seven-powers
7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy
What It Is
7 Powers is a framework for understanding sustainable competitive advantage. The core insight: Business value comes from possessing an attribute that produces higher returns than competitors AND a barrier that prevents competitors from arbitraging it away.
Power = Benefit + Barrier
Warren Buffett famously said: "In business, I look for economic castles protected by unbreachable moats." Power is understanding what makes something a castle (the benefit) versus a shack, and what makes the moat unbreachable (the barrier).
The key shift: Move from asking "What's our competitive advantage?" to asking "What economic structure creates durable differential returns?"
When to Use It
Use 7 Powers when you need to:
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