Indeed, strategy is often overlooked or taken for granted, even though a startup cannot succeed without it. Strategy is the life blood of a company, more than p

Indeed, strategy is often overlooked or taken for granted, even though a startup cannot succeed without it. Strategy is the life blood of a company, more than product or market or customers. The two main questions of a startup are “what product should we build?” and “how can we get customers?” The answers to both these questions are derived from strategy. Without strategy, a startup has no direction. Successful founders take a militaristic approach to product, growth and competition. They think more than “one move ahead.” They ask questions like, “where do we want this feature to take us?” and “how does this feature set limit or expand our future options?” Business is like chess, in the sense that each new decision branches from the results of previous decisions. Strategy is anticipating and planning for what branches will exist or not exist as a result of a decision made today.