Talent Raids: Hiring Your Competitor’s Stars as Competitive Weapons
Poaching a competitor's star performer removes their capability and adds it to yours — a double swing. How to run talent raids legally, ethically, and effectively.
James Cole
James covers competitive strategy and platform dynamics. He focuses on moats, ecosystem leverage, and head-to-head SaaS tactics.
Switching Costs: Exit Barriers That Keep Customers
The cheapest revenue is revenue that cannot leave. A field guide to engineering ethical switching costs: data gravity, workflow embedding, and network lock-in.
The 2026 SaaS Shakedown: Notion, Figma and the Pricing Squeeze
Man, I was just looking at our SaaS burn rate this morning over coffee, and I have to hand it to Notion and Figma. Honestly, we should all just sit back and take notes, because they are out here playing…
Ghost Competitors: Non-Software Threats in SaaS
1. TL;DR & Definition Ghost Competitors are the invisible alternatives to your SaaS product that don't look like software companies. They are spreadsheets, whiteboards, internal interns, paper processes, or simple apathy (doing nothing). For a B2B SaaS founder, ghost competitors…
Platform Dominance: Moving From Tool to Indispensable Ecosystem
1. TL;DR & Definition Platform Dominance is the strategic evolution of a B2B SaaS company from a single-purpose application (a "tool") into a foundational ecosystem upon which other businesses build, integrate, and operate (a "platform"). For SaaS founders, a tool…
PsyOps in SaaS: Breaking Competitor Sales Morale
Editor’s note: this piece breaks down aggressive competitive tactics for educational purposes. Some of these moves sit close to, or across, legal lines on deception, defamation, and fair competition, which differ by jurisdiction. Nothing here is legal advice; talk to…
Vaporware Marketing: Selling Uncoded Products to Steal Market Share
Editor’s note: this piece breaks down aggressive competitive tactics for educational purposes. Some of these moves sit close to, or across, legal lines on deception, defamation, and fair competition, which differ by jurisdiction. Nothing here is legal advice; talk to…
Monopolistic Practices: Steps to Build a Monopoly in a Niche
Editor’s note: this piece breaks down aggressive competitive tactics for educational purposes. Some of these moves sit close to, or across, legal lines on deception, defamation, and fair competition, which differ by jurisdiction. Nothing here is legal advice; talk to…
Whisper Campaigns: Spreading Rumors About Competitors
Editor’s note: this piece breaks down aggressive competitive tactics for educational purposes. Some of these moves sit close to, or across, legal lines on deception, defamation, and fair competition, which differ by jurisdiction. Nothing here is legal advice; talk to…
Guerrilla Tactics: Zero-Budget Destructive Marketing
1. TL;DR & Definition Guerrilla Tactics in B2B SaaS refer to unconventional, high-impact, low-budget marketing strategies designed to disrupt the status quo, hijack competitor momentum, or generate disproportionate attention. Unlike traditional inbound or paid acquisition, these tactics rely on creativity,…