What does clear startup positioning look like? 👀 Just take a peak at Spellbook. They’ve just raised a $10.9M Series A led by Moxxie Ventures. 🧬 I used our positioning & messaging model to create a snapshot of their positioning strategy. Here is a breakdown on the fundamental categories. ↳ and what shows up in their website messaging. 🛠️ Product Elements 🛠️ 🟣 They are very dialed in on what they are: ↳ AI contract-drafting assistant 🔵 And the benefit they are promising: ↳ drawing legal contracts 3x faster They do have multiple capabilities that seem to be for different use cases — I’d be curious which of these matter the most to customers? 📈 Market Elements 📈 They are targeting legal professionals working on contract agreements — even going as far to say they are not for non-lawyers. There were 2 elements that did NOT show up in the messaging: 🟡 Company Type 👉 Not having this narrowed to a specific company type doesn't hurt their positioning at all. The value they provide doesn't change whether the business is a large pharmaceutical company or a data company: → They are all working on contracts. 🔴 Problem This is the only element that could be improved. I’m curious of the answer to the question: “What problem would a lawyer have that would trigger them to seek out this new way of writing contracts” → Are they making mistakes writing them manually? → Do they hate writing certain parts of the contract? → Are they missing key deadlines on deals? This is likely something they are discovering… 💪 And once they do, it’ll help dial in the capabilities to address these problem even more! ____ Because the positioning of Spellbook is very clear… This likely translates to very targeted Go-to-Market motions. And the fact that they have 34,000+ lawyers signed up to their waitlists is a GREAT signal that this positioning is working. Scott Stevenson and Daniel Di Maria — Congrats on the raise and progress so far! ____ For other startup founders working on your positioning... Give this exercise a try — and note where you are clear... 🧐 And where you have some things to figure out. #positioning #messaging #venturecapital #startups
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Product Messaging for Early Stage Horizontal B2B Startups | I help founders market hard-to-market products
2d
We've worked with over 50 horizontal startups… 💀 And many of them make this mistake with their marketing. What’s the mistake? ❌ They market the new technology ↳ “It’s a whole new way to X” Instead of…. ✅ Marketing the new capability. ↳ “Here is the new thing it lets you do” Why doesn’t this work? 🔥🔥 Because customers primarily care about what product let's them do. And don’t get me wrong, they do eventually need to understand how the product works… But this is AFTER they buy in to your offer. ____ Here is what this looks like in their messaging — using Uber as an example. 🫱 Uber selling “the new technology” “Imagine if you could combine smart phones with cellular networks in order to connect drivers to people who need a ride”. This message only works for 2 audiences: → Investors evaluating your potential impact → Employees buying into your vision 💢 It does NOT help a prospect understand or evaluate your new product. 🫱 Here is Uber selling “the new capability” “Imagine if you could press a button on your phone and a car picked you up almost instantly”. In this message, the prospects hear’s what’s in it for her… 🤑 And can start to evaluate where it fits into her world. ____ There are 2 reasons why founders fall into the trap of marketing the new technology: 1️⃣ Desire to explain their hard work Founding teams spend thousands of hours figuring out how to make “the new technology” actually work. Who wouldn’t want to tell people about it? It can be easy to forget that the customer ONLY cares about the capability. 2️⃣ “the new technology” message worked with VCs You just raised 5-15 million dollars by explaining “the new technology”. VCs love new technology that might replace old technology. This can trick founders into thinking that the same message is going to work in market. ____ Check out the additional examples shown for Loom and Stripe. And ask yourself… 💪 Are you messaging on your capabilities? 📟 Or trying to explain the new technology you’re building?
