From someone who hasn't built one yet. Six questions - three for the product, three for the marketing - asked in a loop until the market stops being a vibe and starts being a map.
I've been thinking a lot about what makes a great product company. Ive never started a (successful) company before so take this with a huge pile of salt - Im just sharing what I've learned so far.
I wanted to move away from the typical business textbook advice. Shit like org charts and funding rounds. None of that (at least in my opinion) is the essence of a company.
I know this seems almost too simple, but the way I see it great product companies are built from synergy between Marketing and Product. (Almost) nothing else matters.
Thats it.
These 3 simple questions do more work than they look like they should. For example "Coffee" isn't an answer to the first one. A 250g bag of single origin, roasted a certain way, for a certain type of person is. Price isn't just the cost either its your positioning in the market. And "who is it for" matters because if you can't picture the actual person you don't have a product.
That last question is also the bridge to the other half.
"Why do they need it" is not the same as "why is it good". Nobody buys because it's good. They buy because it's for them.
"How will they discover it" is the one everyone skips because it's not fun. A great product nobody finds is a hobby.
And Feedback is the bit that makes this a loop rather than a list. Feedback goes back into the Product. That's how you iterate, make it better, or spot the next product SKU.
This is the whole point really - it's bi-directional. Product should shape the Marketing, and Marketing + customer feedback should shape the Product. The companies that treat marketing as the thing you do after the product is done get both halves wrong.
Not by sitting in a room brainstorming. You go and look at the competition.
I've been thinking of starting a speciality coffee brand (with a mate of mine, still early days). So the plan is: take the top 10-20 speciality coffee brands in the UK and work out 3 things for each one:
Do that and the market stops being a vibe and starts being a map. You can see where it's crowded and where the gaps are. And thats what tells you who your initial customers should be, which is the whole marketing question answered from the outside in.
The hard truth underneath all of this: if you're not positioned as something unique, you get eaten. Speciality coffee is full of well-funded brands with gorgeous branding. Turning up as "another good coffee" is turning up unarmed.
What is it? What does it cost? Who's it for? Why do they need it? How do they find it? What are they telling you - and what are you going to change because of it?
Ask those in a loop. Study the best 10 in your field until you can see the gap they've left. Stand for something no one else can claim.
That's it. That's the framework. Ask me again in a year and I'll tell you if it was right.