Welcome to the first edition of The Market Engineer. I promise to keep these weekly newsletters short, pithy, and relevant to the topic at hand.
In the first publication of my book, Traversing the Traction Gap , I covered in detail the “Traction Gap Framework”: a framework I developed to help B2B SaaS-based startups go from Ideation to Scale. I wrote it as a prescriptive guide and the ratings on Amazon suggest it provided value. I hope to produce a second edition this year that includes five years of success stories, new examples, etc..
In addition to the Traction Gap Framework, I introduced and defined the term “market engineering”. I provided a number of prescriptive examples of how SaaS-based B2B startups could apply market engineering techniques to raise capital, successfully enter the market, and subsequently scale.
I targeted SaaS-based B2B startups because, at the time, I was a general partner in a venture capital firm and I was focused exclusively on investing in B2B SaaS. The book was meant to be a “marketing device” for our new venture firm. We needed to differentiate ourselves from “the competition” (other VCs) and the book was a thought leadership piece we used to do that.
However, as we completed interviews with many different companies, I realized that the principles of market engineering don’t just apply to B2B SaaS startups with subscription business models. The principles are equally relevant for companies of any size (startups, SMBs and large companies), in almost all industries (perhaps not as much for biotech), and any business model (B2B, B2C, and B2B2C).
I don’t want to write an entire book about Market Engineering because the tactics are ever-changing (especially with AI). But, the Traction Gap Framework, like my former business partner’s book, Crossing the Chasm – Geoffrey Moore, is relatively timeless. Crossing the Chasm is in its third publication and other than company examples Geoff shares, most of it has remained as relevant today as it was when he wrote the first edition. So, I’m experimenting with this newsletter to explore and discuss market engineering topics.
Your Category, Your Company, and Your Product
With that as context, here are just a few of the basic questions I typically ask my clients to answer when we first begin:
- Research shows (the book, Play Bigger) that the category leader generally gets 76% of all the profit in its respective category. Trying to enter an established category is fraught with peril. The category leader tends to define the rules and your company/product won’t likely survive. What do you think is the name of your category? Why?
- Why do you believe you are the thought leader in your category? If you aren’t, why? What is your plan to become the thought leader in your category?
- What is your thought leadership strategy for the year and how will you measure success?
- Do you have a podcast? How many subscribers? Do you participate in other podcasts that have 1,000s of subscribers/listeners? If not, why?
- Who are the top 3 business podcasters who discuss topics related to your category and when was the last time you participated in their “podcast”?
- Do you have a blog? How many subscribers do you have? Do you participate in other blogs that have 1,000s of subscribers/readers? If not, why?
- What is your current overall website ranking vs. your top competitors?
- What are the top 5 keywords and keyword terms associated with your category? What is your ranking for these keywords vs your top competitors?
- What is the monthly number of people who use your company name as a search term? What has the trend been for the past year? Same question for each of your top competitors
Try to answer these questions as they relate to your company/product. Next week, I will show you a few things you can do to measure your category power and where you fit in. You can then apply them against the answers you’ve developed from this week.
Also, if you have topics from my book, or this newsletter, that you want me to address either DM me via LI or email at [email protected] and I will try to answer them.