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Differentiation

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Differentiation is only valuable when it’s visible to users and rooted in their actual needs, not in what the company wishes were valuable. Too many organisations mistakenly try to differentiate in industrialised spaces, where users care only about price and reliability.

True differentiation comes in less-evolved spaces, where uncertainty exists and competitors haven’t fully met the need.

Be cautious of wasting effort differentiating in industrialised areas. Consider if simplification is a better signal than novelty.

To play this well, you must be precise about which needs are unmet, where evolution currently sits, and what kind of differentiation actually matters to the market.

  • Education (User Perception): Vital when your differentiation depends on changing user mental models.
  • Experimentation (Attacking): Often how differentiation is discovered in early stages.
  • Creating artificial needs (User Perception): Risky, but overlaps when “differentiation” is marketing-led rather than need-led.
  • Co-creation (Ecosystem): Working with users to uncover meaningful differentiation.
  • First mover (Positional): Can create perceived differentiation purely through timing.