How to leverage Use Case as a differentiator…

😬 When competitors have the same technology.

Using Gong, Fathom, and Descript as examples.

They all have the same underlying technology — Audio to Text Transcription.

What is the functional use case of this technology?

🎙️🔎 Turn audio into text and make it searchable.

At this generic use case level,

Google, IBM, and Microsoft are the big players.

🤷‍♂️ So how should startups in this space positioning their product?

It can be tempting for startups to market this broad use case — with the idea of appealing to a larger audience.

❌ This is a mistake.

The markets are just too fragmented.

↳ the actual business use cases are too diverse.

They'll never be able to compete with the product & GTM resources of these large companies.

The result of taking this broad approach?

💩 A very mediocre product with a marketing strategy that is spread too thin.

↳ They won't stand out in the market.

Instead, do what Gong, Fathom, and Descript did…

(see image)

🔥 Focus on a single use case.

So instead of "turn audio to text"...

They all double-clicked into what happens AFTER your turn audio into text.

↳ and focused on specific business use cases for a target segment.

Gong → help sales teams get insights from meetings.

Fathom → help Zoom users capture tasks from meetings.

Descript → help creators edit their podcast.

🔑 Specificity was the key to their differentiation.

Whenever a customer had that specific situation — they were almost guaranteed to be on the short list.

____

So for founders worried about narrowing your focus, remember…

🚀 Big businesses can be built by focusing on a single use case.