The Startup Velocity Question: Lack of Understanding of Positioning as a Discipline

I was chatting with an experienced venture capitalist in Silicon Valley about his portfolio’s Positioning challenges. He said, “In a lot of cases, Positioning (and the messaging that follows) is indeed the problem. But a bigger problem behind this is that the founders do not see much value in investing in this area. The founders with technology background tend to value certain aspects of marketing such as lead gen, trade show, etc., but completely underestimate the value of proper positioning. It has been hard for me to get the founders to pay attention to it and spend their time and money on it.”

This problem, unfortunately, is pervasive in the industry.

Positioning is a poorly understood discipline. Most tech entrepreneurs are techies. They don’t know what strategic marketing IS. They don’t know what the components of sophisticated strategic marketing are.

As such, they look for leads based on a low level understanding of the market.

Leads don’t buy.

They go out of business.

The tragedy is that many of these ventures CAN find a path forward with skillful positioning.

And they can find a corresponding exit.

Key Takeaways:

• Founders often prioritize lead generation and trade shows over strategic Positioning.
• Positioning is a poorly understood discipline among tech entrepreneurs.
• Most tech founders lack knowledge of strategic marketing and its components.
• Without proper positioning, startups acquire the wrong leads that do not convert.
• Many ventures could find a path to high velocity revenue and a potential exit with skillful positioning.

My Question to You:

Are you investing in strategic Positioning for your startup?

If you think you need help, consider 1-on-1 Private Consulting with me. I will diagnose and create a path forward in an hour.

Photo Credit: Pexels from Pixabay

This segment is a part in the series : The Startup Velocity Question