The discipline of market leaders
by Michael Treacy · first published 1995
67% recommend33% neutral
Why is it that Casio can sell a calculator more cheaply than Kellogg's can sell a box of corn flakes? Why can FedEx "absolutely, positively" deliver your package overnight but airlines have trouble keeping track of your bags? Why does Lands' End remember your last order and even your family's clothing sizes but after ten years of membership American Express still solicits you to join? How is it that some companies are reinventing competition in their markets while others are seemingly oblivious to the changing world around them? These are the questions that authors Michael Treacy and Fred Wier
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…not the only dimension on which you compete. That is, there are other ways to compete besides having the best product. As we all know, the best product doesn't always win. I'd recommend reading The Discipline of Market Leaders by Fred Wiersema and Michael Treacy, as well as Mastering The Complex Sale, The Prime Solution and Exceptional Selling, all by Jeff Thull. These books deal a lot with how to compete and sell and differentiate…
on “Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea” ↗…your product can most likely be segmented in many ways, some of which would likely allow you to avoid head to head competition with this other company. My recommendation is that you read the book The Discipline of Market Leaders which does a good job of explaining the ideas behind different vectors of competition: product, price, operational efficiency, customer intimacy, etc. Is it even possible to focus on Europe whilst the…
on “Ask HN: Found an identical product to mine. Should I double down or refocus?” ↗…product attributes at all, but rather compete on another basis like customer intimacy or service, etc? Or even compete simply by having a better sales process? I'd say take a little time out, read The Discipline of Market Leaders, Mastering The Complex Sale, and Differentiate or Die and think about ways you can compete with them. IF your analyzes leaves you with the conclusion that the best thing to do is to drop your idea, then…
on “Ask HN: What would u do if AWS launches a service exactly as ur idea?” ↗…2nd Edition, which changes the title to "The Startup Owner's Manual". There is a lot of overlap in the content, but enough difference to justify reading both, IMO. I would start with the older one. The Discipline of Market Leaders - Fred Wiersema, Michael Treacy - another crucially important book IMO. Does a great job of explaining how there are many different vectors along which you can compete, and explains how choosing which…
on “Ask HN: As a technical founder what is the best business book you've read?” ↗…Differentiate or Die - Jack Trout The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Al Ries Repositioning - Jack Trout Marketing Warfare - Al Ries The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding - Al Ries and Laura Ries The Discipline of Market Leaders - Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema Blue Ocean Strategy - W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne Trust Me, I'm Lying - Confessions of a Media Manipulator - Ryan Holiday Crossing the Chasm - Geoffrey Moore…
on “Ask HN: How can a non-technical co-founder add value?” ↗…are a lot of variations depending on how fine-grained you get in terms of how you segment those "vectors of differentiation". To learn more about this overall concept, I highly recommend reading The Discipline of Market Leaders by by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema.
on “Ask HN: What do you do when you find out it's already been done?” ↗…immediately started re-reading it, this time to take notes and jot down thoughts about some of the implications and actionable aspects of this thinking. It definitely gets a +1 from me. Outside of that, The Discipline of Market Leaders would probably be the other candidate. I only discovered this one because it was referenced in a different book I was reading, but it's turned out to be quite interesting. The authors present a pretty…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2013?” ↗…have that, you know how you're going to compete in the market... by having the lowest price, by having the best product, or by having better "customer intimacy". This is all explained very well in The Discipline of Market Leaders.[1] [1]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Discipline-Market-Leaders-Customer...
on “Ask HN: Bigger startup is stealing my features, what do i do?” ↗The Discipline of Market Leaders http://www.amazon.com/Discipline-Market-Leaders-Customers-Do.... I think very highly of this book and the author's approach to strategy. It's not radically different from the Porterian approach in some…
on “Best Business Books (Recommendations included)” ↗…Moonshot! - John Sculley Zero To One - Peter Thiel Republic - Plato Meditations - Marcus Aurelius Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne Discipline of Market Leaders - Michael Treacy, Fred Wiersema False Memory - Dean Koontz NOS4A2- Joe Hill Revival - Stephen King Barbarians At The Gate - John Helyar and Bryan Burrough Into Thin Air - John Krakauer How To Measure…
on “Please recommend a book to read. List for 2015” ↗…everybody else." ~~ Bob Parsons Note that "better" does not necessarily mean "better product". It could mean better marketing, better sales force, all of the above, or "other". I suggest that you read The Discipline of Market Leaders, Marketing Warfare, and Differentiate or Die, and give serious thought to those ideas.
on “Ask HN: Is it worth starting a SaaS in a niche that already has a clear leader?” ↗I'll just say "go read The Discipline of Market Leaders". I hate to sound glib, but I think you'll find their approach interesting, and I don't feel like trying to summarize the whole book here. It's not long though, and it's definitely worth a read. IMO,…
on “Ask HN: Is there still room between AWS, Google Cloud and Azure?” ↗It's not all just about the product. I recommend you read The Discipline of Market Leaders. That book does a good job of explaining how there are many different factors you can choose to compete on.
on “Ask HN: Does it matter to be the first on the market?” ↗…nobody wants, or they can't figure out how to get attention in the market. Read The Four Steps To The Epiphany by Steve Blank. Read The 10x Rule and Be Obsessed or Be Average by Grant Cardone. Read The Discipline of Market Leaders.
on “Ask HN: Leaving my job to boostrap my projects. Advice?” ↗…or aren't necessarily aware of the range of possible solutions. These guys challenge you to, well, challenge, your customers pre-existing mindsets in the name of helping them create more value. The Discipline of Market Leaders by Fred Wiersema and Michael Treacy. A good explanation of how there are other vectors for competition besides just price, or product attributes. Understanding the ideas in this book will (probably)…
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