As a founder or leader in a tech scaleup, you’ve probably heard it before — nail your market positioning. It’s one of the most critical elements of growth, yet one of the hardest to get right.
I recently sat down with Craig Brown, founder of Troubadour, on Wisdom From Wizards to discuss the real challenges tech scaleups face when it comes to positioning. And here’s what stood out: Most founders already understand the importance of narrowing their focus, but the real struggle is continuing on that journey as they scale.
Your market positioning strategy defines how your product is perceived and who it’s built for. Get it right, and you resonate deeply with your ideal customers. Get it wrong, and you risk blending into the noise.
The conventional advice is to choose between going broad or going narrow. But as Craig pointed out, reality is messier. Many startups understand they need to focus, but as soon as they see early success, they hesitate to refine further. The result? They land somewhere in the middle — not broad enough to capture a huge market, yet not narrow enough to stand out.
Early traction can be misleading. If you’re closing deals, it’s tempting to assume your positioning is “good enough.” But the real danger lies in settling too soon. Your early customers may not be your best long-term customers. If you don’t refine your positioning based on data, you risk:
✅ Attracting the wrong customers — who churn quickly or don’t fully value your product
✅ Diluting your messaging — making it harder to stand out in a crowded market
✅ Slowing down your sales cycle — because buyers don’t immediately see why you’re the best fit
The best tech scaleups treat positioning as a continuous process, not a one-time decision. Here’s how you can do the same:
1️⃣ Use your data — Look at the customers who stick with you, pay the most, and get the most value. They reveal where your positioning should go.
2️⃣ Be ruthless about focus — If you’re serving multiple segments, don’t be afraid to let go of the ones that don’t align with your core value proposition.
3️⃣ Test and refine your messaging — Positioning isn’t just a strategy — it’s how you communicate your value. Keep refining until it resonates with the right audience.
The key takeaway? Tech scaleups don’t just need to narrow their positioning once. They need to keep narrowing it as they grow.
As Craig put it, “You probably already have the data to get more focused — it’s just a matter of using it.”
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