Time
Strategy<br>Description<br>Examples
Heritage<br>Multi-generational legacy<br>Religions, old companies
Craftsmanship<br>Uses more time, precision, and attention to detail than competitors<br>Handmade watches, bespoke tailoring, Leica
Organic<br>Natural growth process that cannot be accelerated<br>Trees, ecosystems, aged cheeses
Endurance<br>Ability to operate continuously over along period of time<br>Marathon runners, nuclear submarines
Uniqueness
Strategy<br>Description<br>Examples
Specialization<br>Strong competence in a narrow niche<br>Trade schools, pandas
Versatility<br>General competence adapted to many tasks<br>CPUs, opposable thumbs
Hybrid<br>Competence in two distinct areas, or blending of two strengths not usually found together<br>Frogs, cronuts, amphibious vehicles, hybrid cars
Divergence<br>Creativity, unusualness, differentiation from the norm<br>Van Gogh, Picasso, Frank Gehry
Authenticity<br>Traceable to its source, especially where counterfeiting is prevalent<br>Money, olive oil, art
Rarity<br>Naturally limited in quantity, at the edge of the distribution curve<br>Beachfront property, Victor Wembanyama
Scarcity<br>Artificially limited in quantity<br>Collectibles, NFTs
Secrecy<br>Made difficult to copy by protecting private knowledge, or combining components in a way that cannot be disentangled<br>Magicians, Coca-Cola, trade secrets
Irreverence<br>Contrarian, counter-cultural, disregard for tradition<br>Richard Branson, South Park
Offense
Strategy<br>Description<br>Examples
Violence<br>Destroys or consumes the opponent through physical force<br>Military attacks, predators
Litigation<br>Weakens opponents through legal burden<br>Patent trolls, lawsuits, Mickey Mouse
Nettlesomeness<br>Causes the opponent to make mistakes<br>Magnus Carlsen
Sabotage<br>Creates weaknesses in the opponent’s structure or defenses<br>Terrorism
Parasitism<br>Extracts or hijacks resources from a host<br>Mosquitos, cordyceps
Scavenging<br>Opportunistically ingests dying or weakened prey<br>Private equity, vultures
Espionage<br>Acquires enemy secrets through infiltration<br>Spies
Swarming<br>Concentrated attack from a mass of individually weak agents<br>Bees, DDOS attacks, Zerg rush
Lure<br>Preys on other organisms by setting attractive traps<br>Anglerfish, honeypot
Highest bidder<br>Overpays or outbids competitors to secure exclusivity<br>Real Madrid, Softbank, art collectors
Defense
Strategy<br>Description<br>Examples
Deterrence<br>Mutually assured destruction, projecting fear of violence or litigation<br>Nuclear weapons, trademarks, patents
Reliability<br>Reduces maintenance costs, minimizes downtime<br>Zippo lighters, Toyota cars
Predictability<br>Repeatable process with little deviation to create a consistent product or experience<br>Disneyland, Starbucks
Unpredictability<br>Creating an element of surprise, confusion, or variability<br>Squid ink, smoke screen, Banksy, Lady Gaga
Decentralization<br>Redundancy and distributed competency to reduce single points of failure<br>Solar power, grassroots movements
Security<br>Resistance to theft, confiscation, unwanted access<br>Banks, vaults, locks
Privacy<br>Protection against unwanted information disclosure<br>Encrypted messaging apps, VPNs
Durability<br>Physical robustness, resistance to damage, or injury<br>LeBron James, cast iron skillets
Neutrality<br>Displays long-term non-belligerence, a safe haven<br>Switzerland, Red Cross
Obscurity<br>Survival by remaining unknown or undetected<br>Deep-sea creatures, closed-source software
Decoy<br>Distracts or misleads adversaries<br>Chaff, fake security cameras
Antifragility<br>Becomes stronger when exposed to stress, usage<br>BitTorrent, muscles
Timing
Strategy<br>Description<br>Examples
First-mover<br>Acts first to gain an advantage<br>Netflix, Tesla
Second-mover<br>Fast-follower, moves quickly...