Category: Positioning
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How Wynter Owns Clearance (And Why They Don’t Know It)
A Note Before We Begin: I’ve been watching Peep Laja’s work for a while now. The rigour he brings to marketing, the anti-BS stance, and the way Wynter has grown are impressive. His LinkedIn content consistently challenges lazy thinking, and I respect that deeply. This piece isn’t a critique. It’s an attempt to read Wynter’s…
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How Exit Five Accidentally Built the Institution B2B Marketing Never Had
A note before we dive in: I’ve been following Dave Gerhardt’s work for a while now. His LinkedIn content is excellent, and what he’s built with Exit Five is impressive. This analysis stems from genuine curiosity about why certain businesses connect to identity in ways that transcend their stated purpose. I’ve done my best to…
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WTF is Market Sentiment?
Market sentiment is the story your numbers are forced to play in. It’s not just your revenue, profit margin, or operational efficiency. It’s the collective emotion investors attach to what you represent. That emotion becomes the lens through which every metric gets interpreted. Here’s the proof. The 30:1 Paradox As of October 2025, two companies…
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Hampton: How Owning Kinship Built an $8M Business That Members Would Take Loans to Keep
A note before we begin: I’ve been following Sam Parr’s work for years and genuinely admire what he has built. His podcast conversations are among the most candid in the startup world. This piece stems from fascination, not criticism. I love exploring what drives businesses to connect with identity rather than solve problems. I’ve tried to…
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Positioning a Pricing Tool: From Description to Ownership
Let’s say you built a pricing optimization tool for B2B SaaS companies. Here’s where everyone gets stuck: “We help SaaS companies optimize their pricing through AI-powered analysis and willingness-to-pay research.” Clear. Functional. Completely forgettable. You’re competing with a dozen other tools saying essentially the same thing. So you try to differentiate on features: “But we…
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When Jesus Tried to Explain ‘Salvation’ to His Disciples
Jesus sat on the mount, exhausted. Not from the sermon. From the meeting afterward. “Master,” Peter said, pulling out a scroll. “We’ve been working on the messaging framework for your teachings. Want to see the value proposition?” Jesus closed his eyes. “Peter. We’ve talked about this.” “Right, right. I know. But look, we’ve got the…
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Autopsy: Kyle Poyar’s Fyxer Growth Analysis
Why This Analysis Exists Kyle Poyar is doing great work. His newsletter, Growth Unhinged, consistently delivers sharp insights on go-to-market strategy, pricing, and growth mechanics. His decision to go all-in on the newsletter is admirable. It takes conviction to bet on your own platform and point of view. This analysis isn’t a critique of Kyle.…
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What Kal-El and Simba Know About Identity That Most Businesses Don’t
Both have power. Kal-El can fly, bend steel, and see through walls. Simba is a lion. Born to rule Pride Rock. But power means nothing when you don’t know who you are. Their stories tap into something universal: the human battle for identity. Psychologist Erik Erikson referred to this as “Identity vs. Role Confusion,” a…
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The $500 Billion Position That Compaq Threw Away
On January 1997, Compaq Computer was about to claim the most valuable mental territory in technology history. Their marketing team, led by George Favaloro and technologist Sean O’Sullivan, had identified a position that would eventually define a $500+ billion market. They’d written a press release about investing in NetCentric, and they were ready to claim…
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Does “owning a noun” flatten positioning’s complexity?
Read this post first and then look at the comment section for Michiel. A Note on Michiel’s Challenge To Michiel, thank you for the thoughtful critique. Your questions about whether “owning a noun” flattens positioning’s complexity deserved more than a LinkedIn comment response. You’re absolutely right that positioning involves relationships, experiences, and narratives. Where we…
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The Positioning Test That Destroys 99% of “Experts”
To every copywriter masquerading as a positioning expert, try this experiment. And if you’re hiring one, do this first. Here’s the test: Take these exact words: “We make AI work for you.” Now imagine three companies saying it: Feel the difference? When ChatGPT says it, you believe it. They own AI conversation in your mind.…
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The most dangerous advice comes from those who succeeded without knowing why
Everyone loves that Dakota Meyer quote about not taking criticism from people you wouldn’t take advice from. LinkedIn eats it up. Founders tattoo it on their minds. It’s also completely backwards. Here’s what I’ve learned analyzing hundreds of companies through the positioning lens: Successful founders are terrible at explaining their own success. Ask Stewart Butterfield…