Positioning Memo

Use this memo when a founder needs to make the company's position clear enough for a team, proposal, sales conversation, website, or strategic decision.

This is not a positioning canvas. The canvas helps you work through the components. The memo records the conclusion in a form other people can understand and use.

Primary customer: [Who this is for]

Business stage or context: [Stage, situation, or trigger]

Problem worth solving: [Specific problem]

Who is not the intended customer: [Important boundary]

A useful positioning decision is specific about the customer rather than trying to describe everyone who might possibly benefit.

What is happening today? [Current situation]

Why does it matter? [Consequence]

Why is the problem difficult to solve? [Constraint, trade-off, or existing behaviour]

What causes the buyer to act? [Trigger]

What does the customer do today instead? [Current workaround, competitor category, internal process, or decision to do nothing]

Why does that alternative remain attractive? [Price, familiarity, control, speed, risk, switching cost, or another reason]

Where does it fall short for this customer? [Specific gap]

Do not describe competitors using unsupported claims. Describe the buyer's available alternatives and the trade-offs that matter.

Complete this sentence:

For [specific customer] who [specific situation/problem], [company/product] is a [category or useful description] that [distinct value]. Unlike [relevant alternative], it [meaningful difference].

Then challenge it:

• Is the customer specific enough?
• Is the problem real and recognizable?
• Is the category understandable?
• Is the difference meaningful to the customer?
• Can we support the claim with evidence?
• Would the statement still be true if a competitor copied our wording?

Evidence we can show: [Customer evidence, product evidence, research, demonstrations, credentials that are actually held, or other verifiable support]

Claim that needs more evidence: [Claim]

Evidence we should not use: [Unverified statistic, vague superlative, unsupported competitor claim, or invented outcome]

Positioning becomes more credible when the message is connected to evidence rather than adjectives.

Relevant capability: [What the business can genuinely do]

Relevant experience: [Documented experience]

Specific proof point: [Verifiable evidence]

Limitation: [Where the offer is not the right fit]

A limitation can improve clarity because it tells the team who should not be promised the product.

One-sentence position: [One sentence]

Three supporting points:

1. [Point]
2. [Point]
3. [Point]

Proof for each point: [Evidence]

Call to action: [What the reader or buyer should do next]

Before using the memo in public copy, check:

• Does the website say the same thing?
• Does the sales team use the same core position?
• Do proposals explain the same customer problem?
• Does the product actually deliver the stated difference?
• Are any claims broader than the available evidence?
• Has the market changed enough to require an update?

The U.S. Small Business Administration describes a value proposition as a clear statement of the unique value a company brings to the market and recommends being specific about customer segments. Its guidance also connects market research and competitive analysis to understanding customers and differentiation.

Review it when:

• the primary customer changes;
• the problem definition changes;
• a new product category becomes more accurate;
• a meaningful alternative changes;
• evidence changes the claim;
• the business enters a different market.

Do not rewrite positioning merely because the wording feels old. Change it when the underlying business reality has changed or the current statement is no longer useful.

• U.S. Small Business Administration, "Plan your business", current guidance on market research, competitive analysis, customer segments, demand, alternatives and pricing.
• U.S. Small Business Administration, "Write your business plan", guidance on value propositions and specific customer segments.

Related reading: \2 · \2

Write the customer segment, problem, alternatives, differentiated approach, proof, message and boundaries. For each claim record the evidence behind it. End with the decision this positioning should change and the date it should be reviewed.

1. Fill it with one real situation rather than hypothetical inputs.
2. Record the evidence behind each important field.
3. Make the smallest decision the tool is designed to support.
4. Set a review date and update the tool when the evidence changes.

Good output: another person should be able to understand what was decided, why, what remains uncertain, and what happens next without needing a separate founder explanation.