Ed

Strategic Concepts & Mechanics

Signature MoveShadow First, Decide Later Cornerstone MovePatent Shakedown as Bridge Financing Cornerstone MoveIPO Week of Toy Story to Buy Negotiating Power Signature MovePoint Richmond Isolation as Innovation Shield Signature MoveDaily Phone Calls With No Off-Hours Operating PrincipleMutual Resolution Over Imposed Outcomes Competitive AdvantageBrand Billing War With Your Own Distributor Cornerstone MoveOne Basket Watched Obsessively, Not a Slate Capital StrategyFilm Library as Compounding Asset Risk DoctrineCarrying Costs as Animation's Silent Killer Decision FrameworkWhiteboard Leverage Audit Before Negotiation Signature MoveSteve Writes the Check, Not the Script Cornerstone MoveSell the Castle Before the Walls Crack Identity & CultureBureaucrat-Artist Tension as Operating System Signature MoveNo Backup Position in Any Negotiation Operating PrinciplePower as Potential, Not Guarantee Operating PrincipleCrafted Not Designed — Strategy Through Experimentation Mental ModelProcess Power: Complexity Makes Imitation Take Decades Mental ModelSurplus Leader Margin: Price to Zero-Profit the Follower Strategic ManeuverConvert Variable Costs to Fixed Costs at Scale Strategic PatternCounter-Positioning Is Partial — Stack Another Power Mental ModelSwitching Costs Only Pay on the Second Sale Mental ModelOnly Seven Moats Exist — Name Yours or You Have None Mental ModelBenefit Without Barrier Is Just a Head Start Structural VulnerabilityFive Stages of Counter-Positioned Incumbent Grief Mental ModelThe Incumbent's Strength IS Your Barrier Competitive AdvantageAgency and Cognitive Bias Amplify the Barrier Mental ModelNetwork Tipping Points Make Late Entry Unthinkable Strategic PatternStep-Function Ascent, Not Linear Growth Strategic ManeuverCounter-Position by Making the Incumbent's Best Move Suicidal Mental ModelEvery Power Starts with Invention, Not Analysis Mental ModelStatics Tell You the Destination; Dynamics Tell You the Route Mental ModelIndustry Economics × Competitive Position = Power Intensity Risk DoctrineCollateral Damage Decays Over Time Decision FrameworkStrategically Separate Businesses Need Separate Strategies Decision FrameworkCornered Resource Must Be Sufficient Alone Signature MoveComplexity as Strategic Protection Signature MoveQuality First Spending Philosophy Strategic PatternRegulatory Capture Through Service Cornerstone MoveBack Door Contract Engineering Signature MoveUltra-Delegated Management Style Capital StrategyDebt as Growth Accelerant Relationship LeveragePartnership Through Shared Experience Identity & CultureVirtual Executive Presence Relationship LeverageSilence as Information Weapon Signature MoveFuture-Focused Hiring Standards Cornerstone MoveLeveraged Cash Flow Growth Spirals Signature MoveAnthropological Customer Vision Competitive AdvantageGuerrilla Strategy Against Incumbents

Primary Evidence

"As I sat there with John and Ed, my experience of the day was suddenly giving birth to a new feeling. These two leaders had dedicated themselves for years to their crafts, with almost no commercial success and recognition. I had no idea how, when, or where they might succeed, but one thing was becoming clear to me. They were winners. I might not know how that victory would come, but I was quite confident that, for them, somehow it would."

Source:To Pixar and Beyond

"But I had examined this from every angle I could imagine. Fully committing Pixar to becoming an entertainment company focused on animated feature films was our only shot. Steve, Ed, and I were all on board with it. This was our mountain to climb, no matter how steep or far away the summit. With much weighing on my mind, it was time to begin the ascent."

Source:To Pixar and Beyond

"tri-partite leadership is challenging in the best of cases, but it worked at Pixar. As Pixar filmmaker Pete Docter told me: “Here there was a clear definition of power: John on creative, Ed on technical, and Jobs on business and financial. There was an implicit trust of each other, as well as one guy with the final word (Steve)."

Source:7 Powers

"I had no fear whatsoever. First of all, I trusted him. And he had a wonderful command of details. He was interfacing with Wayne and Ed and me, and I felt perfectly fine about it. But then I'm the kind of person where Wayne will go out and make a [cellular acquisition] deal like he did in Miami [and then tell me], "By the way, I did a deal today: fifty-six million." [At the time] we didn't"

Source:Money From Thin Air - The Story of Craig McCaw

Appears In Volumes

To Pixar and Beyond 7 Powers Money From Thin Air - The Story of Craig McCaw