ProductLed Podcast Wes Bush

April Dunford is the author of “Obviously Awesome”, and in this episode, she talks about positioning—what it is and why it’s important. She dives into some of the analogies she used in her book to explain how positioning works. She also brings up Clay Christensen's milkshake story to break down the 5 components of positioning. She then answers some of the viewers’ questions, offering practical advice for startups.






Show Notes


[03:22] Some misconceptions about positioning, why positioning is important in business, and how it differs from traditional branding


[09:22] Why positioning is like the opening scene of a movie


[16:25] Some signs of weak positioning: total confusion, wrong comparisons, prospective clients don’t think your value is valuable or they think your vision is just a fantasy


[20:25] Define what makes your product special and then figure out what is the best context to frame those qualities in


[25:35] The 5 components of positioning: competitive alternatives, unique capabilities, differentiated value, target market segments, and market category


[27:58] On Clayton Christensen’s “Jobs to Be Done” theory


[36:05] How to convince buy-in companies that positioning is important


[43:18] How to define positioning if you do not have best customer fit yet


[45:08] How positioning influences product development






[50:05] How to position your product or company if you want to cater to different countries






About April Dunford


April Dunford studied engineering in university and then spent the first 25 years of her career as a marketing executive for startups. She has worked as a consultant for more than 100 companies, helping them fine-tune their sales and marketing teams.


Aside from being an expert on product positioning, April is also a mentor, an adviser, and a keynote speaker. She lives in Toronto, Canada with her kids and a small dog.






Links


Salesforce


Competing Against Luck by Clayton Christensen






Profile


April Dunford's website


April Dunford's Twitter

Pedro Clivati is the Head of Growth at GrowthHackers, the largest online community of growth professionals on the web. In this episode, he shares what people can expect if they are looking to start a business around growth. He then talks about the importance of running tests, corrects certain misconceptions about growth hacking, and offers leadership advice.






Show Notes


[01:12] What Pedro learned as a co-founder 


[03:35] What high-tempo testing is and why it is important for growth


[07:25] How growth teams should measure success 


[11:25] Get comfortable with being wrong


[14:30] Start with a challenge that someone in your team has been thinking of—but didn’t have the resources to work on—and run small experiments in that direction


[15:48] Promote your wins across the company






About Pedro Clivati


Pedro Clivati has a background in marketing and sales, but his foray into growth began when he co-founded Contentools and Growth Boulevard. He also used to be the VP of Global Sales at Contentools, but before that, he worked as a digital marketing consultant.






Links 


Contentools


Airbnb


Dropbox


Airbnb Growth Study


Profile


GrowthHackers


Pedro’s LinkedIn


Pedro’s Twitter

Alison Taylor and Trevor Johnston are the co-founders and co-CEOs of Jane, an online platform for health and wellness practitioners that makes it simple to book, chart, schedule, bill, and get paid. They join Ramli on the show to talk about product-market fit and how customer service is at the heart of a product-led business. They then go through the steps they have taken (and still take) to overcome growing pains.






Show Notes


[01:17] How the Jane app came to be and scaled with just one “customer support” team


[05:34] The signup process is a way to get customers committed and to get them on the product journey


[08:00] Why Alison and Trevor decided not to go with the freemium model 


[09:48] About Jane’s high-touch onboarding experience


[12:26] Prioritize loyal customers over sales


[15:23] The evolution of Jane’s signup process


[19:30] About Jane’s org structure and support system


[23:48] The challenge of hiring and helping people develop their careers


[28:05] How marketing and engineering fit in Jane’s org structure


[30:05] Alison and Trevor’s advice for product-led startups






About Alison Taylor and Trevor Johnston


Alison Taylor has been in the healthcare space as a business manager since 2008, and she believes in the integration of work into life and life into work. She hired Trevor’s creative agency to brand her clinic, Canopy Integrated Health, which she opened in 2011.


Trevor Johnston loves doing creative things with technology to create enjoyable experiences and to solve people’s problems. He co-founded Thought Shop Creative Inc. and was its lead digital guy until 2016. Jane is his first app and his first foray into coding.






Profile


Jane


Alison Taylor’s LinkedIn


Trevor Johnston’s LinkedIn

In this episode of the ProductLed Podcast, Wes Bush chats with Basecamp co-founder Jason Fried about its distinct and challenging perspective that has set Basecamp up for success. Jason explains why every business should have a unique point of view and shares how his team thinks through them, as well as his philosophy around the process of finding one. He also details the role that books play in his overall business strategy.






Key Moments:


[03:05] Origin of the underdog mindset and personal experiences.[07:11] Critique of the growth-at-all-costs mentality in startups.[13:18]: How to go about identifying your unique point of view[20:25] Role of books in sharing their company philosophy.[28:06] Balancing successful products and exploring new ideas.









About Jason Fried


Jason Fried is the co-founder and CEO of Basecamp, a project management and team collaboration software company. He is the co-author of several bestselling books, including Rework, and It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work.


Jason Fried | LinkedIn






About Wes Bush:


Wes Bush is the founder and CEO of ProductLed and the world’s leading expert on product-led growth. He is the bestselling author of Product-Led Growth: How to Build a Product That Sells Itself and the upcoming Product-Led: Your Go-To Manual for Scaling a Product-Led Business, due in August 2024 (Read the first three chapters for free).






Wes Bush | LinkedIn

Gina Allman is ProductLed’s content specialist. Her diverse background goes from finance to marketing. Despite the disparity, Gina can still draw the line from those various disciplines and apply it to marketing and product-led growth. She shares how she creates original content for the blog even when there is not much to find out there.






Show Notes


[00:58] Researching for content is not an easy task


[03:58] The 50 best PLG examples and what stood out the most


[08:37] A major principle of PLG is a great user experience


[10:08] What made other companies stand out


[14:28] Two key takeaways for freshly transitioning businesses






About Gina Allman


Gina Allman is a content specialist at ProductLed. She has held positions in a variety of disciplines, including finance, marketing, and content writing.






Link


ProductLed






Profile


Gina’s LinkedIn

In this episode, Wes Bush speaks with Fletch co-founder Anthony Pierri to discuss the nuances of crafting impactful homepages for B2B SaaS businesses. They discuss the pitfalls of generic messaging and how companies can deliver a more focused narrative by highlighting specific use cases. They also analyze the benefits of contextual positioning, which centers on the user’s immediate needs rather than relying solely on competitor comparisons.






They dissect Zapier’s homepage and share how it demonstrates its core automation workflows without overwhelming users with too many options, allowing them to grasp the platform's value rapidly.






Key Moments:


[03:15]: Problems with broad, generic messaging[06:40]: Competitive vs. contextual positioning[11:20]: Effective storytelling strategies and emotional connections[14:50]: A case study on Zapier’s homepage[19:30]: How specific messaging clarifies value propositions[24:10]: Closing advice for aligning messaging with user needs





About Anthony Pierri 


Anthony Pierri is a seasoned product marketing expert and co-founder of FletchPMM.


He specializes in helping horizontal product-led growth (PLG) startups optimize their website homepages to drive more sales and user acquisition.






Anthony Pierri’s LinkedIn










About Wes Bush


Wes Bush is the founder and CEO of ProductLed and the world’s leading expert on product-led growth. He is the bestselling author of Product-Led Growth: How to Build a Product That Sells Itself and the upcoming Product-Led: Your Go-To Manual for Scaling a Product-Led Business, due in August 2024 (Read the first three chapters for free).






Wes Bush’s LinkedIn