Play Bigger

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Play Bigger

11 facets

  1. Vision and Mission: what was the original market insight that led you to create this company?
  2. Customers: who do you envision buying this product or service, and who would use it?
  3. Problem Statement: What’s the problem you think you can solve for your potential customers?
  4. Use-cases: What are the specific ways that people would use this product or service to solve their problem?
  5. Product Solution: Give a detailed explanation of the technology behind the solution. What does it do not? What else is capable of doing in the future?
  6. Ecosystem: What are the other companies involved in solving the problem or adding additional value? Where in ecosystem are the control points where one company has leverage?
  7. Competition: Who else is trying to solve this problem? If no one else sees the problem yet, who might jump in to compete with you to solve them problem once you identify it?
  8. Business Model: How will your product or service change business for your customers? Will it increase their return on investment, or reduce costs in a significant way? Or does it allow them to do something that couldn’t have been done with prior technology — creating huge value?
  9. Sales and go-to-market: Enterprise companies should articulate how the product or solution will make its way to the market. Through a sales force? Through distribution partners? Both? For a consumer company — how will users find out about your solution? From app-stores, search, viral adoption, growth-hacking techniques, advertising, PR?
  10. Organization: How is the company organised? Who are the major influencers in the company? How are decisions made, and what kind of culture would work?
  11. Funding strategy: What’s the next funding event? A private fund-raise? An IPO? How much runway does the company have before it needs more money, and what kind of funding is in place to execute category strategy?

💡 We’re a “marketing signals” company is a much better way of saying that were are a “channel analytics” company. The former allows you to be a “category king”. The latter means you’re just one in a pack

Defining a category?

Step 1

Figure out who’s in charge of category definition. Often, the founders are way to embroiled in the day to day to step back. Getting an outsider (an intern/consultant) to help with this can be useful [Ignore the bit in red — this is entirely self-serving by the authors]

Step 2

Do the 11 facets exercise

Step 3

Workshop — take a full day to receive a presentation from person put in charge of step 1, and follow it up with discussion and debate. a) who are the customers, b) what’s the problem they don’t yet know they have or can’t yet solve, c) what are the “from —> to”s, d) what’s the new category?

Step 4

Name that category — play with combinations of 2 or 3 words

Category creation and positioning applies to individuals too, not just companies. You can either position yourself, or be positioned. Always position yourself. Condition the market to accept you as a top-flight executive

The power of stories

Stories can help customers understand your business better and help motivate employees. You can present your product and the problem it’s going to solve in the form of a story. Doing so will allow you to convey your point of view (POV) effectively – how you define your company’s place in the world and how it finds solutions to problems.