Buyers decide in seconds what you are and whether you matter — this course makes that snap judgment land in your favor.
Your product does something valuable, but prospects keep asking what it is, comparing you against the wrong competitors, and going quiet after the demo. That is a positioning problem, and more content or ad spend will not fix it. You start by choosing the reference frame — the category buyers file you under and the alternatives they weigh you against. Then you run jobs-to-be-done interviews to find what customers were actually trying to accomplish the day they switched, map direct competitors, indirect competitors, and the do-nothing option, and separate table stakes from differentiation that survives being copied. From there you build a messaging hierarchy: one top-level promise, supporting pillars, and proof points a stranger would believe — then pressure-test it with the 10-words test on people outside your company. Later modules cover the ideal customer profile (ICP) with explicit exclusion criteria, narrative structures like before/after/bridge and hero/villain/guide, adapting one position for technical and executive buyers, and repositioning without losing the customers you already have. A five-day sprint produces a real positioning document.
Built by Lakshya Kumar
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I am learning product positioning and messaging — how to define a defensible market position, conduct JTBD research, identify competitive differentiation, build a messaging hierarchy, and write a positioning statement. Help me apply these frameworks to a real product.
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Interview buyers about the day they changed tools and you get the real reason they bought, not the feature they say they liked.
Separate table stakes from the few advantages that hold up, including the do-nothing alternative that quietly wins most deals.
Build a top claim, supporting pillars, and evidence a stranger would believe, so every page and deck says the same thing.
If a non-expert cannot repeat what you do after one sentence, your homepage loses them in the three seconds you get.
Write exclusion criteria as sharp as your target list, so sales stops chasing accounts that churn and messaging stops hedging.
Name the villain, show the change, and put your product on the path — structures that turn a claim into something people retell.
Speak to a technical buyer and a finance chief without becoming two companies: adapt vocabulary and proof, not the claim.
Tell a positioning problem apart from an execution problem, then sequence the change so existing buyers come along with it.
Run research, hypotheses, and pressure-testing on a schedule so the final statement survives the executive who challenges it.
Complete all modules, then submit the required number of capstone projects. Each must earn a passing rating from an admin reviewer.
Produce a complete positioning document for a real product: JTBD research (3 customer interviews minimum), competitive 2x2 map, ICP with exclusion criteria, positioning statement (Geoffrey Moore template), 3-level messaging hierarchy, and a stakeholder alignment memo explaining how each decision was made and what data supports it.
Design a new category for a product (yours or a chosen one). Define the problem it solves, why existing categories don't fit, the alternatives, and a 1-page category narrative. Test it via 5 customer-style interviews (or roleplays) and refine based on feedback.
Run 5 jobs-to-be-done style interviews with real users (or simulated personas if not available). Synthesize the jobs into a clear hierarchy, identify the dominant job, and produce a 1-page positioning statement grounded in the interview data.
Take 5 direct competitors and tear down their positioning + messaging: claimed primary alternative, claimed differentiation, evidence used. Produce a comparison matrix and identify the 'whitespace' a new entrant could credibly own.
Build a messaging house (overall positioning -> pillars -> proof points -> RTBs) for a product. Each proof point must be backed by actual evidence (data, customer quote, demo, certification). Audit your house against a 'random reader' test: would a stranger believe it?
The foundational Jobs-to-be-Done research framework.