Most "strategy" is bullsh*t.

Complicated.
Dense.
Timid.

And fundamentally incapable of doing the job it's meant to do: inspiring bold action that creates incredible results.

Great strategy is simple.

It's clear.
It's brave.
It's mischievous.

You can explain it to anyone, and they won't only "get it"; they'll be energised by it.

Follow me if you want to learn how to do strategy this way.

Here's how:

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1. Work with me

Each year, I work with 10 clients, and do a number of speaking engagements.

This is for brands who are ready to cut through complexity, and make waves in their market with confidence and clarity.

I’m with you every step.

If this might be you, drop me a DM or check out www.basicarts.org/work-with-alex/ 

_______

2. Get a new strategy technique every week

...by joining 25,000+ others  in the best strategic thinking community on the internet, The Hidden Path. You'll also get two free tools to sharpen and tidy your thinking. Just go here:

www.basicarts.org/template

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3. Master the basics for the price of a cocktail

...by reading my book, No Bullsh*t Strategy. It'll teach you everything you need to know in one 138 page hit.

Just search for it on Amazon, or wherever you like to buy books.

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4. Subscribe to my YouTube for weekly masterclasses

You'll find it here: youtube.com/alexmhsmith

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5. If you're a small business or strategy pro...

...then you can get my entire approach, ready to roll, in the Strategy Shortcut System. Use it on your own business, use it on your clients - either way it's the fastest and funnest way of getting competitive advantage on the planet.

www.strategyshortcutsystem.com

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Never forget, business should be an adventure.

And strategy?  It’s the map.

Let's set out.

Alex

Alex M H Smith

Are there more important strategy skills than these?

Sure. But that's the boring stuff.

Here, I wanted to create a list of less obvious things. The skills people don't tend to talk about, but which I think are pretty damn useful.

Here's a brief explanation of each.

1. Writing well

Writing is thinking that you can share. And this is pretty much the whole of what strategy is - thinking then sharing it - so honestly, you can't do without this.

2. Feeling comfortable generalising

Strategy is about zoomed-out, big-picture perspectives. And that means painting with a broad brush. Some people don't feel comfortable doing this, and so strategy isn't for them.

3. Being a teensy bit negative

If you're doing strategy, you're trying to improve something. Which must begin with noticing what's wrong with it. You can't be a cheerleader for something, and change its path.

4. An eye for aesthetics

Partially this is about pattern-spotting (a core strategy skill). But it's also about influence. If you want to persuade people, then make it pretty.

5. A sense of humour

Yes, it helps with rapport - but more importantly humour comes from observation and lateral thinking. I don't really see how you can be a good strategist without being kinda funny.

6. Being a PowerPoint master

Oh man do I love PowerPoint (or Keynote in my case). And you've got to. Knowing the art of pleasing rhythmic presentations is huge, since this is how you're probably going to sell your idea.

7. Kindness and warmth

People won't listen to you if they don't like you.

8. Radical simplification

My favourite strategy question to ask is "give me this gist". Being able to simplify to the gist shows understanding, and drives clarity.

9. Curiosity

You need to just be generally interested in random "stuff", and gather it in the library of your mind - since you never know when the most obscure thing might come in handy.

10. An authoritarian streak

Hey, you don't have to like it, but eventually you're going to need to tell people what to do. Many great thinkers have been undone by not having the confidence to do this.

11. A distaste for perfectionism

A great strategy is always a bit of a punt, that might not stand up to minute scrutiny. So sometimes it's best to just trust your gut, and see how it goes.

12. A touch of cynicism

You are trying to work with how the world is - not how you wish it would be. So you need to be a realist about human nature, and the darker side of the world.

13. The ability to touch-type

This means you can write as quick as you can think. Insanely underrated.

14. Understanding branding

Most strategy is not branding - but a bit of it is, and it's the less "rational" part. You can't truly understand market dynamics without it.

15. Storytelling

A strategy, in the end, is a story. And it will work to the extent people are captured by it.

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Got any more? Put em in the comments.

Refine all these skills, for free, here: https://lnkd.in/eJSPsGUf

No Bullsh*t Strategy | Helping the world’s most iconic brands make smarter, braver decisions | Author | Advisor | Speaker

MKTK

$6,700,000 in influenced pipeline for our B2B founders & CEOs.

→ The best product doesn’t always win, visible ones do.
→ Your competitors are building authority while you’re stuck in the shadows.
→ You’re missing 6-7 figures because you’re not top of mind.

We fix that.

Our branding approach turns B2B tech founders and CEOs into industry authorities - amplifying visibility, driving revenue, and shortening sales cycles.

