When Qin attacked Zhao, Su Dai (Master Su) spoke to the King of Wei, saying: "I have heard that Your Majesty's concerns are not something I dare to presume upon lightly. Now Qin's attack on Zhao is a matter of Your Majesty's concern, yet it is not for Zhao's sake. The strength of Zhao is like the strength of Qin. The strength of Qin brings no benefit to Zhao, and the strength of Zhao brings no benefit to Qin. Now that Qin is attacking Zhao, why does Your Majesty not come to Zhao's aid? If you aid Zhao, then Zhao will surely be grateful to Your Majesty, and Qin will surely bear resentment against Your Majesty. Your Majesty would do better to ally with Zhao in secret, while outwardly maintaining dealings with Qin. Zhao, having profited by Your Majesty's strategy, will surely not attack Wei; and Qin, having likewise profited by Your Majesty's strategy, will surely not attack Wei. Thus Your Majesty, with a single move, secures advantage from both sides." The King of Wei said, "Well said." Thereupon he secretly allied with Zhao while outwardly dealing with Qin. Qin indeed came to resent Zhao, and Zhao indeed came to be grateful to Wei. The joy of the King of Wei was the achievement of Su Dai.
💡 商战启示录
Su Dai's strategy is rooted in the principle of "covert alliance beneath overt rivalry"—maintaining a facade of neutrality or maneuvering in public while forging secret alliances, thereby securing maximum gain at minimal risk. In modern commercial warfare, this mirrors the "coopetition" strategy among corporations. Take Apple, for instance: it competes with Samsung in the smartphone market, yet partners with Samsung for chips and displays. Apple openly rivals Samsung, even engaging in patent litigation, while covertly relying on Samsung's supply chain to sustain its product superiority. This "overt rivalry" diverts market attention and preserves brand image, while the "covert alliance" safeguards core resources and averts supply-chain strangleholds. Another case is Huawei and Qualcomm: Huawei publicly competes with Qualcomm over 5G standards, yet secretly cross-licenses patents to avoid all-out confrontation, thereby gaining breathing room in the global market. Su Dai emphasized "reaping twofold gains from a single move"—through balanced diplomacy, Wei could evade aggression from either Qin or Zhao. In business, firms often face a "standoff of two titans," such as Alibaba and JD.com in e-commerce. Pinduoduo, however, adopted the "covert alliance beneath overt rivalry" approach—outwardly neutral, it secretly collaborates with both supply chains while leveraging low-price strategies to attract users, ultimately rising from the crevice between giants. The essence lies in avoiding direct confrontation, exploiting rivals' contradictions to build one's own buffer zone, and trading time for space to achieve steady growth.