Stop Using SWOT. Flip It Instead.
- Matt Symes
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
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Most founders have done some version of a SWOT analysis.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
It usually ends up as a whiteboard brainstorm. Everyone nods, takes a photo, and nothing changes.
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That’s not how we use it in Levership.
We flip the order.
Opportunities.
Threats.
And then…Strengths.Weaknesses.
Why? Because order matters.
Starting with Opportunities forces us to scan the horizon first. Not just “what’s possible” in theory, but “what’s possible” in your actual market right now.
Then Threats - the real ones. The emerging competitors, changing buyer behavior, regulatory shifts, or technology curves that could make your current model irrelevant.
Only after that do we get to Strengths and Weaknesses, because your internal reality means nothing if you haven’t framed it against external change.
Here’s the part most people miss:
Right now, AI is rewriting both the Opportunities and Threats columns - faster than most leaders can keep up.
If your OTSW is still last year’s, you’re making decisions on expired information.
It’s not just about whether AI can automate part of your service.
It’s about whether the market you serve is being reshaped while you’re still debating the old playbook.
When we run an OTSW, we’re mapping the external forces that matter most, including the ways AI is already shifting customer expectations, cost structures, and competitive advantage.
For one founder, the OTSW made it painfully clear:
Their top “opportunity” was already being eroded by an AI-enabled competitor. Without that lens, they would have doubled down in the wrong place.
For another, what looked like a threat became a catalyst—they retooled an internal process with AI and freed up 30% of their delivery capacity.
The point:
If your business is running on assumptions that don’t factor in today’s opportunities and threats, you’re not leading.
You’re reacting.
And in a market moving this fast, reaction is too slow.
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