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!

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.

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.

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.

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).

This story is GREAT for investors…

But horrible for customers.

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.

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.”