The positioning problem

"We fail more often because we solve the wrong problem than because we get the wrong solution to the right problem."
— Russell L. Ackoff

Or why your startup probably has a positioning problem (not a sales, marketing, or product-market fit problem).

You're losing deals to competitors with worse products. Your sales team says they need "just one more feature" to close deals. Your homepage messaging changes every few weeks. Marketing campaigns aren't delivering ROI. Your product roadmap is constantly reshuffled because the team can't agree on priorities.

Sound familiar?

Most founders diagnose these symptoms as a sales problem, a marketing problem, or a product-market fit problem. They hire growth marketers, revamp sales decks, build more features, or spend more on ads. Three months later, nothing has changed, except the bank account is lighter.

The real issue? You have a positioning problem.

Positioning problems don't announce themselves clearly like a broken feature or a churned customer. They hide beneath the surface, manifesting as dozens of different symptoms that mislead you into treating effects rather than the root cause.

Weak positioning is the single most common reason why good products fail to gain traction.