The Art of Making Your Startup Stand Out: Lessons for Engineering Founders

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As founders, it can often be quite a challenge to break away from your natural instincts and educational backgrounds to see other things than code and product. For example, to see your company's vision, story, marketing, and sales as important parts of your product. They're just different perspectives of the change you plan to make in the world.

So rather than just focusing on "how to make it right," which leads you back to the product, you should also consider the other parts that start with a question - "how to make it interesting."

Why, you ask? Well, because nowadays, your marketing and sales efforts are just as important (and often even more) than your product or service.

Let's look into what making things exciting and starting to tell your story can do for you and why you should start as early as possible. If you're a founder, you probably think, “Well, we'll start as soon as XYZ happens," and that's a mistake!

My advice - very simple: START RIGHT NOW it’s priceless!

Lesson 1: Priceless Power of Being Interesting

One of the most contentious points for most founders is when I tell them that the price of their product or service doesn't always matter. Yes, you read that right – it doesn't matter ... as long as you are the only one offering something people genuinely want!

It's as simple as this. Reread it - price doesn't matter as long as you are the only one offering something people find valuable. They don’t have to need it, if they want it, or if they want to support You, they’ll pay.

You might be wondering now, "How can I possibly be the only one in anything these days?" It all comes down to what Seth Godin calls “marketing to weird ones” or what business people call product positioning. It's a business concept and partly the art, but everyone can get it right with reasonable effort.

Your product's positioning is the magic sauce that attracts those who see enormous value in what you offer while repelling everyone else.

There's a slight chance that, as a founder working on a hard and important problem, you've nailed the initial positioning without even knowing it. It’s unlikely, but it happens. Your positioning needs adjusting as the competitive landscape changes and as your company grows. So it's not a static forever thing instead, it is always “your current best aim" at explaining the value of your product, project, or service in the proper context.

The correct context (like your industry category where you belong) is super important because it helps the right people understand what you do and how it's good for them almost instantly.

Lesson 2: Real World Examples From PKM Space

Let's take a look at a real-world example from the world close to my heart: note-taking and knowledge management tools. You may or may not know these three popular apps: Notion, Obsidian, and Heptabase.

While they all help you take notes, manage knowledge, cross-link notes, and share information, each of them is ultimately designed to cater to a specific type of user; let me demonstrate that for you through their main messages from homepages:

• Notion: "Your wiki, docs & projects. Together. Notion is a connected workspace."

• Obsidian: Tailored for individuals who value their privacy and want to "sharpen their thinking."

• Heptabase: Helps users "make sense of complex topics - learning, research, projects."

I think it already stands out for you, right. Even though in the realm of note-taking and knowledge management apps, these three applications might have similar features, they do have pretty distinct target audiences. And this difference is carefully and well communicated from the start.

Notion is all about providing a connected workspace for organizing wiki, docs, and projects. Obsidian appeals to those who prioritize privacy (aka local notes, encrypted, etc.) and seek to enhance their cognitive abilities. Meanwhile, Heptabase concentrates on aiding users in making sense of complicated subjects related to learning, research, and projects.

Lesson 3: Not So Good Positioning Examples

Let’s look at these positioning ideas from other two apps from the note-taking and personal knowledge management space (PKM).

• Napkin: is very interesting design based note-taking concept working with cards, but I find it in the unfortunate position where the design overtook the purpose and usability of the app.

• Capacities: team had a good idea to humanise the way we work with information but they approach it very technocratically and so at the end when you browse through their website there’s not one thing they’d stand out for. And that’s a problem. They main message ends up being - "We live in a world of Objects, let’s work with them instead of file.”

Your Takeaway

Of course, these examples show you well-crafted positioning that took a long time to nail down. And even this well-crafted positioning doesn't mean these apps can charge anything they want - but they can decide what to charge based on the value they deliver to their users.

That's why some companies will pay thousands of dollars each month for Notion access across all teams, and some won't.

So, as a founder, remember that it's not just about having a great product – it's about knowing who your product is for and positioning it in a way that resonates with them.

By doing so, you'll not only attract the right audience but also stand out in a crowded market.

I will add one more emotional point - by having a great product but sucky positioning and therefore uninteresting marketing, you're literally stealing from your potential users/clients the chance to get their lives improved. And you're digging a grave for your chance to succeed.

Ignore this advice at your own perill. There are some spots left to work with me on your positioning, so feel free to schedule a call and do a step towards brighter future.