The 7 Powers with Hamilton Helmer & Jeff Lawson

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Apr 29, 2021

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INSIGHT

Strategy as a Dirty Word

Jeff Lawson initially viewed "strategy" negatively, associating it with top-down directives.
He believed the only true strategy was building products customers would pay for.

ANECDOTE

Google Plus Failure

Jeff Lawson cites Google Plus as a failed strategy example.
Google's focus on beating Facebook led to a product nobody wanted.

INSIGHT

Strategy's True Nature

Hamilton Helmer agrees with Lawson, emphasizing strategy's inventive nature.
He sees strategy as a crafted process, responding to markets and customers.

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In this episode, James Currier, Jeff Lawson, and Hamilton Helmer delve into the importance of defensibility, the 7 Powers of strategy, and the role of inventiveness. They discuss network economies using Uber as a case study, examine scale economies, and explore the concept of Counter Positioning. They also discuss the challenges for incumbents adapting to new business models, the power of branding, and cornered resources. The episode ends with insights on process power and developing entrepreneurial power.

In this special NFX Podcast episode, Jeff Lawson (Co-Founder & CEO at Twilio) interviews Hamilton Helmer to analyze the 7 Powers, getting at the core question: What is it about certain businesses that keeps the force of competition away? Helmer’s framework reveals that you can intentionally craft the conditions for persistent & durable differential returns.

7 Powers is Hamilton’s cognitive guide to building an enduringly great business and breaks fresh ground by constructing a comprehensive strategy toolset that is easy for you to learn, communicate and quickly apply. Hamilton has led over 200 strategy projects with major clients such as Adobe Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Netflix, Raychem, and Spotify.

Jeff Lawson is a Co-Founder and CEO at Twilio, a cloud communications platform that adds messaging, voice and video to web and mobile apps. He is a serial inventor with over 15 years of entrepreneurial and product experience.

Read the full NFX Essay here - https://www.nfx.com/post/seven-powers/

(0:00) Introduction by James Currier and Importance of Understanding Defensibility (1:27) Jeff Lawson's Skepticism about Strategy and Introduction to the 7 Powers (6:44) Importance of Inventiveness in Strategy and Google Plus's Downfall (9:33) Explanation of Network Economies and Case Study: Uber (13:05) Scale Economies of Uber, Lyft, and Netflix (16:03) Concept and Application of Counter Positioning (21:16) Challenges Incumbents Face When Adapting to New Business Models (23:54) Power of Branding and Differentiation from Brand Awareness (26:10) Discussion on Cornered Resource as a Power (29:08) Introduction and Explanation of Process Power (32:50) How Entrepreneurs Can Develop Power (34:50) Closing Remarks by Jeff Lawson and Hamilton Helmer's Final Thoughts