7 Powers

The Foundations of Business Strategy

by Hamilton Helmer

The 7 Powers (2016) explores the strategic positions that have led to significant successes or failures for many companies. It includes case studies for each power and provides insights into why these strategies worked or didn’t.

About the Author

Hamilton Helmer has a PhD in Economics from Yale University and has consulted on business strategy for major companies like Adobe, HP, and Netflix. Besides his consulting work, he is also the chief investment officer at Strategy Capital.

Make Your Business Successful

What does it take for a business to succeed over the long term?

Hamilton Helmer’s “seven powers” offer an answer. In this summary, you’ll learn about each of these powers through seven case studies. If you're a business leader, these insights can help you make better decisions when competing against established rivals. If you're an entrepreneur, they can help you identify a winning business idea based on its strategic potential.

First, let’s define "power" as a strategic position that gives your company the potential for significant and lasting success. Without at least one of these powers, your strategy won't overcome the barriers ahead. Power has two components: benefit and barrier. The benefits of your position must outweigh any costs, and the barrier must be nearly insurmountable for competitors.

In the following examples, you’ll see the benefits of each strategic position and the strong barriers they create.

The goal is to understand why some companies succeed where others fail and when it’s viable to challenge an established competitor.