Great product engineering is table stakes.
Great Market Engineering determines winners.
of startups fail
of new products fail
from mature companies
The #1 reason for startup and new product failure is no market need.
To succeed, you must engineer a market.
The Market Engineering Studio
We're former operators who partner with leadership teams to equip them with proven systems, real-world operator insight, proprietary AI-powered clarity, and cognitive engineering to strategically outdefine and outcompete in their market.
Here is what a few of our clients have to say about Traction Gap Partners
Working with Bruce has truly shaped our business. His impact has gone far beyond marketing—he’s helped us rethink how we position our offering and even how we develop our products.
Bruce’s expertise in market engineering is unparalleled in the industry. His insights and contributions make him an invaluable member of our team.
Bruce is a master of category creation and market engineering, with unparalleled experience and creativity to chart and walk that roadmap.
From day one, Traversing the Traction Gap shaped our strategy. Last year, revenue grew 800%, and we’re now tracking 3,500% YOY growth. The model works!
Bruce possesses a unique ability to distill complex concepts into actionable advice, making the daunting journey of entrepreneurship more navigable for those he guides.
“Bruce is one of the leading experts on scaling startups, especially in the enterprise.
Bruce’s exceptional guidance on strategy, scaling, and market category development has been transformative for our growth. A true game-changer for executives navigating complex challenges.
Market Engineering
What is Market Engineering
Market engineering defines categories, builds positioning, thought leadership, and validates products before costly demand generation.
Traction Gap Framework
The Traction Gap is the period between a startup’s initial product release and achieving market traction.
What We Do
Traction Gap Partners provides strategic guidance, leveraging the proven Traction Gap Framework and decades of industry expertise.
Who We Work With
Guiding startups and enterprises to define categories, build thought leadership, and successfully navigate the market.
Traversing the Traction Gap
Author Bruce Cleveland explores how developing a market-first mindset can help engineer go-to-market success.
All early stage startups are faced with the challenge of traversing the Traction Gap. To make it, they need a well-defined strategy that addresses a combination of product, team, revenue, and operational systems.
Bruce is one of the leading experts on scaling startups, especially in the enterprise. Traversing the Traction Gap packages up years of lessons and contains exactly the type of information and guidance that would have accelerated our growth early on!
This is the exact book I would use to teach a class on scaling a company. It focuses on the core business areas entrepreneurs need to professionalize as they go from a pure startup to a solid, growing company – people, product, revenue, and systems. More than that, it gives them milestone metrics based on successful companies to help them gauge their progress and communicate better with investors.
The Lean Launchpad class was developed to help entrepreneurs go from an idea to a product that customers want. The Traction Gap is a much needed framework for the next step in that progression, taking a minimally viable product and growing it to sales repeatability and traction.
Traction. That was the word that haunted their fund-raising lives. What is it? Why is it so elusive? How do you get it. How do you demonstrate it? These are the questions that the Traction Gap Framework helps management teams and their investing sponsors address.
Latest Resources
Our collection of thought leadership resources offer strategic guidance to help you understand and leverage the benefits of Market Engineering.