This is a practical positioning system for early stage founders. It takes you from foundations, through the core positioning decisions, into consolidation and finally into market facing expression. The guides are designed to work together, not as unrelated exercises.
The goal is to help you move from assumptions and scattered ideas to a clear, usable positioning that can guide product, sales and market messaging.
The goal is to help you move from assumptions and scattered ideas to a clear, usable positioning that can guide product, sales and market messaging.
Layer 1: Foundations
The first stage is about learning what is true before you try to sharpen the story. Start with Customer Discovery, where you learn who has the problem, how they handle it today, what makes it painful, what alternatives they use, what creates urgency and what would make a new solution credible enough to try. Then use ICP Definition to choose the best early customer to focus on. Then use Problem Definition to turn a broad pain area into a clear problem architecture: the deeper problem, the key pains, the consequence, the urgency logic and the first valuable outcome.
By the end of this stage, you should have a clearer view of the customer, the problem, the current way of doing things and the conditions that make change plausible. In other words, you should know what is real enough to build and position around.
You can view or download the guides here.
The first stage is about learning what is true before you try to sharpen the story. Start with Customer Discovery, where you learn who has the problem, how they handle it today, what makes it painful, what alternatives they use, what creates urgency and what would make a new solution credible enough to try. Then use ICP Definition to choose the best early customer to focus on. Then use Problem Definition to turn a broad pain area into a clear problem architecture: the deeper problem, the key pains, the consequence, the urgency logic and the first valuable outcome.
By the end of this stage, you should have a clearer view of the customer, the problem, the current way of doing things and the conditions that make change plausible. In other words, you should know what is real enough to build and position around.
You can view or download the guides here.
Layer 2: Positioning decisions
Once the foundations are in place, the next stage is to make the core strategic choices. Use Differentiation to define why the right customer should choose you over the thing they would otherwise do. Use Category Framing to decide what kind of thing you are and how buyers should understand you quickly. Use Value Proposition to define what gets better for the customer, which outcomes deserve to lead the story and what early value should look like. Use Proof and Credibility to map those claims to the evidence you have, the evidence you need and the trust blockers you must address.
This is the stage where positioning becomes a set of choices rather than a loose story. You are deciding what contrast matters, what frame helps the buyer understand fastest, what value is most important to lead with and why the market should believe you.
You can view or download the guides here.
Once the foundations are in place, the next stage is to make the core strategic choices. Use Differentiation to define why the right customer should choose you over the thing they would otherwise do. Use Category Framing to decide what kind of thing you are and how buyers should understand you quickly. Use Value Proposition to define what gets better for the customer, which outcomes deserve to lead the story and what early value should look like. Use Proof and Credibility to map those claims to the evidence you have, the evidence you need and the trust blockers you must address.
This is the stage where positioning becomes a set of choices rather than a loose story. You are deciding what contrast matters, what frame helps the buyer understand fastest, what value is most important to lead with and why the market should believe you.
You can view or download the guides here.
Layer 3: Consolidation
After those decisions are made, bring them together in Positioning Snapshot. This is the synthesis layer of the system. It is not where you invent a new story. It is where you consolidate the story you have already chosen into one clear source of truth for homepage, sales and GTM work. The snapshot is organised into three layers: Frame, Stakes and Choice.
This stage is crucial because most positioning work falls apart in the handoff between strategy and use. The snapshot solves that by pulling the key decisions into one place, tightening contradictions and giving you a practical reference point before you start expressing the story externally.
You can view or download the guides here.
After those decisions are made, bring them together in Positioning Snapshot. This is the synthesis layer of the system. It is not where you invent a new story. It is where you consolidate the story you have already chosen into one clear source of truth for homepage, sales and GTM work. The snapshot is organised into three layers: Frame, Stakes and Choice.
This stage is crucial because most positioning work falls apart in the handoff between strategy and use. The snapshot solves that by pulling the key decisions into one place, tightening contradictions and giving you a practical reference point before you start expressing the story externally.
You can view or download the guides here.
Layer 4: Expression
The final stage is about turning positioning into something the market can actually see and respond to. Start with Homepage Messaging, which takes the positioning decisions already made and translates them into a homepage plan that can be designed, written and built. It helps you decide what must be clear immediately, what the visitor needs to believe before acting, what order the story should unfold in and where proof should sit.
This is important because where you express your positioning, for example your homepage, is not where you figure out the positioning itself. It is where you showcase positioning decisions already made. The page should help the right visitor understand enough, believe enough and take the next step.
You can view or download the guides here.
The final stage is about turning positioning into something the market can actually see and respond to. Start with Homepage Messaging, which takes the positioning decisions already made and translates them into a homepage plan that can be designed, written and built. It helps you decide what must be clear immediately, what the visitor needs to believe before acting, what order the story should unfold in and where proof should sit.
This is important because where you express your positioning, for example your homepage, is not where you figure out the positioning itself. It is where you showcase positioning decisions already made. The page should help the right visitor understand enough, believe enough and take the next step.
You can view or download the guides here.
How to use the system
Use the packs in order the first time through. Start with customer truth. Turn that into a clear ICP and a tangible problem set. Then make the positioning decisions that define why you win, what you are, what gets better and why buyers should believe it. Then consolidate those choices into one source of truth. Then translate that into market facing messaging.
The simplest way to think about it is this: From customer truth, to positioning decisions, to a clear source of truth, to market facing messaging.
Use the packs in order the first time through. Start with customer truth. Turn that into a clear ICP and a tangible problem set. Then make the positioning decisions that define why you win, what you are, what gets better and why buyers should believe it. Then consolidate those choices into one source of truth. Then translate that into market facing messaging.
The simplest way to think about it is this: From customer truth, to positioning decisions, to a clear source of truth, to market facing messaging.