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 have better A/B testing!” “Our algorithm is more accurate!” “We integrate with more billing systems!”

Still stuck. Because you’re describing what you built, not what you mean.

Here’s the actual work (that creates the tension):

Question 1: What change does your software actually create?

Not “better pricing decisions.” Go deeper.

Most founders and CFOs set prices based on gut feel, competitor checking, and fear. They’re constantly second-guessing: “Are we leaving money on the table?” “Will we lose customers if we raise prices?” “How do we prove we’re worth more?”

Your software doesn’t just “optimize pricing.” It transforms how they think about their own value.

Question 2: What does that change mean to them?

This is where teams get uncomfortable. Because the answer isn’t about features or outcomes, it’s about identity shift.

Your customers stop being reactive price-takers who nervously adjust based on market pressure. They become proactive value commanders who know exactly what they’re worth and why.

The CFO goes from “I hope this price works” to “I know what we command and here’s why.”

That’s not a tool outcome. That’s a transformation.

Question 3: What concept owns that meaning?

Not “pricing optimization.”
Not “revenue maximization.”
Not “willingness-to-pay intelligence.”

Those describe what you do. They don’t own mental territory.

So, where do you find what you actually own? You have to dig past the product to the transformation. Past the transformation to the meaning. Past the meaning to the concept.

Here’s where it gets interesting: You might start with “Pricing Conviction.”

That’s where most teams can build confidence. It’s specific enough to feel safe. Clear enough to get buy-in. Connected enough to what you actually built.

But the real position (the one that creates unstoppable gravity) is just one word:

Conviction.

Not pricing conviction. Just conviction itself.

Because once you own conviction as a concept, every pricing decision becomes your domain. Every moment of doubt about value becomes your territory. Every CFO, every founder, every leader who needs to believe in their worth thinks of you.

Salesforce initially started with “cloud CRM” but now owns “CRM”.

You might start with “pricing conviction,” but you’re building toward owning conviction itself.

Why the staging matters:

Not everyone can handle starting with the pure concept. Some teams need the scaffolding. The validation. The external proof before they can commit to something that bold.

That’s human. That’s real.

Some founders are intrinsically driven (hint: Elon Musk, Steve Jobs). They can jump straight to “we own conviction” and build everything from there. Others need to walk before they run. Start with “pricing conviction,” prove it works, build confidence, then expand.

The rule: one word, one noun.

That’s the destination. How you get there depends on who’s in the room and what they can handle.

Now here’s how you actually build it.

The 4 Level Canvas (Position + Op Model)

Level 1 – Surface (Saying It):
Your messaging shifts from “pricing optimization” to “pricing conviction.” Taglines, website copy, sales decks — everything speaks to eliminating doubt, not just finding numbers. This is easily copied, but it’s the expression of your foundation.

Level 2 – Evidence (Proving It):
You build proof systems. Customer testimonials about confidence gained, not just revenue increased. Case studies showing decision speed, not just pricing accuracy. Metrics on doubt eliminated, not features used. You create processes that consistently produce conviction, including research methodologies, validation frameworks, and confidence scoring. Competitors can copy this with effort, but it’s harder.

Level 3 – Action (Living It):
This is where it gets expensive and painful. You make resource allocation decisions that seem crazy unless you own conviction:

• Invest 60% of R&D in evidence-building mechanisms, not feature parity
• Hire behavioural psychologists and decision scientists, not just data engineers
• Build a research division that proves value, not just analyzes it
• Partner with institutions that validate conviction, not just provide data
• Say no to features that optimize without building certainty

These decisions cost real money. Competitors won’t match them because they don’t make sense unless conviction is your core.

Level 4 – System (Being It):
Your entire business model becomes conviction itself:

• Revenue model: Premium pricing because conviction is worth more than optimization. You charge for eliminating doubt.
• Cost structure: Heavy investment in validation infrastructure creates advantages that competitors can’t match
• Customer success Focuses on deepening conviction over time, rather than product adoption. Retention is existential because switching means losing certainty.
• P&L priorities: Money flows to conviction-proof mechanisms, not incremental improvements
• Partnership strategy: Every alliance asks: “Does this make customers more certain or just more informed?”
• Innovation pipeline: New products expand conviction territory; pricing today, hiring tomorrow, strategy next

At Level 4, you can’t pivot. You ARE conviction. Netflix can’t become linear TV. Tesla can’t become a traditional automaker. You can’t become just a pricing tool.

