Your Next Five Moves

Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy

by Patrick Bet-David (with Greg Dinkin)

Think like a grandmaster, act like a builder.
In Your Next Five Moves, entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David lays out a practical playbook for seeing around corners—clarifying your vision, decoding people, crafting strategy, and executing bold moves that compound. It’s part strategy manual, part leadership mirror, and all action.

Why this book matters today

Markets are noisy, talent is scarce, and attention is fleeting. The teams that win aren’t just fast—they’re deliberate. This book helps you slow the game down: define what you truly want, map the few moves that matter, and align your people and resources so each step sets up the next.

What you’ll learn

• Clarity of vision: Turn fuzzy ambition into a concrete, testable destination.

• Powerful positioning: Identify your unfair advantage and the niche you can dominate.

• People and persuasion: Read motives, hire for trajectory, and influence without arm-twisting.

• Strategic sequencing: Choose the next one to five moves that unlock outsized progress.

• Execution under pressure: Install rhythms and metrics that keep you moving when the game heats up.

Who it’s for

• Owners and CEOs mapping the next stage of growth or an exit.

• Operators and GMs who need a clearer playbook than “work harder.”

• Founders and sales leaders who live and die by positioning and pipeline.

• Ambitious managers ready to think bigger than their job description.

What’s inside

• Five “moves” frameworks: Vision, Strategy, People, Process, and Money—each with prompts and checklists.

• Scenario planning: How to prepare for best case, base case, and worst case without overbuilding.

• Deal thinking: When to partner, acquire, or raise—and how to avoid value-killing terms.

• Personal CEO: Habits and mental models for staying sharp, resilient, and decisive.

How to use this book

1. Write your vision on one page. Define the win, the time horizon, and the non-negotiables.

2. Pick your five moves. Choose the next sequence that best stacks advantages.

3. Assign owners and metrics. One name per move, leading indicators only.

4. Pressure-test the plan. Ask “What would make this fail?” and build counter-moves.

5. Review weekly. Re-score priorities, prune distractions, and update the next five.

Field-tested tools (grab-and-go)

• Vision/Vehicle/Values grid: Align what you want with the business that can get you there.

• Positioning triangle: Customer you serve • Problem you own • Promise you can keep.

• Talent barbell: A-players in mission-critical seats; high-ceiling rookies everywhere else.

• Pipeline math: Reverse-engineer revenue from close rates, cycle times, and average deal size.

• Move map: A simple diagram that shows today → Move 1 → Move 2 → Move 3–5.

Common strategy killers (and fixes)

• Foggy goals → Write the finish line in plain English; share it widely.

• Me-too positioning → Niche down until you’re unmistakable; say no to off-strategy work.

• Random acts of growth → Sequence moves; stop starting, start finishing.

• Talent drag → Hire for learning speed, not just résumé; coach visibly; make timely changes.

• Overplanning → Plan five moves, execute the first two, and update from real data.

Why it stands apart

• Founder’s perspective: Bet-David blends street-smart tactics with scalable systems.

• Action bias: Every concept ties to a decision, behavior, or metric you can use this week.

• Built for builders: Equally useful if you’re running a shop, a service company, or a scaling SaaS.

Ready to play the long game?

Clarify the destination. Choose the next five moves. Execute the first two now—and let momentum do the heavy lifting.