→ Reach your ideal buyers
→ Close deals faster
→ Attract PR & podcasts
→ Find investment deals
→ Boost employer branding

The Results Speak for Themselves:

💰 $1.1M influenced with a single enterprise deal with the CEOs brand
💰 $320k deal closed 70% faster through LinkedIn content.
💰 $93k in paid ads saved with a single LinkedIn post. 
💰 $1.8M in funding secured after building the founder’s brand.
💰 800+ CTOs reached in a single post, hitting their exact ICP.
💰 $3.2M in pipeline influenced in 2024 alone.

Trusted by Founders & CEOs from:
Metadata, Hootsuite, ClickFunnels, PostPilot, Mighty Networks, Zakeke, and 35+ more.

What they say: 

⭐ “Filipa helped me scale my social presence, structure my posts, and have real industry conversations.”
— Gil Allouche, CEO @ Metadata.io (Inc5000, Series B)

⭐ “I was able to turn my experience building ClickFunnels into content that performs, get on relevant podcasts, and scale my brand.”
— Todd Dickerson, Co-Founder @ ClickFunnels ($100M+ SaaS)

⭐ “People finally see us again. They see my company, they see me. And that’s why suddenly people reach out to us again… which is pretty awesome!”
— Leopold, CEO @ Amsterdam Standard

Founder

Limelight

Building the first-ever B2B creator collaboration platform for brands and B2B creators.

Advisor

Ad World Prime

Spoke at the world's largest online advertising event for 20,000+ attendees.

Speaker, 2023 Edition

flace

flace was a SaaS company committed to optimizing hybrid work. 
• Co-founded and bootstrapped flace to a €550,000 valuation (pre-seed), in 3 months;
• Created and implemented the positioning, branding, and launch strategy;
• Launched marketing campaigns across several digital channels.

Co-Founder & CMO

CyberU, Inc.

• Produced 30+ hours of material on content marketing and brand building;
• Taught marketers, leaders, and entrepreneurs from Fortune 500 companies (Airbus, Hitachi, and NYSE).

Invited Marketing Expert

Building Brands for B2B Tech Founders that turn into multi 6-figures in their sales pipeline

$6,700,000 in influenced pipeline for our B2B founders & CEOs.

→ The best product doesn’t always win, visible ones do.
→ Your competitors are building authority while you’re stuck in the shadows.
→ You’re missing 6-7 figures because you’re not top of mind.

We fix that.

Our branding approach turns B2B tech founders and CEOs into industry authorities - amplifying visibility, driving revenue, and shortening sales cycles.

→ Reach your ideal buyers
→ Close deals faster
→ Attract PR & podcasts
→ Find investment deals
→ Boost employer branding

The Results Speak for Themselves:

💰 $320K deal closed 70% faster through LinkedIn content.
💰 $93K in paid ads saved with a single LinkedIn post. 
💰 $1.8M in funding secured after building the founder’s brand.
💰 800+ CTOs reached in a single post, hitting their exact ICP.
💰 $3.2M in pipeline influenced in 2024 alone.

Trusted by Founders & CEOs from:
Metadata, Hootsuite, ClickFunnels, PostPilot, Mighty Networks, Zakeke, and 35+ more.

What they say: 

⭐ “Filipa helped me scale my social presence, structure my posts, and have real industry conversations.”
— Gil Allouche, CEO @ Metadata.io (Inc5000, Series B)

⭐ “Filipa helped me turn my experience running ClickFunnels into content that performs, get on relevant podcasts, and scale my brand.”
— Todd Dickerson, Co-Founder @ ClickFunnels ($100M+ SaaS)

⭐ “People finally see us again. They see my company, they see me. And that’s why suddenly people reach out to us again… which is pretty awesome!”
— Leopold, CEO @ Amsterdam Standard

Filipa Canelas

5 LinkedIn content frameworks to build trust, fast!

(that the algorithm loves and promotes! 😍)

𝗦𝘄𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 →

5 LI Posts to Build Trust, Fast

Everyone's obsessing over AEO optimization. Meanwhile, they're ignoring what actually gets cited:

→ Original research and proprietary data 
→ Strong POV backed by experience 
→ Depth and relevancy 

But some are treating AEO like it's SEO back in 2012. 

“Let’s crack this.” 
“Just follow this checklist.”

But ChatGPT and Claude don’t cite "optimized for AEO."

Sure, you might game your way into AI citations for a bit. But (thankfully), it will evolve to prioritize what buyers already trust:

- Content that sales teams send to prospects
- ⁠Content that gets shared in internal Slack channels
- ⁠Content that shows up in buying conversations
- ⁠Content that influences deals and stakeholders 

That's what gets indexed.

You can't optimize your way into trust. But build trust, and optimization takes care of itself.

taplio

The Battle

Alex M H Smith

Filipa Canelas

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Performance ScoreAlex M H Smith's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreFilipa Canelas's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Alex M H Smith

Filipa Canelas

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Alex M H Smith's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreFilipa Canelas's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreAlex M H Smith's LinkedIn Performance