Strategy is deciding where to spend money and attention before you spend it.
Operations choices create an edge only when they fit one way to compete: cost, quality, availability or new-product speed. Cut cost everywhere and you’re mediocre on every axis.
In practice: Strongest when you can truly choose how to compete. Re-check when the market shifts.
Operations Strategy · MIT 15.769 · fall 2010
Valuable work can still make you no money. The value flows to your platform, a copycat or the bottleneck supplier. Capture depends on how protected it is.
In practice: Weakest where copying is easy or a partner stands between you and the customer.
Technology Strategy · MIT 15.912 · fall 2008
Value moves along a chain over time, and the big returns gather at the scarce link: a standard, a platform, a bottleneck. You can excel at a cheapening step while profit moves next door.
In practice: It’s a tendency, not a law. Confirm the shift first.
Technology Strategy · MIT 15.912 · fall 2008 · Operations Strategy · MIT 15.769 · fall 2010
When a product gains value as more people use it, early adoption compounds. You choose: open the standard and share a bigger pie, or keep it closed and capture more.
In practice: Only where value grows with users, not for a local service.
Technology Strategy · MIT 15.912 · fall 2008
Trust, inside the firm and with partners, lets you make bets that lower results before they pay off. Built from cases like Toyota and Southwest.
In practice: Most relevant when you build over years. Short on cash? The near-term win may be right.
Advanced Strategy · MIT 15.963 · spring 2008 (Prof. Rebecca Henderson)
A 3-lens filter for entity, pay and financing choices. Count every party: their tax differences hold the opportunity. A tax is one cost among many, so never minimize it alone.
In practice: Not tax advice: the 2002 rates are dated. The lenses also fit pricing and partner terms.
Taxes and Business Strategy · MIT 15.518 · fall 2002
Your offer decides who it attracts and how they act. Price and guarantees sort your customers, not only margin. Reputation is a core asset.
In practice: Strongest in high-stakes sales. Use defaults and framing only to lower real uncertainty.
Consumer Finance · MIT 15.483 · spring 2018 · Strategy and Information · MIT 14.16 · spring 2016
Unit economics: what a customer costs to win, against what they earn over time. Size the market, then prove the math before you spend big. Win at a loss and the business is upside down.
In practice: Early numbers are thin, so test cheaply. A great cost on 10 customers can collapse at 1,000.
New Enterprises · MIT 15.390 · spring 2013 (Bill Aulet, Howard Anderson & Prof. Matt Marx)
Every idea here needs numbers you can trust, from every app you run. If you’re the glue between your apps, you’re not AI-native yet.
This is the thinking. The machine is the work. A 20-minute call shows where to start. You keep the written plan, whether you hire us or not.