How to Explore StratCinema: A Quick Guide

A few weeks ago, I introduced StratCinema and the idea of strategic “off-season” learning—maintaining your edge through curated cases rather than formal coursework. Since then, I’ve gotten questions about how the site actually works.

Fair enough. StratCinema is designed to be intuitive, but it’s also different from what you’re used to. So let me walk you through how to get the most from your visit.

Two Ways to Browse

When you land on StratCinema, you’ll see videos organized in two ways. Think of these as two different lenses for the same library:

Browse by Genre (What kind of story?)

Genres organize videos by the type of strategic insight, such as:

Big Mistakes – Companies that failed spectacularly. Wang Labs going from billion-dollar empire to bankruptcy. Blockbuster missing the streaming revolution. Digital Equipment Corporation’s collapse despite pioneering innovations. These are cautionary tales with pattern-rich lessons.
Ideas+ – Strategic frameworks and thought leadership. Roger Martin explaining why most “strategies” are just plans. Seth Godin on the systems that hold organizations back. Pure conceptual firepower.
Caribbean Corner – Business strategy cases from the Caribbean that you won’t find on YouTube or Harvard Business Review. Local wins, local context, global lessons.
Comeback Blueprint – These videos show companies which were turned around to become successes after being a failure
David vs. Goliath – Stories of underdog companies beating a favorite / stronger player
Big Mistakes – these were massive, existential errors made in corporate strategies. Some end with companies going bankrupt
MBA Refresh – these are teaching videos highlighting traditional, or not-so-traditional MBA concepts taught in schools. Or should be.
Winners vs. The Rest – these videos highlight companies which “won” versus others

More genres will emerge as the library grows—I’m constantly adding content.

Browse by Tag (What’s the vibe?)

Tags describe the feeling or approach of a video:

inspirational – Triumph, success stories
analytical – Deep strategic breakdown
provocative – Challenges conventional thinking
accessible – Easy to understand, no prerequisites
surprising – Counterintuitive insights
foundational – Building blocks of strategy
cutting edge – Newest thinking (Ideas+ content)
AI – Using AI in corporate strategy

You can click on the “In the Mood…” selector on the home page to filter the entire library.

The 30-Second Rule

Here’s the most important thing to understand about using StratCinema:

If a video doesn’t grab you in 30 seconds, move on.

Seriously. No guilt.

This isn’t Netflix where you force yourself to finish something because you started it. The value here is in browsing until something clicks. When a case resonates—when you feel that pull of “wait, I need to see where this goes”—that’s when you lean in and watch.

Some sessions you’ll watch three full videos. Other times you’ll sample ten and go deep on one. Both are success. The museum analogy I used in my last post applies here: you don’t study every painting. You wander, you pause when something catches you, you move on when it doesn’t.

What’s Inside Each Video

Every video page includes more than just the video itself:

Description – A brief overview of what strategic concept or case you’ll encounter. Use this to decide if it’s worth your time.

5 Key Moments with Timestamps – The critical insights and where to find them in the video. These serve three purposes:

Help you decide if the video delivers what you’re looking for
Let you jump to specific moments if you’re short on time
Give you anchors to come back to later

We used highly trained AI to generate these explanations. We had to do so to create the ethos of “guilt-free entertainment for the strategically curious.”

Bookmarking vs. Creating an Account

Right now, all content on StratCinema is free and open. You don’t need an account to watch anything.

But here’s what I’ve learned: people forget URLs. Especially when they’re in that “off-season” mode—browsing between meetings, winding down in the evening. You’ll stumble on something good, think “I’ll come back to this,” and then… you won’t remember where you found it.

So at minimum: bookmark the site. Seriously. Do it now if you haven’t.

If you want more than that, create a free account (just email + password). With an account, you can:

Pick up where you left off across devices.
Build your personal library of videos you want to revisit.
Get weekly curated recommendations based on what you watch.
Receive updates on new video drops.

No social login yet—that’s coming. For now, it’s the old-fashioned way.

Where to Start

The most common question I get: “Where should I start?”

Honest answer? Wherever your curiosity takes you. That’s the whole point.

But if you want a nudge, here are four entry points based on what tends to grab people:

If you love cautionary tales:
Start with The Rise and Fall of Blockbuster. It’s the case everyone thinks they know—until they see how many strategic missteps compounded into collapse.

If you want frameworks:
Jump to Roger Martin’s A Plan Is Not a Strategy. Fifteen minutes that will change how you see “strategic planning” in every organization you work with.

If you’re drawn to breakthrough wins:
Try How Costco Cracked Japan’s Impossible Market. It’s a masterclass in entering a market where everyone said it couldn’t be done.

If you want something provocative:
Watch Seth Godin on Stuck in Stale Strategy. It’s about the systems and mental models that keep us trapped in mediocrity—and how to see them.

After your first video, the library will start to reveal itself. You’ll notice patterns. You’ll see connections. That’s when it gets really good.

A Few Practicalities

How often do you add and remove content?
Frankly, this will be a work-in-progress. We are looking for a Goldilocks answer – not too many (i.e. overwhelm), not too few (i.e. boredom). I’m constantly curating, so the library keeps growing. We have access to thousands of candidates.

Can I share videos?
Absolutely. Every video has its own URL. One of my hopes is that strategists start sending each other specific cases the way people share articles—”You need to watch this one.”

Is there a mobile app?
Not yet. For now, the site works on any device. Mobile app is on the roadmap if demand justifies it.

Can I suggest videos? Or YouTube channels?
Yes, we are wide open to suggestions. Use our contact – [email protected]

What Success Looks Like

Here’s how you’ll know StratCinema is working for you:

You’re between projects or winding down after a long day. Your brain is still humming but not ready for heavy lifting. You pull up StratCinema, browse for a minute, click on something that catches your eye. Thirty minutes later, you’ve watched a case or two that made you think differently about a pattern you see all the time.

You don’t take notes. You don’t feel guilty for not “doing” anything with it. You just… absorbed it. And a week later, in a meeting, you reference it naturally. “You know, this reminds me of what happened with Wang Labs…”

That’s the off-season working. That’s strategic maintenance without the weight of homework, exams and grades.

One More Thing

StratCinema is new, which means it’s still evolving. If something’s confusing, if you’re looking for a feature that’s missing, if you think I’ve miscategorized a video—tell me.

I built this for strategists like us who are tired of fighting with YouTube and Google to find content that respects our intelligence. It only gets better if you help shape it.

Ready to explore?

Start browsing StratCinema →

And if you haven’t already, read Why I Built StratCinema for the full story behind the project.

Francis Wade curates StratCinema.