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Product Messaging for Early Stage Horizontal B2B Startups | I help founders market hard-to-market products
3d Edited
How to craft benefit messages… Using Loom as an example: (See image) Benefits are STATE CHANGES. 📈 The increase of something good OR 📉 The decrease of something bad ____ For this scenario, we’re assuming the following. 🟡 Target Customer → Development Teams 🟠 Capability → Record & share videos explaining your code. 🟢 Feature → screen recorder & shareable link. ____ There are 3 types of Benefit Messages to consider: 1️⃣ Functional Benefits Functional changes are rooted in activities and are the MOST UNIVERSAL. 🤷♀️ When to use Functional Benefits? In most cases, your messaging should lead with functional benefits. They help a prospect understand the intended use of the product, and likely apply to all users. 🔵 Loom example — "Spend less time in meetings, re-explaining everything." 2️⃣ Emotional Benefits Emotional changes are rooted in the feelings of the user. 🤷♂️ When to use Emotional Benefits? After you're confident that a prospect knows how your product works — and when they would use the product. The tricky thing about emotional benefits is that they are NOT UNIVERSAL. Different people have different emotions. Take the Loom emotional benefits as an example. 🔵 Loom — "Avoid the stress of presenting live in front of people." 💢 Not all developers get stressed out presenting in front of people. So there is a chance that this benefit will not land with certain targets. 3️⃣ Social Benefits These changes are also emotional, but focus more on community forces. Humans are social beings. And understanding these dynamics can be powerful for any founder or startup marketer to understand. 🤷 When to use Social Benefits? After you've confirmed that there are social dynamics at play. Like emotional benefits, social benefits can vary... So listen closely to your customers, and tune the social benefit message accordingly. 🔵 Loom example — "Boost your credibility across the team." ____ 👉 It's important to note that your messaging won't always be able to be explicit on benefits. ↳ Especially when it comes to social and emotional benefits. When in doubt... 🚀 Use the benefit message type that best aligns to the problem you're trying to solve. #messaging #valueproposition #productmarketing
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Product Messaging for Early Stage Horizontal B2B Startups | I help founders market hard-to-market products
5d
How to leverage Use Case as a differentiator… 😬 When competitors have the same technology. Using Gong, Fathom, and Descript as examples. They all have the same underlying technology — Audio to Text Transcription. What is the functional use case of this technology? 🎙️🔎 Turn audio into text and make it searchable. At this generic use case level, Google, IBM, and Microsoft are the big players. 🤷♂️ So how should startups in this space positioning their product? It can be tempting for startups to market this broad use case — with the idea of appealing to a larger audience. ❌ This is a mistake. The markets are just too fragmented. ↳ the actual business use cases are too diverse. They'll never be able to compete with the product & GTM resources of these large companies. The result of taking this broad approach? 💩 A very mediocre product with a marketing strategy that is spread too thin. ↳ They won't stand out in the market. Instead, do what Gong, Fathom, and Descript did… (see image) 🔥 Focus on a single use case. So instead of "turn audio to text"... They all double-clicked into what happens AFTER your turn audio into text. ↳ and focused on specific business use cases for a target segment. Gong → help sales teams get insights from meetings. Fathom → help Zoom users capture tasks from meetings. Descript → help creators edit their podcast. 🔑 Specificity was the key to their differentiation. Whenever a customer had that specific situation — they were almost guaranteed to be on the short list. ____ So for founders worried about narrowing your focus, remember… 🚀 Big businesses can be built by focusing on a single use case. #positioning #product #marketing #messaging
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Product Messaging for Early Stage Horizontal B2B Startups | I help founders market hard-to-market products
6d
How do you craft a Use Case message? 🧬 By combining 2 important things: User Scenario + Product Functionality These set the foundation for a complete use case, which we define as: ”A specific scenario explaining how the product as a whole can be used to solve a user's problem or achieve a goal” 🤦♂️ Many startups forget about the User!! ↳ and over-communicate the product functionality. Here's how to write more complete use cases ↳ With a breakdown of what goes in each component 🎬 User Scenario 🎬 Think of this as the situation in the market where your product's functionality might actually fit. Your use case messaging hinges on these scenarios being REAL. If a prospect can't relate to the scenario, your message will fall flat. There are 2 parts to a User Scenario: ⚫️ Context What's the situation for the customer? In other words, what is your customer doing without your product? → Are they using a rival product? → Are they carrying out some process? 🔴 Problem What struggles do they encounter in this context? Ideally, you can pinpoint specific moments or triggers that highlight the struggle. *When it comes to messaging, the idea is to be specific with these elements to: → showcase you understand your customer's needs → set a foundation to land your product message Now that we have defined the 'Market side' of a use case... Let's talk about the 'Product side': ⚙️ Product Functionality ⚙️ Think of this as the ideal path for a user to get value out of the product. 🟠 Capabilities The new abilities that are unlocked by using your features. 🟢 Features The functional aspects of your product that power the delivery of capabilities. 🔵 Benefits The positive change resulting from applying your capabilities. When linked together, they articulate the ideal flow of using the product to deliver on the promised value. ____ The example shown is for Intuit Mailchimp (see image). There are many different scenarios where someone might use their personalization features. But by highlighting a real user scenario for customer success , it makes the use case more relatable. So if you're a startup founder or product marketer, remember... 👉 You can't have a use case without the user scenario. Your strongest use case messages will combine: 🎬 + ⚙️ User Scenario + Product Functionality #startups #productmarketing #messaging
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Product Messaging for Early Stage Horizontal B2B Startups | I help founders market hard-to-market products
1w
Friendly reminder to startup founders... 🎯 Focus on what matters ↳Solving the problem for your target customers. ❌ And don't chase shiny things. #startups #founders #saas
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Product Messaging for Early Stage Horizontal B2B Startups | I help founders market hard-to-market products
1w
The Fletch PMM process of creating a homepage message 1️⃣ Audit your current messaging ↳ Using our positioning & messaging model By breaking apart your positioning into elements... It's gives you x-ray vision on where things are breaking down. 📈 Market Elements 📈 🟣 Persona 🟡 Company Type ⚫ Context 🔴 Problem 💻 Product Elements 💻 🟣 Product Category 🟠 Capability 🟢 Feature 🔵 Benefit 2️⃣ Address clarity gaps ↳ to discover your minimum viable positioning By understanding where you are most clear — and where you need work... You can start to identify positioning anchors to explain what you are and who you serve. 🏆 We call this your minimum viable positioning. And it is the message you want to lead with in the hero section of your home page. 3️⃣ Build the strategic message ↳ By filling our our Messaging Canvas You can't message everything about your product on your home page! Instead, you need to find the most compelling elements that align with the struggles of your target customers. Our canvas framework helps you prioritize those pieces and craft clear value propositions to support your positioning. 4️⃣ Translate the message to site copy ↳ with the right story structure The final step is taking your minimum viable positioning and your supporting value props and putting them into a cohesive structure. Here is where we punch up the language to something more suitable for a website. ______ 👉 ATTN Founders. — Anthony Pierri 🎸 and I are opening up a cohort-based learning beta to a small group of start ups. Leave a comment if you're interested taking your startup through this process!
