April Dunford's 10-step positioning methodology for B2B tech products. Use when customers don't understand the product, sales cycles are long because reps must "explain it," prospects compare you to wrong competitors, or you face price pressure despite a good product. Covers competitive alternatives

Note: This skill is independent analysis and commentary, not a reproduction of the original text. It synthesizes the book's core ideas with modern startup practice, surfaces where frameworks are outdated or incomplete, and integrates perspectives from adjacent disciplines. For the full argument and context, read the original book. Obviously Awesome "Positioning is the act of deliberately defining how you are the best at something that a defined market cares a lot about." April Dunford (2019) When to Use Investigate positioning when ANY of these is true: Sign What It Looks Like Confused prospects Compare you to products you're nothing like Long sales cycles Reps spend most calls explaining what you are High churn Customers who buy don't get the expected value Price pressure Can't command premium despite real differentiation Dunford does not give a strict numerical threshold one strong sign is enough to warrant a positioning audit. The Core Insight You probably have a positioning problem, not a marketing problem. When prospects don't understand your product, it's not because you haven't said it loud enough. It's because the CONTEXT they're using to evaluate you is wrong. Joshua Bell experiment: World class violinist played 45 min in a DC subway in 2007. 1,070 people walked past. Earned $32.17. Two days earlier: sold out Boston Symphony Hall at $100/seat. Same person, same skill. Different context = different perceived value. Cake → Muffin: Sometimes the same product needs a different category. Almost no physical difference between cake and muffin. Big contextual difference. The 5+1 Components Positioning is built from 5 components, plus 1 optional layer: Component Question Example 1. Competitive Alternatives What would they use without you? Excel, hire intern, do nothing 2. Unique Attributes What do you have that alternatives don't? Features, capabilities, partnerships 3. Value What can they DO because of those attributes? Save time, increase revenue (with proof) 4. Target Market Characteristics Who cares MOST? Best fit customer profile 5. Market Category What context makes your value obvious? "CRM for X" +1. Relevant Trends What in the world makes you matter MORE NOW? AI, remote work Critical: Dependency chain. Get the order wrong and the whole thing collapses. Why traditional "For X who Y, our product is a Z that does W unlike V" template fails: assumes you already know category and competitors. For novel products, those are exactly what you're trying to figure out. Detailed component definitions: see [frameworks.md](frameworks.md). The 10 Step Process (High Level) Step 1 Understand customers who LOVE the product (best fit) 2 Form cross functional positioning team (CEO mandatory) 3 Align vocabulary, let go of positioning baggage 4 List true competitive alternatives (customer view) 5 Isolate unique attributes (with proof) 6 Map attributes to value themes (1 4 themes) 7 Determine who cares a lot (behavioral segmentation) 8 Find market frame of reference (the core step) 9 Layer on a trend (optional) 10 Capture positioning so it can be shared Step by step detail with team formation, baggage handling, value theme clustering, segmentation: see [frameworks.md](frameworks.md). The Circular Dependency (Why Step 1 Matters) You can't position for your target market until you know who loves you. You can't know who loves you without selling first. You can't sell without some positioning. Break the cycle: Cast wide early ("fishing net analogy"). Don't position narrowly until you have signal from real users. Then narrow to best fit. If you don't have happy customers yet → you don't have positioning yet, you have hypotheses. Use Mom Test for problem validation FIRST. Don't position what you haven't built. The Three Positioning Styles (Step 8 The Core Step) Market category is the context customers use to evaluate you. Three styles: Style 1: Head to Head (Existing Category) Compete in an existing category by being better at one specific dimension. When to use: Established category exists, you have a clear advantage on something customers care about, you can be top 3. When NOT: Category leader is too entrenched, your advantage isn't category level important. Style 2: Big Fish, Small Pond (Subsegment) Find a subsegment where YOUR strengths are most valuable. When to use: A subset of customers has needs the leader doesn't address well, your strengths align, the subsegment is big enough. This is often the best fit for startups you can't out spend the leader on the broad category, but you can dominate a slice. Example: Janna Systems failing at "CRM for everyone." Repositioned as "CRM for investment banks": $2M → $70M revenue → $1.7B Siebel acquisition. Style 3: Create a New Game (New Category) Define a new category you can lead. When to use: Existing categories don't fit, you can clearly explain the new category in customer terms, you have resources to educate the market (expensive). When NOT (most cases): You think your product is "unique" (everyone thinks that), no budget to educate, existing categories work "well enough." Example: Eloqua coined "marketing automation": $12M → $96M → $870M Oracle acquisition. Mark Organ (Eloqua founder) found that successful category creation comes from deeply understanding a narrow set of extreme early customers, not from executives brainstorming acronyms at offsites. The category emerges from observed behavior, not invented positioning. When both a new market boundary AND new evaluation criteria are