/startup-positioning

Positioning Frameworks Reference

Canonical definitions for the 5 positioning frameworks used in this skill. Apply them in order: Dunford's process first (primary engine), then express the result through Moore and Neumeier formats, grounded by JTBD thinking, and sanity-checked against Ries & Trout principles.

1. April Dunford — Obviously Awesome

Positioning defines how your product is the best in the world at providing something that a well-defined set of customers cares a lot about.

The 5 components (work through in this order):

1. Competitive Alternatives — What would customers do if your solution didn't exist? Not just direct competitors — include manual processes, spreadsheets, hiring someone, doing nothing. This grounds the positioning in reality.

2. Unique Attributes — What do you have that the alternatives don't? Be specific and factual. Not "better UX" but "drag-and-drop workflow builder that requires zero code." Capabilities, features, expertise, integrations, data, speed, etc.

3. Value Themes — What do those attributes enable for the customer? Map each attribute to a customer benefit. Attributes are features; value themes are outcomes. "Drag-and-drop builder" → "Non-technical teams can build workflows without waiting for engineering." Group related attributes into 2-3 themes.

4. Best-Fit Customers — Who cares the most about these value themes? The best customers are those for whom your unique value is critical, not just nice-to-have. Define by characteristics that make them care more than others.

5. Market Category — The context you position your product in so the value is obvious. Three options:

   • Existing category: You're a better version of something people already buy (e.g., "CRM for real estate agents")
   • New sub-category: You take an existing category and add a qualifier (e.g., "AI-powered recruiting platform")
   • New category: Rare and expensive to do. Only if nothing else frames your value well.

Adapted 10-step process for AI-guided positioning:

1. Understand your best customers — who loves your product and why
2. Form the positioning team — in our case: the AI + the founder
3. Align on vocabulary — define terms, abandon preconceptions about current positioning
4. List your true competitive alternatives — EVERYTHING customers would do instead
5. Isolate your unique attributes — what you have that alternatives don't
6. Map attributes to value themes — attribute → "so what" → customer outcome
7. Determine who cares most — best-fit customer characteristics
8. Find your best market frame — category that makes value obvious
9. Layer on a trend — only if genuine, optional
10. Capture the positioning — multiple formats: Moore statement, Onliness, elevator pitch

Common pitfalls by component:

• Alternatives: Only listing direct competitors. Miss the status quo — manual processes, spreadsheets, hiring someone, doing nothing. These are often the real competition.
• Attributes: Listing features that alternatives also have. That is table stakes, not differentiation. If two competitors also have it, it is not unique.
• Value Themes: Staying at the feature level instead of translating to outcomes. "AI-powered" is an attribute. "Get answers in seconds instead of hours" is a value theme.
• Best-Fit Customers: Too broad ("SMBs") or demographic ("25-34 year olds") instead of characteristic-based. Define by behaviors, situations, and needs that make them care more.
• Category: Inventing a category nobody searches for. If customers cannot Google it, they cannot find you.

2. Geoffrey Moore — Crossing the Chasm Positioning Statement

The template:

For [target customer] who [statement of need/opportunity], the [product name] is a [market category] that [statement of key benefit]. Unlike [primary competitive alternative], our product [statement of primary differentiation].

Field definitions:

• Target customer = Dunford component 4: Best-Fit Customers
• Need = The job to be done (from JTBD analysis)
• Category = Dunford component 5: Market Category
• Key benefit = Dunford component 3: Value Themes (pick the strongest)
• Alternative = Dunford component 1: top Competitive Alternative
• Differentiation = Dunford component 2: Unique Attributes (most defensible)

Example:

For mid-market engineering teams who need to track deployment reliability across microservices, DeployWatch is a deployment observability platform that surfaces breaking changes before they reach production. Unlike generic APM tools, DeployWatch correlates deployments with performance regressions in real-time.

3. Marty Neumeier — Zag (Onliness Statement)

Basic template:

Our [brand/product] is the only [category] that [point of radical differentiation].

Extended template (6 elements):

• WHAT: The category you are in
• HOW: Your point of differentiation
• WHO: Your target audience
• WHERE: Your market geography
• WHY: The customer need you fulfill
• WHEN: The trend or moment that makes this relevant

Example (Harley-Davidson):

"The only motorcycle manufacturer [WHAT] that makes big, loud motorcycles [HOW] for macho guys and macho wannabes [WHO] mostly in the United States [WHERE] who want to join a gang of cowboys [WHY] in an era of decreasing personal freedom [WHEN]."

How to use as validation:

• If you cannot complete the basic statement convincingly, your positioning lacks a clear differentiator
• If "only" feels like a stretch, you have not found genuinely unique ground yet
• The extended version forces completeness — every element should feel natural, not forced
• Try completing it from the customer's perspective: would THEY describe you this way?

4. JTBD — Jobs to Be Done

Core concept: Customers do not buy products — they "hire" products to get a job done. The job is stable even as products come and go.

Three types of jobs:

• Functional: The practical task (e.g., "track my team's project status")
• Social: How they want to be perceived (e.g., "look organized and in control to stakeholders")
• Emotional: How they want to feel (e.g., "feel confident nothing is falling through the cracks")

Application to positioning:

• JTBD broadens the competitive alternative set — ALL solutions hired for the same job compete, regardless of category
• Understanding the emotional and social jobs reveals positioning angles that feature comparisons miss
• The language customers use to describe their job IS the language your positioning should use
• Underserved jobs (important but poorly satisfied) = strongest positioning opportunities

5. Ries & Trout — Positioning Principles

Core principles from "Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind":

• Positioning lives in the customer's mind, not your product. It is about perception, not reality. You cannot force a position — you claim one that is available.
• Simplicity wins. In an over-communicated world, only simple messages get through. One idea, clearly stated.
• The mental ladder. Customers organize brands on mental ladders by attribute. You need to claim a rung. If the top rung is taken, find a different ladder.
• First beats best. Being first in a category (in the customer's mind) is more powerful than being better. If you cannot be first in an existing category, create a subcategory where you ARE first.
• Consistency over time. Positioning takes time to stick. Do not change it every quarter. Pick a position and hold it.

Application: These principles act as a final sanity check. After building positioning through Dunford's process, test it: Is it simple? Does it claim one clear rung? Is that rung available? Would it stick over time?