Positioning
The deliberate process of defining how a product should be perceived by customers relative to competitors.
Keywords:
positioning, brand positioning, market positioning
Contents
Deep Dive
Metaphysical Synthesis & Analysis
The Synthesis
Positioning is how a product occupies a distinct place in customers' minds. April Dunford's *Obviously Awesome* provides a framework: identify your best-fit customers, define the market category you win in, and articulate your unique value. For PMs, positioning is not what you say about your product but what customers believe about it. The best positioning makes alternatives irrelevant by redefining the category.
Metaphysical Foundation
Positioning is the context that makes value comprehensible. It is the frame through which customers interpret your product.
Evolutionary Path
From feature-based to benefit-based to category-creation, positioning has become more strategic and less tactical.
Strategic Interplays
Positioning flows from Product Strategy and determines messaging. It influences Competitive Differentiation and GTM.
Key Episodes
Roger Martin
5 essential questions to craft a winning strategy | Roger Martin (author, adviso...
Mike Krieger
Anthropic's CPO on what comes next | Mike Krieger (co-founder of Instagram)
Todd Jackson
A framework for finding product-market fit | Todd Jackson (First Round Capital)
Marc Benioff
Behind the founder: Marc Benioff
Eric Ries
Reflections on a movement | Eric Ries (creator of the Lean Startup methodology)
Krithika Shankarraman
Growth tactics from OpenAI and Stripe’s first marketer | Krithika Shankarraman
April Dunford
A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins | April Dunford (author...
Mike Maples Jr
Pattern Breakers: How to find a breakthrough startup idea | Mike Maples, Jr. (Pa...
Ivan Zhao
Notion's lost years, near collapse during COVID, staying small to move fast, bui...
Gibson Biddle
35 years of product design wisdom from Apple, Disney, Pinterest and beyond | Bob...
Jeff Weinstein
Building product at Stripe: craft, metrics, and customer obsession | Jeff Weinst...
Elena Verna 4.0
The new AI growth playbook for 2026 | How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year
David Placek
Building a culture of excellence | David Singleton (CTO of Stripe)
Karri Saarinen
Inside Linear: Building with taste, craft, and focus | Karri Saarinen (co-founde...
April Dunford 2.0
How to nail your product positioning | April Dunford (Obviously Awesome)
Sean Ellis
The original growth hacker reveals his secrets | Sean Ellis (author of “Hacking ...
Stewart Butterfield
Mental models for building products people love ft. Stewart Butterfield
Rahul Vohra
Superhuman's secret to success | Rahul Vohra (CEO and founder)
Meltem Kuran
An inside look at Deel’s unprecedented growth | Meltem Kuran Berkowitz (Head of ...
Claire Butler