needed, consider creating a new category. With only one needed, stay within existing category structure. Treat as a heuristic. Decision Tree Failure Examples Bic for Her Tried to create "pens for women." Pens are pens. Customers ridiculed. Failed. "Sharing economy for pets" / "Uber for cats" Trend layered on product without share economy mechanics. Disaster. Long Island Iced Tea → Long Blockchain Renamed for crypto trend. Got delisted from Nasdaq. Big Fish / Small Pond Illustrative Example: "Coke for Dogs" Dunford's hypothetical: take Coke and reposition for the pet treat subsegment ("tastes like bones"). Different competitors, different value, different category same product. Sometimes a subsegment IS available; you just have to look creatively. Wattpad case (often omitted): repositioned a writing platform product after finding a subset of users using it differently. See [cases.md](cases.md). Decision Trees Do I have a positioning problem? Should I reposition? Dunford recommends "checking in" on positioning every six months OR when there's a major event not mandatory periodic repositioning. Reposition when triggers occur, not on schedule. Adding a large competitor doesn't necessarily mean positioning should change. Critical Caveats and Soft Heuristics "Big Fish / Small Pond is often the best fit for startups" heuristic. Selection bias is severe in any consultant's dataset (clients tend to be companies that already need help, often because they're not category leaders). Don't read as a measured rule. Two dimensional stretch (new boundary + new criteria → new category) heuristic, not law. Use as guidance. "Check in every six months" Dunford's actual phrasing is "checking in on your positioning every six months OR when there has been a major event." It's a check, not a mandatory reposition. No "2+/4 weak signs" threshold the source doesn't quantify how many signs trigger a positioning problem. Use judgment. Customer Sales Story (After Positioning Locked) Once positioning is locked, build a sales story in 6 stages: Stage Content 1 The Problem Pain customers feel 2 Current Solutions / Gap Why alternatives fail 3 Perfect World What it would look like solved 4 Product Introduction Here's how we solve it 5 Value Themes The 1 4 ways we deliver value 6 Next Steps What to do now Sales story comes BEFORE messaging. Story drives messaging, not vice versa. Then write a master messaging document to prevent message creep. Customers vs investors warning: Don't say "disruption" to customers. Investor language alienates buyers. Save category creation language for fundraising. Positioning ≠ Messaging ≠ Branding These three terms are used interchangeably and shouldn't be. Positioning = internal strategic document. Defines your competitive context, unique attributes, and target market. Not customer facing. This is what this skill covers. Messaging = customer facing translation of positioning. The words on your website, in your pitch deck, in your ads. Positioning makes messaging obvious; without positioning, messaging is guesswork. Branding = the emotional associations customers have with your company over time. Builds slowly through repeated, consistent exposure. Can't be written in a workshop. Key Dunford point: Most teams skip positioning and jump straight to messaging. The messaging then changes weekly because there's no foundation underneath it every new opinion reshapes the copy. Fix the positioning first; the messaging becomes obvious. Layer What It Is Who Owns It How Often It Changes Positioning Internal strategic foundation CEO + cross functional team Rarely (major triggers only) Messaging Customer facing language Marketing Quarterly or as tests demand Branding Emotional associations Marketing + Design (long game) Slowly, over years Critical Numbers Number Rule 5+1 Components of positioning 10 Steps in the process 3 Positioning styles 3 12 Team size for workshop 1 2 Members per function on positioning team 1 4 Value themes 2 5 Clusters of competitive alternatives 6 months Frequency to check in (not mandatory reposition) 30 sec Time customer should need to "get it" When NOT to Use This Skill Where Positioning Is Less Critical Modern counter examples to "positioning is foundational": Company What Won (Positioning Was Secondary) TikTok Algorithm + content distribution Stripe Developer experience + API quality OpenAI / ChatGPT Product capability shock Linear Product craft + design Cursor Better than Copilot AI; word of mouth Figma Browser based collab + free tier; network effects Pattern: When product is genuinely 10x better, OR strong network effects, OR product led, positioning matters but doesn't win. The Big Idea "Context is everything. Without context, no one can know if your product is good, bad, or even relevant to them." Positioning isn't marketing, branding, or messaging. It's choosing the context customers use to evaluate you. The frame determines: who shows up as a customer, who shows up as a competitor, what "value" means, what "expensive" means, what "good" means. Most companies let positioning happen accidentally. Dunford's contribution: positioning is a deliberate choice, not a default. Supporting Files [frameworks.md](frameworks.md) 10 step process detail (team formation, baggage, attributes/value mapping, segmentation), positioning canvas, traditional template critique [cases.md](cases.md) Janna Systems, Eloqua, Wave, Arm & Hammer, Wattpad, Redgate, Bic for Her, Long Blockchain [examples.md](examples.md) Worked positioning canvases, sales story templates, value theme clustering examples, "so what?" tests [integration.md](integration.md) Integration and conflicts with Mom Test, Crossing the Chasm, Blue Ocean Strategy, Monetizing Innovation, $100M Offers, $100M Money Models, $100M Leads, SP

obviously-awesome