4 builders who never spoke to each other

Take the customer the leader stopped serving

Every incumbent grows bloated and over-indexed on one kind of client, which leaves an identifiable group it fails. Build for that group specifically, be better at the one thing that would make them switch, and count on the leader leaving the gap open because closing it would upset its own customers.

The method

1. 01

   Enter a crowded market where the leader is ignoring one type of user, and build the better product for that group rather than hunting an untouched market.

2. 02

   Identify the single thing that would make that neglected user switch today, and be meaningfully better only at that one thing.

3. 03

   Work out precisely who the incumbent solution fails, since every leader gets bloated and over-indexed on one kind of client as it grows.

4. 04

   Count on the incumbent leaving the gap open, because closing it would disrupt their workflows, upset their existing customers and threaten their pricing.

5. 05

   Ask what the best possible version of an existing product would look like for the customer the market leader has stopped serving.

What it returned

• $1M

  A portfolio of five products at $1M MRR combined, none of them an original idea.

• 10

  Mark Pincus shipped 10 products with 8 hits, including a farm game and a word game, without inventing a category.

• 150,000

  37signals' Hey took over 150,000 signups in its first two weeks against Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Outlook; Derrick Reimer launched SavvyCal in 2020 against Calendly, founded 2013 with $350m of funding; Fathom Analytics positioned against bloated Google Analytics.

• Calendly was built for whoever sends the link, so SavvyCal served the person receiving it as well, and that difference carved out the niche.

Sources

• How do I build something people want?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Case study: Taylor Otwell (size matters) · undated
• How I would build a new startup if I had to do it all overJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · 4. Look for product categories where the incumbents are old and crusty, and customers want something new and fresh. · undated
• Find a good partyJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Finding a strong market is like showing up to a good party · undated
• Why many products struggle, and only a few succeedJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Taylor Otwell, PHP, and Laravel · undated
• Chrome Extensions: ChatGPT, Pink Oceans, No-Code Tools - Trends.vcDru Riley · trends.vc · ☁️ Opportunities · 2023-08-30
• ✨ What Do High-Converting Websites Do That Beautiful Ones Don't? - Trends.vcDerrick Reimer · trends.vc · 🎧 Listen To · 2026-05-13
• How to copy your way to $1MTibo Louis-Lucas · tmaker.io · How to copy your way to $1M · 2026-06-25