Want to know a quick and dirty way to figure out your product category?

If you find yourself saying “we’re so much more than a _______,” then BINGO!

🌟💫YOU’VE FOUND YOUR PRODUCT CATEGORY ✨⭐️

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Founders are cursed.

Cursed with a vision of a future that doesn’t exist yet.

→ It’s why they work nights and weekends for years with little to no pay—all for a picture that exists only in their heads.

→ It’s what fuels them after hundreds of VC rejections to keep going.

→ This single-minded obsession with their vision of what reality COULD be is what drives them to create billion dollar companies.

Then why is it a curse? 🤔

❌ All that vision-casting makes founders terrible product marketers.

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Disclaimer:

I’m not talking about the late stage PMM that just does project management for feature launches 🙅🏻‍♂️

I’m talking about the REAL product marketing that leads positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategy 👍🏻

The REAL PMM that is concerned with selling the product—AS IT IS—today 👍🏻

The founder’s curse is they are constantly telling the investor story… to customers.

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And here’s the rub:

❌ most customers couldn’t care less about your vision.

✅ customers want a product that will solve a meaningful problem for them today

✅ customers want to understand exactly what box your product fits into

✅ customers want a frame of reference to understand what your product is and does

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And unfortunately, the founder’s vision prevents them from being able to do these very simple tasks.

❌ founders are constantly trying to make the product BIGGER than it is today

❌ founders want to create and own new categories that customers don’t understand (or care about)

❌ founders say “our product isn’t like anything else” (even when it’s not true YET)

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This story is GREAT for investors…

But horrible for customers.

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The constant battle for founders is remembering WHEN to tell each story.

→ To make the product seem much BIGGER than it is today to convince investors to invest in the future…

→ and to make the product SMALLER for customers so it’s easier for them to buy in the real world today.

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So when it comes to your product category…

Just lean in and accept who you are right now 🫂

Customers don’t want to be educated.

And they’ll be much more likely to buy a “better messaging app” than an “digital HQ.”