This article does not really apply to startups’ trough of sorrow, at least not most of the startups trying to sell something new. It reads like it applies to consumer goods that are in crowded markets.<p>Most startups’ problem is they often don’t have any customers at all, and don’t know how to find them. Many of them started with a tech solution and went searching for a problem.
Author here - thank you all for reading. Happy to discuss any points in the article and answer any questions. Also, feel free to check out the other articles in the series!
In addition to the 4 Cs of marketing, I would look at Porter's 5 forces and make an industry analysis:<p>Competitive Rivalry<p>Supplier Power<p>Buyer Power<p>Threat of Substitution<p>Threat of New Entry<p>(There's also a sixth force, complementary products)<p>I think these also tie in nicely with an analysis of where the best profit pools exist within the value chain. Apple makes more profit selling an iPhone than Foxconn because its position in the value chain has a more favorable 5 forces situation: a much lower threat of substitution, lower supplier/buyer power, lower threat of new entry etc.<p>You can have great brand positioning and never make a dime. Example: Uber. A dominant brand with universal recognition, which has done nothing but lose money. They'll never make money because their supplier power, buyer power, and threat of substitution are impossibly high. They're caught between their suppliers' (drivers') price demands and their buyers' (riders') prices sensitivity.
Interesting read. I'd be curious to see examples of companies that change their positioning every 5 years, vs those that are able to nail a long-term position.<p>Your example of "Enjoy the silence" sounds more like a tagline than a positioning statement.<p>This is so easy to also get confused with Mission statements.<p>I was thinking "Organizing the world's information" was Google's positioning statement, but that's their mission statement.<p>Other articles get this confused as well [1]. From what I understand, the positioning statement should be more of a "for [customer] we [do the thing] so they can [be the person]"<p><a href="https://brandstruck.co/blog-post/positioning-three-valuable-brands-world/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://brandstruck.co/blog-post/positioning-three-valuable-...</a>
(Very) OT: I would hazard a guess the striking phrase in the title originates (indirectly if not intentionally by the author) from "Slough of Despond" in <i>The Pilgrim's Progress</i> by John Bunyan.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slough_of_Despond" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slough_of_Despond</a><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/131" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/131</a>