2 builders who never spoke to each other

Follow visible demand into the bigger slot

Watch what customers already make, ask for and pay someone else to do, then expand the product into that job even when it means competing with a larger category. Positioning as the tooling for whatever technology is booming in your stack is the same move played on a trend rather than on a customer.

The method

1. 01

   Watch what customers are actually making and fill the obvious gap in your catalogue, since the missing category is both a better experience and extra sales.

2. 02

   Position your product as the tooling for whatever technology is currently booming, especially if the boom is happening in your stack.

3. 03

   Rescue a stalled accessory product by expanding it into the job customers actually pay for, even if that means competing with the category leaders.

4. 04

   Choose the features that serve both your current customers and the adjacent market you eventually want, so each release is a step toward the bigger market rather than a detour.

5. 05

   Start with the narrow browser tool, then grow it into the full platform once you have covered the complicated cases.

What it returned

• 2023

  Zue added OpenAI integrations to Pegasus in about five lines of code and credits a strong start to 2023 largely to new AI projects, since most leading-edge AI work happens in Python.

• Zue added spring and floral place card designs after noticing how many people were making that style

• Upscribe added the ability to compose and send the newsletters themselves, moving from an add-on toward the must-have slot held by MailChimp and ConvertKit.

• Zue mapped conference badge requirements such as logo placement, multiple card types per package and double-sided printing onto features wedding customers were already asking for

Sources

• Why many products struggle, and only a few succeedJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Taylor Otwell, PHP, and Laravel · undated
• The main thingJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Case study: Upscribe · undated
• Chrome Extensions: ChatGPT, Pink Oceans, No-Code Tools - Trends.vcDru Riley · trends.vc · 🔮 Predictions · 2023-08-30
• AI is Eating my LifeCory Zue · coryzue.com · Adventures in AI · 2023-04-21
• Week 52 RetrospectiveCory Zue · coryzue.com · What’s up next? · 2018-03-19
• Climbing SaaS MountainCory Zue · coryzue.com · Climbing the SaaS Mountain · 2018-09-17