Ray DeckAcclaimed advisor to hundreds of founders and builders. Investor, teacher, founder, advisor

Who are your business Complimenters?

Name: Who are your business Complimenters?
Uploaded: 2025-06-03T19:03:21+00:00
Duration: 1 min 1 s
Channel: Ray Deck
Description: In this brief video, the speaker introduces the concept of business complementors, referencing Andy Grove’s idea of a “6th strategic force” that sits…

3 Jun 2025 · 1 min

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In this brief video, the speaker introduces the concept of business complementors, referencing Andy Grove’s idea of a “6th strategic force” that sits alongside Porter’s five forces. He explains that complementors are not the same as supply‑chain vendors; instead they are “fellow travelers” whose success is mutually tied to yours. The speaker gives concrete examples—an observability platform paired with a development platform, or an insurance provider for software builds—to illustrate how a company can profit when its complementor profits and vice‑versa. He challenges viewers to identify which companies act as complementors for their own business and to explore ways to create shared value.

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Who are your business complementors? Andy Grove calls the complementor the 6th strategic force after the 5 forces of Michael Porter. And the question I would ask is, who are your fellow travelers? Who complements your business and also profits when your business profits and vice versa, your business profits when they profit? This is different from your supply chain. There's certain companies that you depend on to provide you with product that you then use to be moving along. So for example, if you're in professional services, and you are working with a particular platform, like a local platform or something, that would probably be considered a vendor. But a side company, right, one that's going to go alongside you, is going to be pretty important. So, for example, an observability platform going along with a development platform would be a fellow traveler, or somebody who provides insurance for these builds would become a fellow traveler. What companies also profit from your success, and how can you profit from theirs?