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independence5 unconnected · 1 more author in those circles
applies to

b2b, no audience needed

outcome not stated

confidence

high

evidence

6 claims · 6 articles · 3 receipts

window

2012-12-31 → 2024-02-04

5 builders who never spoke to each other

Do one narrow job better than anyone

Take a single function out of a bloated generic tool and make it fast, stripped and obviously not for everyone. Narrowness is what makes a solo build finishable and what gets the thing passed between people who recognise it was made for them.

The method

  1. 01

    Win against cluttered incumbents by shipping one stripped-back tool that does the single job fast, with no ads and nothing else on the page.

  2. 02

    Take one function of a generic tool and do it better than anyone rather than doing everything adequately. That subset is what makes the product distinctive.

  3. 03

    Solve one narrow, genuinely painful problem in the simplest way instead of building an all-in-one product, so there is less to design and less to code.

  4. 04

    Build around one narrow use case and a single hook instead of adding features hoping one lands.

  5. 05

    As a solo founder pick a narrow tool over a platform, because the platform's surface area grows faster than you can serve it.

What it returned

  • 2008

    caseconverter.com, built in 2008 as a one-page app because the existing case converters were slow and layered with ads.

  • The founder says this is where he would put all his energy if starting again, since simple solutions are what work.

  • Thepresence targeted freelancers and design enthusiasts who favour experimental modernist work rather than trying to displace Squarespace, on the reasoning that you cannot focus while satisfying everyone.

Sources

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

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More in positioning

all positioning plays

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.