tata nano was supposed to be revolutionary. it was legit a car for the price of a bike. it had to sell millions. i mean, why would it not sell?

you know the answer, don’t you? they positioned it as the “worlds cheapest car”? jeezz.

no one wants to be seen driving the “cheapest” anything.

why am i talking about products? isn’t this supposed to be about careers?

well… you might be making the same mistake.

especially if you’re calling yourself an "experienced marketer with 10 years experience"

three signs you’re not positioned well

  1. you clear interviews yet lose offers
  2. you get inbound for roles you’ve outgrown
  3. comp falls below “market average”

folks, 2021 was fake. 2021 was a different universe. money was free. zero interest rates meant growth at any cost.

market was hiring anyone who could spell javascript. every company becoming a "tech company."

stop hoping it comes back. it’s not coming back.

in 2025, every hiring manager i know gets 1000+ applications per role. they spend 6 seconds on each. not 6 minutes. 6 seconds. in that time, they're asking one question: "does this person solve my specific problem right now?"

the market doesn't care what you call yourself. it cares what expensive problem you solve. and the expensive problems of 2025 aren't the expensive problems of 2021.

2021 2025
growth at all costs profitable growth or death
hire fast, figure it out later do more with half the people
100 experiments 3 that actually move the needle
chase every channel double down on what compounds
headcount = progress headcount = liability
know frameworks show outcomes
know tools build systems
senior hires for optics operators > ornamentals
everyone’s a unicorn survival is success

your positioning from the free money era is like selling umbrellas in a drought. the weather changed. time to change what you're selling. if you're applying without positioning, you're wasting time.

hiring is exactly like sales.

if your pitch is wrong, it doesn't matter if you speak to 100 or 1000 people. you need to do the numbers, but positioning will save you hundreds of hours.

bad positioning + 100 applications = 100 rejections

good positioning + 50 targeted applications = 5 conversations

you're not failing at distribution. you are applying everywhere but you're failing at relevance. and relevance comes from positioning.

how to solve your positioning?

step 1: start with the pain

pick a company or sub industry + similar sized company. ask, what's keeping them up at night? who owns this problem? who gets fired if it's not solved? who gets promoted if it is?

we wrote a detailed article on this here.

step 2: find promise you can deliver

not "i'm a versatile pm who's worked across industries."

specific problems.

specific approach. and a clear outcome should come out.

april dunford,

who literally wrote the book on positioning:

"positioning is deliberately defining how you are the best at something that a defined market cares a lot about."

her formula: urgent problem + growing market + your proven solution

we wrote a detailed article on this here.