6 builders who never spoke to each other

Pick the fight the incumbent cannot win

Work out which axis a larger rival is structurally unable to compete on, then move the whole contest there instead of matching them feature for feature. Counter-positioning comes first for a young company because scale, switching costs and network effects are all advantages you have not accumulated yet.

The method

1. 01

   Never fight a bigger competitor using the weapons they are strong with: work out which fight you can actually win and have that one.

2. 02

   Expect your advantages in a fixed order: counter-position against incumbents first, then cost advantages from scale, then switching costs your customers have built up, then network effects once you have critical mass.

3. 03

   Against an incumbent whose service is the complaint, you do not have to win on the product: hit the technical baseline people expect and compete entirely on how you communicate.

4. 04

   If you have no technical advantage, compete on the ones that are still available to you: cost at scale, network effects and brand.

5. 05

   Stop trying to differentiate on features, because supply is effectively unlimited and brand is the one advantage left.

What it returned

• Brand, process advantage and exclusive resources are rare for a young tech company, since it is too new for brand love or unique processes, and locked-up resources mostly exist in heavily regulated industries.

• Hillman, a former network engineer, says fast reliable internet should be table stakes and that professionalism and communication are where PhillyWisper beats Comcast in Philadelphia.

• James Cridland of Podnews frames podcasts as something for the ears while the eyes are busy; you cannot watch video while driving.

Sources

• #HYPERGROWTH18: The Cheat Sheet | Corey HainesBarney Waters · corey.co · Barney Waters · 2018-09-07
• What it’s like to have an internet provider that actually caresAlex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · While I can rave about the quality of the connection, I’m most impressed with the quality of customer service · 2016-05-01
• Will YouTube kill the podcast industry?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How should the podcast industry respond? · undated
• A brilliant response to Amazon cloning your productHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · A brilliant response to Amazon cloning your product · undated
• No-Code: Custom GPTs, Getting Early Users, Million-Dollar Businesses - Trends.vcDru Riley · trends.vc · 😠 Haters · 2023-12-27
• Business strategy with Hamilton Helmer (author of 7 Powers)Hamilton Helmer · lennysnewsletter.com · 2024-05-05