🌊Learn Blue Ocean Strategy: Making the Competition Irrelevant
Go past the 'make competition irrelevant' slogan and learn the actual Blue Ocean tools — the Strategy Canvas and the ERRC grid — well enough to draft one for your own product.
Phase 1Red Oceans, Blue Oceans, and Value Innovation
Swap red-ocean thinking for value innovation
Stop competing — redraw the market instead
6 minStop competing — redraw the market instead
Break the value-cost trade-off on purpose
7 minBreak the value-cost trade-off on purpose
Draw the industry on one picture or don't draw strategy at all
6 minDraw the industry on one picture or don't draw strategy at all
Cirque du Soleil in one chart
7 minCirque du Soleil in one chart
Phase 2Building the ERRC Grid
Build an ERRC grid using Cirque and Yellow Tail
Four boxes force the trade-off you keep avoiding
6 minFour boxes force the trade-off you keep avoiding
How [yellow tail] built the fastest-growing wine in the US
7 minHow [yellow tail] built the fastest-growing wine in the US
Six places to look when your grid feels stuck
7 minSix places to look when your grid feels stuck
The money isn't in your customers — it's in the three tiers next to them
6 minThe money isn't in your customers — it's in the three tiers next to them
A grid is only as good as what it dares to cut
7 minA grid is only as good as what it dares to cut
Phase 3Blue Ocean vs Porter's Generic Strategies
Place Blue Ocean next to Porter's generic strategies
'But Porter would call this unfocused' — now what?
7 min'But Porter would call this unfocused' — now what?
Your competitor's board just picked cost leadership. What does your grid tell you to do?
7 minYour competitor's board just picked cost leadership. What does your grid tell you to do?
Your team says 'we're doing too much.' Is it focus failure or blue-ocean tension?
7 minYour team says 'we're doing too much.' Is it focus failure or blue-ocean tension?
A skeptical exec has three minutes. What do you put on screen?
7 minA skeptical exec has three minutes. What do you put on screen?
Phase 4Drafting Your Own Strategy Canvas
Draft your own Strategy Canvas end to end
Draft your product's Strategy Canvas end to end
8 minDraft your product's Strategy Canvas end to end
Frequently asked questions
- What is Blue Ocean Strategy in simple terms?
- This is covered in the “Learn Blue Ocean Strategy: Making the Competition Irrelevant” learning path. Start with daily 5-minute micro-lessons that build from fundamentals to hands-on application.
- What is the difference between red oceans and blue oceans?
- This is covered in the “Learn Blue Ocean Strategy: Making the Competition Irrelevant” learning path. Start with daily 5-minute micro-lessons that build from fundamentals to hands-on application.
- How do you use the ERRC grid (Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create)?
- This is covered in the “Learn Blue Ocean Strategy: Making the Competition Irrelevant” learning path. Start with daily 5-minute micro-lessons that build from fundamentals to hands-on application.
- What is a Strategy Canvas and how do you draw one?
- This is covered in the “Learn Blue Ocean Strategy: Making the Competition Irrelevant” learning path. Start with daily 5-minute micro-lessons that build from fundamentals to hands-on application.
- How is Blue Ocean Strategy different from Porter's generic strategies?
- This is covered in the “Learn Blue Ocean Strategy: Making the Competition Irrelevant” learning path. Start with daily 5-minute micro-lessons that build from fundamentals to hands-on application.
Related paths
📋Learn the Lean Canvas: A One-Page Business Model for Startups
Pressure-test a startup idea on a single page instead of writing a plan nobody reads. Fill each of the nine boxes with evidence, then walk a real customer through it and capture their pushback.
📊Understand Unit Economics: LTV, CAC, Contribution Margin
Build LTV, CAC, contribution margin, and payback period from raw subscription data — then ship a one-page memo you can hand to an investor without flinching.
🎯Learn OKRs: Writing Objectives and Key Results That Actually Work
Draft a quarterly OKR set for your team — one ambitious objective, three measurable key results — by separating inspirational direction from numeric evidence the way Intel and Google actually used them.
📈Understand Compound Interest
Turn compound interest from a vague formula into a reliable mental tool — calculate growth over time, apply the Rule of 72 in seconds, and reason clearly about savings, debt, and long-horizon decisions.