The gap
The pm-product-strategy plugin covers competitive forces (Porter's Five Forces), macro environment (PESTLE), market expansion (Ansoff), and overall product strategy (Product Strategy Canvas). What's missing is a structured framework for identifying and building durable competitive advantages.
Porter's Five Forces tells you the competitive landscape you're in. 7 Powers tells you which structural moats will make your position defensible over time. They're complementary — Porter diagnoses the pressure, Helmer tells you what to build to withstand it.
The existing Product Strategy Canvas already asks the right question in its "Can't/Won't" section: "Why can't competitors easily copy this?" A seven-powers skill gives that question a rigorous framework and vocabulary rather than leaving it open-ended.
The framework
Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy identifies seven conditions under which a company holds persistent, above-market returns because competitors face structural barriers — not just temporary disadvantages:
| Power |
Core mechanism |
| Scale Economies |
Per-unit costs decline with volume |
| Network Effects |
Value increases as user base grows |
| Counter-Positioning |
Business model incumbents can't copy without self-harm |
| Switching Costs |
Customers face meaningful cost to switch |
| Branding |
Price premium or preference from accumulated reputation |
| Cornered Resource |
Preferential access to a scarce, unique asset |
| Process Power |
Embedded operational excellence competitors can't replicate |
Each power has two components: a benefit (the advantage it delivers) and a barrier (what prevents competitors from replicating it). Both must be present — scale without a cost barrier isn't a power.
How it fits the plugin
It slots alongside porters-five-forces and product-strategy without overlapping either:
porters-five-forces → analyze competitive forces in an industry (external pressure)seven-powers → identify which structural moats your product holds or should build (how to be defensible)product-strategy → translate both into strategic choices and trade-offs
It would also make the existing strategy-red-team skill sharper — red-teaming a plan against the 7 Powers is a natural pairing.
Adding this skill would also add Hamilton Helmer to the README "About" section alongside Teresa Torres, Marty Cagan, Roger L. Martin, and others.
What the skill would do
Primary use cases:
- Assess which of the 7 powers a product currently holds — with evidence and rating (
Strong / Emerging / Weak / None)
- Identify which powers are worth building next given the product's stage, market, and resources
- Diagnose competitive vulnerability — where the product lacks structural protection
- Stress-test a strategy — does the plan build toward a power, or just temporary differentiation?
Natural trigger phrases: seven powers, competitive moat, defensibility, durable advantage, Helmer, power assessment
Existing implementation
I've already implemented a version of this in a standalone skill: sanjayvsingh/skill-company-research — Seven Powers Analysis
That version embeds 7 Powers as one section inside a broader company research report. I'm happy to adapt it into a focused, standalone seven-powers skill that fits the pm-skills conventions — SKILL.md format, frontmatter, pm-product-strategy plugin structure, Further Reading section.
Roadmap
A standalone skill is the right first step, but there are natural expansions worth considering:
/competitive-moat command — a guided workflow that chains seven-powers with porters-five-forces to produce a full competitive defensibility report: industry forces → current moat assessment → powers to build → strategic implications/market-scan integration — the existing command chains SWOT + PESTLE + Porter's + Ansoff; 7 Powers would complete the competitive strategy picture as a fifth lensstrategy-red-team integration — red-teaming a plan against the 7 Powers is a natural extension; the skill could surface "this plan builds no durable power" as a named failure mode- Multi-product comparison — for competitive analysis use cases, a cross-company Seven Powers table (rating each competitor across all 7 powers) would complement the existing
competitor-analysis skill
Happy to open a draft PR once there's alignment on scope and approach.
The gap
The
pm-product-strategyplugin covers competitive forces (Porter's Five Forces), macro environment (PESTLE), market expansion (Ansoff), and overall product strategy (Product Strategy Canvas). What's missing is a structured framework for identifying and building durable competitive advantages.Porter's Five Forces tells you the competitive landscape you're in. 7 Powers tells you which structural moats will make your position defensible over time. They're complementary — Porter diagnoses the pressure, Helmer tells you what to build to withstand it.
The existing Product Strategy Canvas already asks the right question in its "Can't/Won't" section: "Why can't competitors easily copy this?" A
seven-powersskill gives that question a rigorous framework and vocabulary rather than leaving it open-ended.The framework
Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy identifies seven conditions under which a company holds persistent, above-market returns because competitors face structural barriers — not just temporary disadvantages:
Each power has two components: a benefit (the advantage it delivers) and a barrier (what prevents competitors from replicating it). Both must be present — scale without a cost barrier isn't a power.
How it fits the plugin
It slots alongside
porters-five-forcesandproduct-strategywithout overlapping either:porters-five-forces→ analyze competitive forces in an industry (external pressure)seven-powers→ identify which structural moats your product holds or should build (how to be defensible)product-strategy→ translate both into strategic choices and trade-offsIt would also make the existing
strategy-red-teamskill sharper — red-teaming a plan against the 7 Powers is a natural pairing.Adding this skill would also add Hamilton Helmer to the
README"About" section alongside Teresa Torres, Marty Cagan, Roger L. Martin, and others.What the skill would do
Primary use cases:
Strong / Emerging / Weak / None)Natural trigger phrases: seven powers, competitive moat, defensibility, durable advantage, Helmer, power assessment
Existing implementation
I've already implemented a version of this in a standalone skill: sanjayvsingh/skill-company-research — Seven Powers Analysis
That version embeds 7 Powers as one section inside a broader company research report. I'm happy to adapt it into a focused, standalone
seven-powersskill that fits the pm-skills conventions — SKILL.md format, frontmatter,pm-product-strategyplugin structure, Further Reading section.Roadmap
A standalone skill is the right first step, but there are natural expansions worth considering:
/competitive-moatcommand — a guided workflow that chainsseven-powerswithporters-five-forcesto produce a full competitive defensibility report: industry forces → current moat assessment → powers to build → strategic implications/market-scanintegration — the existing command chains SWOT + PESTLE + Porter's + Ansoff; 7 Powers would complete the competitive strategy picture as a fifth lensstrategy-red-teamintegration — red-teaming a plan against the 7 Powers is a natural extension; the skill could surface "this plan builds no durable power" as a named failure modecompetitor-analysisskillHappy to open a draft PR once there's alignment on scope and approach.