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Product Messaging for Early Stage Horizontal B2B Startups | I help founders market hard-to-market products
1w
Market Positioning vs Segment Positioning These 2 types of positioning power marketing for Horizontal B2B startups. Apply them both correctly… 🚀 And you’ll increase the likelihood of carving out a place in your market. Here is a breakdown of each type ↳ with insights on how to message Using Notion as an example (see image) 🤑 Market positioning 🤑 What is it? 👉 Your approach to the broader market. In other words, it’s your strategy to go after multiple segments. How to message for market positioning? ⚓ Use the most compelling positioning elements as anchors. These are the elements that best explain who you serve and what you do. This message acts as a starting point for discovering the other messaging elements. When in doubt on which anchors to use, maximize for clarity by asking: “Which combination of elements will help people understand us the most?” 🎯 Segment positioning 🎯 What is it? 👉 Your approach to a more narrow market In other words, your strategy to go after a specific market segment. How to message for segment positioning? 🔗 Combine all the messaging elements to tell an end-to-end story These messages are your most complete value propositions. You’re trying to get a a prospect to say… “Wow, that’s my exact situation and problem — this might be for me” ____ Remember, you’ll need to use both types of positioning and messaging to carve out your place in the market. 💡 For early stage startups (seed & series A)… Apply your market positioning & messaging to be an initial signal as you uncover the other elements for specific segments. And once you find a segment with alignment to your product & messaging… 📈 You’ll activate scalable growth.
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Product Messaging for Early Stage Horizontal B2B Startups | I help founders market hard-to-market products
1w
How to evaluate your startup’s positioning ↳ and uncover your Minimum Viable Positioning ▪️ What is Minimum Viable Positioning? 💬 It’s the smallest explanation of who you serve and what you do. ▪️ The goal of Minimum Viable Positioning? 🔮 To be able to explain what you do to multiple customer segments — Leaving room to discover your best fit in the market. The key is to break down your positioning and messaging into the fundamental elements. 👉 And identify where your messaging is the most clear. Anthony Pierri 🎸 and I have applied this model with over 50 B2B startups... And we've found that it's critical to use AT LEAST ONE element from each category: 📈 Market Elements 📈 🟣 Persona 🟡 Company Type ⚫ Context 🔴 Problem 💻 Product Elements 💻 🟣 Product Category 🟠 Capability 🟢 Feature 🔵 Benefit ____ Check out the example for ElevenLabs. (See image) They recently raised a $19 million Series A led by Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, and Andreessen Horowitz — doing some really cool stuff in the text-to-speech space. ____ Remember, your positioning and messaging will evolve as you progress towards product-market fit. And as you make progress, you’ll be able to use more of the elements… 🚀 Making your positioning even more clear. ↳ which will power your GTM programs #positioning #startups #b2b
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Product Messaging for Early Stage Horizontal B2B Startups | I help founders market hard-to-market products
2w
📢 ATTN Founders 📢 🆘 A rebrand isn't going to save you 🆘 It can be tempting to polish your startup with: → the perfect logo → the font that represents your attitude → a catchy name → a color palate that pops But when you're early stage... 📛 These things JUST DON'T MATTER 📛 So instead of a rebrand, reinvest that time into activities that move you closer to achieving PRODUCT-MARKET FIT. 🛠️ Building a great product → Spend more time with customers → Keep iterating on your features & offer 🌱 Building strong distribution → Spend more time with prospects → Keep iterating on your positioning and messaging ____ 🤦 We've all fallen into this trap of polishing. ⏰ Consider this a friendly reminder to work on the things that matter. #startups #marketing #branding #product
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