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 eighty such strategies, grouped in broad categories, with examples from biology and business.
Accumulation
Usership: a critical mass of users, network effect. Examples: Phone system, the internet, scaled social networks.
Completeness: all-in-one tool, one-stop shop. Examples: Swiss army knife, Walmart.
Aggregation: an environment or marketplace designed for broad participation. Examples: Cities, malls, Amazon, Craigslist.
Diversification: low-dependency on any one stream of resources. Examples: Conglomerates, omnivores.
Omnipresence: available everywhere it might be needed, accepted by default. Examples: Visa, Coca-Cola, dandelions.
Cloning: expands by replicating identical copies of itself. Examples: Aspen groves, franchises, sourdough starters.
Price
Affordability: comparatively low-cost. Examples: Mass production, fast food, fast fashion.
Luxury: intentionally high-cost, often labor-intensive, or status symbol. Examples: Veblen goods, supercars, luxury watches.
Skimming: ingests a large volume of very small transactions or resources. Examples: Credit cards, baleen whales, planktivores.
Bundling: packaged freely with something desirable. Examples: Microsoft Office, cable channels, seeds in a fruit.
Time
Heritage: multi-generational legacy. Examples: Religions, old companies.
Craftsmanship: uses more time, precision, and attention to detail than competitors. Examples: Handmade watches, bespoke tailoring, Leica.
Organic: natural growth process that cannot be accelerated. Examples: Trees, ecosystems, aged cheeses.
Endurance: ability to operate continuously over a long period of time. Examples: Marathon runners, nuclear submarines.
Uniqueness
Specialization: strong competence in a narrow niche. Examples: Trade schools, pandas.
Versatility: general competence adapted to many tasks. Examples: CPUs, opposable thumbs.
Hybrid: competence in two distinct areas, or blending of two strengths not usually found together. Examples: Frogs, cronuts, amphibious vehicles, hybrid cars.
Divergence: creativity, unusualness, differentiation from the norm. Examples: Van Gogh, Picasso, Frank Gehry.
Authenticity: traceable to its source, especially where counterfeiting is prevalent. Examples: Money, olive oil, art.
Rarity: naturally limited in quantity, at the edge of the distribution curve. Examples: Beachfront property, Victor Wembanyama.
Scarcity: artificially limited in quantity. Examples: Collectibles, NFTs.
Secrecy: made difficult to copy by protecting private knowledge, or combining components in a way that cannot be disentangled. Examples: Magicians, Coca-Cola, trade secrets.
Irreverence: contrarian, counter-cultural, disregard for tradition. Examples: Richard Branson, South Park.
Offense
Violence: destroys or consumes the opponent through physical force. Examples: Military attacks, predators.
Privacy: protection against unwanted information disclosure. Examples: Encrypted messaging apps, VPNs.
Durability: physical robustness, resistance to damage, or injury. Examples: LeBron James, cast iron skillets.
Neutrality: displays long-term non-belligerence, a safe haven. Examples: Switzerland, Red Cross.
Obscurity: survival by remaining unknown or undetected. Examples: Deep-sea creatures, closed-source software.
Antifragility: becomes stronger when exposed to stress or usage. Examples: BitTorrent, muscles.
Deception
Camouflage: ability to blend into the surrounding environment. Examples: Chameleons, stealth aircraft.
Mimicry: superficially adopts characteristics of another species to trick opponents. Examples: Harmless snakes mimicking venomous ones.
Decoy: distracts or misleads adversaries. Examples: Chaff, fake security cameras.
Lure: preys on other organisms by setting attractive traps. Examples: Anglerfish, honeypot.
Infiltration: gets past defenses without notice. Examples: Trojan horse, malware, smuggling.
Timing
First-mover: acts first to gain an advantage. Examples: Netflix, Tesla.
Second-mover: fast-follower, moves quickly to copy the first-mover. Examples: Facebook-Snapchat.
Last-mover: waits until all opponents have expended energy on failed approaches. Examples: Apple.
Accreditation
Monopoly: artificial control of a resource or market approved by the governing body. Examples: Patents, regulatory capture.
Prestige: endorsed by authoritative sources via awards, degrees, or other recognition. Examples: Michelin-starred restaurants, Ivy League graduates.
Curation: selectiveness, particular ability in choosing and grouping. Examples: Art galleries, HBO, venture capital.
Collaboration
Union: reduce friction between potential competitors by adopting a common set of rules. Examples: Mergers and acquisitions, United States, European Union.
Alliance: partnership that enables some benefits of a union while maintaining independence. Examples: Partnerships.
Emergence: hive mind, wisdom of the crowd. Examples: Ant colonies, beehives, democracy.
Centralization: single decision-making entity. Examples: Dictatorships.
