Workshop - Workshop: Brand Positioning & Messaging

Why this matters

Too many startups build in isolation, without clearly defining:

• What problems they solve
• How they solve them
• How they make money

This process helps founders align:

• Marketing: to create systemized content and outreach that resonates.
• Product: to build what unlocks income streams.
• Business: to model revenue based on real user needs.

And more. Everything flows from these core definitions.

🛠️ Outcomes You'll Build

✅ Defined user problems
✅ Solution hypothesis
✅ Clear income streams

These become the foundation of your brand narrative, product roadmap, and marketing systems.

🪜 Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Define & Prioritize User Problems

All these steps are to be carried out using the template.

Tasks:

• Brainstorm Problems: Spend 15 minutes adding any and all user problems you can think of.
• Identify Themes: Group problems by common themes using the template.
• Prioritize Topics: If you have multiple themes, pick one to focus on.
• Determine Critical Problems: Define what makes a problem "critical" (importance, frequency, and impact).

💡 Note:

• The first task is expansive (generate as much as possible).
• The following tasks are reductive (narrow down and refine).

If you refine too early, this process won’t work.

• What's a good user problem definition vs a bad one?
• What's a good theme vs a bad one?
• How best to systematically identify the critical user problems.

Step 2: Define Your Solution & Hypothesis

This step builds your company’s central claims.

Tasks:

• Define Your Solution: Fill out the template with your solution for each top-priority user problem.
• Write Hypotheses: State your hypotheses: "If users adopt our solution, their problem will be solved or alleviated."

Step 3: Identify Potential Income Streams

It’s time to map out how your solution turns into revenue.

Tasks:

• Brainstorm Income Streams: Spend 15 minutes listing all potential ways the business could generate revenue.
• Mark Write-Offs: Flag any ideas that don’t fit (and explain why).
• Prioritize Income Streams: Form a rough initial priority. However, expect this to change based on marketing, financial and product feedback.

This forms the base of your company. The

🔑 How This Aligns the Whole Company

This process isn't just for marketing—it’s how the whole company stays aligned:

• Marketing: uses these definitions to resonate with the target audience and to feedback insights to the company.
• Product/Engineering: builds the roadmap to unlock and optimize income streams.
• Finance/Executive: creates a financial model and business plan built from the income streams.

These teams should:

• Determine what’s market viable, technically viable, and financially viable together.
• Agree on priorities and move forward together.

This approach works for solopreneurs or big corporate teams.

Ready to sharpen your story?

Or, join the full MVP Launch Workshop — see all sessions here