Books like 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy

01

Good to Great

Jim Collins · Business

Good to Great is Jim Collins's attempt to answer a deceptively simple question: why do some good companies make the leap to sustained greatness while most don't?

A kindred business read.

02

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Peter Thiel · Business

Zero to One began as notes from a Stanford course Thiel taught on startups in 2012, assembled into a book with co-author Blake Masters.

A kindred business read.

03

The Innovator's Dilemma

Clayton M. Christensen · Business

Christensen's argument, published in 1997, is deceptively simple: the very practices that make companies excellent at serving their current customers — listening carefully, investing in proven technologies, targeting the most profitable segments — are precisely what causes them to miss disruptive innovations.

Both dig into business strategy.

04

Competitive Strategy

Michael E. Porter · Business

Competitive Strategy is Michael Porter's foundational framework for analyzing industries and developing competitive strategy.

Both dig into competitive advantage.

05

Only the Paranoid Survive

Andrew S. Grove · Business

Only the Paranoid Survive is Andrew Grove's account of how he understood and navigated the most dangerous moments in a company's life — what he calls strategic inflection points.

A kindred business read.

06

Capital Returns

Edward Chancellor · Business

Capital Returns is Edward Chancellor's edited collection of investment letters from Marathon Asset Management, a London-based fund manager, covering roughly the period from 2002 to 2015.

Both dig into competitive advantage.

07

Competing in the Age of AI

Marco Iansiti & Karim Lakhani · Business

Competing in the Age of AI is Marco Iansiti and Karim Lakhani's argument that artificial intelligence is not just another technology to be adopted, but a fundamental redesign of how firms operate — and that companies built from the start with AI at their core will eventually displace firms that try to bolt AI onto traditional operating models.

Both dig into business strategy.

08

Competition Demystified

Bruce Greenwald and Judd Kahn · Business

Competition Demystified is Bruce Greenwald and Judd Kahn's deliberate simplification of competitive strategy — a counterweight to the complexity of the Porter Five Forces framework, which they argue gives strategists too many variables and not enough analytical clarity.

Both dig into competitive advantage.

09

Dealing with Darwin

Geoffrey Moore · Business

Dealing with Darwin is Geoffrey Moore's 2005 argument that established companies face a form of Darwinian selection pressure that startup logic cannot address, and that surviving it requires a clear understanding of where a company sits in its technology lifecycle and what kind of innovation is appropriate at each stage.

Both dig into competitive advantage.

10

Hegarty on Advertising: Turning Intelligence into Magic

John Hegarty · Business

John Hegarty co-founded Bartle Bogle Hegarty in 1982 and spent four decades creating advertising that, at its best, genuinely shifted how people thought about brands.

Both dig into business strategy.

11

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

Michael Lewis · Business

Moneyball is Michael Lewis's account of how Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics, used statistical analysis to compete against teams with payrolls three times larger.

Both dig into competitive advantage.

12

The Forever Transaction

Robbie Kellman Baxter · Business

The Forever Transaction is Robbie Kellman Baxter's practical guide to building subscription and membership businesses — companies where the goal isn't to close a sale but to maintain an ongoing relationship.

Both dig into business strategy.