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Great strategists know that misdirection can be a form of smart resource control.
The Feint is one of the oldest tricks in the book: appear to attack one place, draw focus there… then strike where the opponent is weak.
Key Idea: The best move isn’t always the real one, it’s the one that shifts attention.
Origin: War, Sports, and Misdirection
Military Roots: From Sun Tzu to Napoleon, commanders have faked left to hit right.
Boxing: Ali’s famous “phantom punch” setups.
Football: The play-action pass—pretend to run, then go deep.
In all cases, the Feint works not by force, but by focus.
Feints in Business: Fake the Fight, Win the War
Company | The Feint | The Real Attack |
|---|---|---|
Spotify | Made headlines for playlists | Quietly built a podcasting empire |
Amazon | Got everyone focused on e‑commerce | Built AWS into the real profit engine |
Apple | Sells "phones" | Makes bank on services, App Store, and accessories |
TikTok | Looked like a dance app | Became the most powerful content discovery engine |
Why it works: Competitors react to what they see. Feints work by manipulating perception and overloading response systems.
Startup & GTM Example
Imagine a new SaaS tool that markets itself as a “Notion for Remote Teams.” The competition scrambles to compare features.
Meanwhile, the real goal is to build a private knowledge network product for enterprise sales enablement. By the time the market catches on, it’s too late.
Career Feints: Play the Long Game
Modern career feints:
Join a mid-sized company instead of a FAANG to get faster promotions and broader exposure.
Write publicly about low-stakes topics (e.g., tools), then shift the audience into your strategic domain (e.g., productivity consulting).
Take a “stepping stone” role that looks like a lateral move—but gives you access to execs, M&A teams, or strategic projects.
Remember: Feints let you move in plain sight, without triggering competitive resistance.
Behavioral Insight
Inattentional Blindness: People miss big changes when distracted. (Think: the gorilla in the basketball video.)
Confirmation Bias: We see what we expect, and dismiss what we don’t.
Cognitive Overload: Competitors can’t defend every angle—you only need to overload one.
Never underestimate a brand that bores you; they might be crushing it beneath the surface.
Practical Playbook:
Control the narrative: Feed a simple story externally. Even if it’s not your full play.
Run shadow R&D or GTM paths: Explore new verticals while the world focuses on your old ones.
Time the pivot: Unveil the real strategy only when momentum is locked in.
Quick Links
If this gave you a new way to think about strategy, share it with a friend who’s too busy defending a fake front.
See you next week with another strategy model.
