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Positioning statement

How to write a positioning statement with no customers

A startup with no customers can write a positioning statement, but the evidence step changes. In our method, with no sales notes yet, proof of what buyers do today comes from reviews, a real conversation or buyers' own words in public. At least two alternatives must trace to something observed. It states how many buyer conversations back it, even zero.

Last updated by Omair Dawood.

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What changes in the nine steps before your first customer

Our positioning method has nine steps. Steps 2 to 6 follow April Dunford's method from her book Obviously Awesome (2019). Her books page says it breaks positioning into five component pieces (aprildunford.com/books, read 2026-10-14). Steps 1, 7, 8 and 9 are our own, and the words are ours. Five steps run as written with no customers. Four change, and those are marked.

  1. Load the context. Changes. The method starts from what the product does now in a user's hands, not the roadmap. In our view, the roadmap is the easy thing to write about before launch, so describe only what a beta user could do today. When the subject is your own company, the method also asks for a human ingredient: an anecdote, a real number or your own opinion. A pre-launch page counts as your current positioning in our view, so date it.
  2. List what buyers do today. Changes. With no sales notes or win-loss calls, the evidence comes from elsewhere. The method accepts review-site language, a real conversation and the buyer's own words anywhere they appear, such as a community thread. At least two alternatives must trace to something observed. If you cannot evidence a single alternative, the method stops and says so instead of guessing.
  3. Isolate the unique attributes. Runs as written. The test is whether an outsider could confirm the attribute by looking, trying or reading. A beta product can pass it through public docs or a trial.
  4. Turn each attribute into value. Runs as written: one value line per attribute, and an attribute with no value a buyer would notice is cut.
  5. Find who cares a lot. Runs as written, in characteristics rather than demographics. In our view, hold the answer loosely. Dunford advises new companies to keep positioning loose until patterns show who loves the product and why (thread by @aprildunford, read 2026-10-14).
  6. Name the market category. Runs as written. Claiming a new category because nothing compares to you is a strategic call, and the method escalates it to a person.
  7. Run the proof pass. Changes. In our view, expect most claims to land in "not yet proven" or "required before this can be claimed at all". The method writes this section honestly even when the honest version is short. Each open claim gets a named artifact that would prove it, such as a first customer quote, and an owner.
  8. Assemble the statement. Changes. The output header carries a line headed "Validated against real buyer conversations". The method states it as a number, including when that number is zero.
  9. Hand back the open questions. Runs as written. Strategic questions go to a person, unanswered, with both options and the tradeoff.

Worked sample: Dropbox's homepage before launch, April 2007

The Internet Archive holds a capture of getdropbox.com dated 15 April 2007. Its first paragraph says:

"Dropbox synchronizes files across your computers and your team's computers. It's better than email, uploading, or a Windows file share. It just works."

Read on . Source: Dropbox homepage, Internet Archive capture of 15 April 2007

Further down, under a bold "Update 3/20/07:" label, the page says:

"We haven't launched yet, but we are admitting people into the beta."

Read on . Source: Dropbox homepage, Internet Archive capture of 15 April 2007

The browser tab title, separate from the copy, reads "Dropbox - Secure backup, sync, and sharing made easy."

What the copy does well. The second sentence does step 2 in one line. It names three things a reader already does instead: email, uploading and a Windows file share. None of them is a rival vendor. The first sentence describes a behavior a beta user could check, which is the step 3 test. The page also says plainly that it has not launched.

What is missing, against the steps. The page does not show where the three alternatives come from. In our view a homepage is the seller's own account, so the evidence for step 2 has to come from elsewhere. "Better than" makes a comparison without saying what the reader gets, which step 4 asks for. "It just works" fails the step 3 test as written, because an outsider cannot confirm it from the sentence. "Your team's computers" points at a setup, not a buyer in a situation (step 5). The tab title offers three categories at once: backup, sync and sharing. Step 6 asks for one.

The fix, as a filled-in statement. Each slot uses the page's own words or stays a visible question. We do not guess Dropbox's buyers or their evidence.

For       [the buyer, in a situation: needs evidence; the page names "your team's computers"]
who       [the pressure they are under: needs evidence]
Dropbox   is a [one category: backup, sync or sharing? needs a decision]
that      keeps files in sync across your computers and your team's computers
Unlike    [which of email, uploading or a Windows file share ranks first: needs evidence]
Dropbox   [the difference, traced to an attribute an outsider can check: needs evidence]

Validated against real buyer conversations: [number: not on the page]

In the step 7 proof pass, "It just works" goes under "not yet proven" until a beta user's own words back it.

Common mistakes

  • Positioning the roadmap. In our view, a pre-customer statement drifts toward what the product will do. The method starts from what it does now, so cut every feature a beta user cannot touch today.
  • Borrowing a competitor list. The method rules out a category report's vendor list: it is not what buyers do. Replace it with two alternatives you saw in a review, a thread or a conversation.
  • Ranking a guess first. The method labels an alternative with no evidence line ASSUMED, and it cannot rank first. Find one observed source, or drop it down the list.
  • Hiding the zero. In our view, leaving out the conversation count makes a guess look like research. Write "Validated against real buyer conversations: 0" and let the proof pass show what is open.
  • Treating sign-ups as evidence. In our view, a waitlist shows interest, not what buyers do today. Ask the people on it what they use now, and record their words.
  • Claiming a new category to escape comparison. The method treats a new category as a decision for a person. Draft it as an option with its tradeoff, not as the answer.

Questions people ask

How do you position a startup with no customers?

Start from what the product does today. Then gather evidence of what buyers do instead from reviews, a few real conversations or buyers' own words in public threads. In our method, at least two alternatives must trace to something observed, or the work stops. Run the rest of the steps as usual. State the number of buyer conversations behind the statement, even zero, and list what still needs proof.

Should you worry about positioning before you have customers?

Dunford tells early startups not to worry much until they see patterns (thread by @aprildunford, read 2026-10-14). In our view, that is a reason to keep the statement loose, not to skip it: a dated draft with a conversation count and open questions gives you something to test and revise once customers arrive.

Sources

Write yours with the Positioning statement tool

The tool asks four things: what your product does today, what buyers use instead, how you know they do, and what you say about yourselves now. It needs one piece of proof, such as a buyer quote or a review, for at least two alternatives. You get a For, Who, Unlike statement, the five steps of April Dunford's method with reasons, what you should not claim yet, and questions only you can answer. It takes about 3 minutes of typing.

Write a positioning statement from the buyer evidence you have