Hamilton Helmer

Author and Strategist at Strategy Capital

Author of 7 Powers, widely considered the best book on business strategy, whose framework for sustainable competitive advantage has been credited by leaders like Patrick Collison, Peter Thiel, Reed Hastings, and Daniel Ek as foundational to building their durable companies.

The Visionary The Operator

Dimension Profile

Strategic Vision 95%

Execution & Craft 30%

Data & Experimentation 20%

Growth & Distribution 40%

Team & Leadership 20%

User Empathy & Research 25%

Key Themes

seven powers framework for competitive advantage power progression timing benefit and barrier test for strategy strategy as long-term value creation operational excellence versus true power when to think about strategy as a startup

Episode Summary

Hamilton Helmer, author of 7 Powers, explains why operational excellence and great teams are not true sources of power because they can be mimicked. He breaks down his framework of benefit plus barrier for durable competitive advantage, reveals his revised view that founders should think about power even before product market fit, and uses Netflix scale economies as an example of how power translates directly into business value through cost advantages spread over more subscribers.

Leadership Principles

→ Power requires a benefit and a barrier — a castle protected by an unbreachable moat, and you need to understand why it's a castle and not a shack
→ Operational excellence is a treadmill — if you stop running you get creamed, but the things that drive it can be mimicked, so it's not power
→ You should always be thinking about strategy, even before product market fit — the question is which business propositions tilt toward the availability of power

Notable Quotes

"You're on a treadmill and if you stop running on that treadmill, you get creamed, but it's not power. The things that drive operational excellence can be mimicked."
— On why fast execution and great teams are not actually sources of power

"Power requires a benefit and a barrier. Warren Buffett famously said he looks for economic castles protected by unbreachable moats — you have to have a pretty good understanding of why it's a castle and not a shack."
— On the fundamental definition of strategic power

"Even before you have product-market fit, it's worth thinking about strategy. Of the business propositions you're considering, what are the underlying characteristics that might tilt them towards the availability of power?"
— On his revised view that strategy matters from the earliest stages

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