Why this progression matters:

Most companies stop at Level 1. They say they own (and you know by now they are only talking about WHAT they do) something, but prove nothing.

Some reach Level 2. They have evidence but make no costly commitments.

Rare companies reach Level 3. They make expensive bets, but the business model stays conventional.

Level 4 positions become institutional. They survive founders, outlast executives, and persist across decades like Volvo’s ownership of safety. Very few have the ‘conviction’ to reach Level 4, where the position and the business become inseparable.

When you own “Conviction” at Level 4, everything changes:

Product roadmap: Conviction-building features across all decisions, not just pricing

Marketing: Speaking to anyone who doubts their value

Sales process: Qualifying for leaders ready to stop second-guessing

Category: Expanding beyond pricing tools to decision confidence

Capital allocation: 60% to conviction mechanisms (research, validation, proof systems)

Business model: Premium pricing for doubt elimination. Higher ACV, longer retention. Unit economics are built on conviction dependency.

Partnerships: Aligned with credibility sources (analysts, researchers, institutions)

This is business strategy, not marketing tactics. Your position determines where money flows, how you make money, and what your P&L prioritizes.

Competitors can copy your features. They can copy your messaging. They can even copy your proof points. They can’t copy a business model engineered entirely around conviction.

The struggle people avoid:

Sitting in the room asking “What does conviction actually feel like?” and “What are leaders really afraid of?” and “What identity shift happens when someone stops doubting?”

These questions have no quick answers. They create tension. Disagreement. Uncertainty.

So teams reach for frameworks instead. They build alignment decks. They describe features in slightly different ways. And they end up with another “pricing optimization tool” in a sea of identical options.

The companies that do this work?

They start somewhere specific and build toward owning a universal concept:

• Salesforce owns CRM (started with cloud CRM)
• You own conviction (starting with pricing conviction)

Same pattern: dig past function, find the transformation, identify the concept, stage the journey based on your team, build through all four levels, then own it completely.

---

Positioning isn’t about describing your features better. It’s about uncovering what transformation you actually create, then owning that concept completely.

You might need scaffolding to get there. That’s fine. But know where you’re headed: one word. One noun. Complete ownership.

And when you get there, it won’t just change your marketing. It’ll change your entire P&L, your business model, your organizational DNA.

The work is uncomfortable. That’s how you know you’re doing it right.

---

Uncover your position

Before you hire a messaging consultant to wordsmith your homepage, or an agency to “refresh your brand,” or someone to fix what they’ll call positioning (but is really just tactical framing), try this first.

The CEO Clarity Starter Kit

It does exactly what we just read. It helps you find and own your noun.

What you do:

• Run the Position Audit (reveals what noun you might already own without knowing it)
• Complete the 8-Question Advisor (the same questions that would surface “Command” for Cluely)
• Feed the output into ClarityGPT (included)

What you get:

• Your noun. The concept you can actually own, not just claim
• A 4-Level Positioning Canvas showing how to move from saying it to OWNING it
• ClarityGPT translates your position into landing pages, offers, and LinkedIn profiles (written in your buyer’s voice, not consultant-speak)
• A 30-day positioning course so you can apply this method without me

Time required: About an hour (less time than reading three more case studies about tactics that won’t work without position)

Who’s used it: 200+ CEOs and founders who were tired of pushing uphill

Investment: $249 USD

Most realize they don’t need the consultant or agency after this. Or they need far less than they thought. Because once you know your noun (your position), the tactics become obvious. The distribution chooses itself. The customers explain you better than you explain yourself.

And yes, if you buy the kit, it nudges me closer to that Porsche in the photo. Thanks in advance for supporting excellent positioning and questionable life choices.

Stop competing on features. Start owning concepts.

Get your CEO Clarity Starter Kit