<aside> 💡 These four questions underpin business strategy — but most startups get them all wrong.

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If you ask CEOs about their business strategy, you might hear statements such as:

• ‘Our strategy is to help our customers do X.’
• ‘Our strategy is to grow 100% this year.’
• ‘Our strategy is to internationalise.’
• ‘Our strategy is to build the best product.’

There’s just one problem: none of these statements is actually a business strategy. They are missions, goals, tactics, and descriptive statements.

What exactly is a business strategy? What are the advantages of having one? And what does strategic thinking really mean?

May the Best Man . . . Lose?

It sounds plausible: if you want to win, you have to be the best.

Which team wins the championship? The best team, obviously. Which army wins the battle? The best army, of course.

But what exactly does ‘best’ mean? Is Ferrari, for example, the best car?