Some categories look “easy” from the outside because the problem is obvious.
But they’re often the hardest markets to crack. Why? Because the incumbents already have the data, the distribution, and deeply entrenched customer habits.
They’re not just competitors. They’re the current default.
In markets like that, the trap is to try to win by being broader.
More services. More integrations. More “we do everything” (and if we don’t, we’ll do it for you).
At the time, it feels sensible—like you have to do it to be a credible alternative.
From experience, it can be fatal.
The move everyone talks about but few make
I’m currently working with an early-stage founder doing the exact opposite.
He’s relentlessly designing for a tiny set of people at the left edge of the bell curve.
People who aren’t shopping for solutions. Why? Because they’re already trying to solve the problem themselves.
They’re hacking together workarounds. Exporting data. Stitching things together.
Living with friction—because the progress they want matters enough to push through it.
Why innovators are such an attractive market
Geoffrey Moore described this group perfectly in his book, Crossing the Chasm:
“Classically, the first people to adopt any new technology are those who appreciate the technology for its own sake… They will forgive ghastly documentation, horrendously slow performance, ludicrous omissions in functionality… all in the name of moving technology forward.”
If you solve for innovators, you’re removing friction from something they’re already trying (and often struggling) to do themselves. And the presence of struggle is the clearest signal that someone is in-market for your product.
The challenge, of course, isn’t finding innovators—it’s knowing which of their struggles to prioritise.
Understanding progress
In competitive markets, your job statement is your strategy. It tells you what to build, and - just as importantly - what to ignore.
But where do we begin with innovators?
By definition, they should be the easiest market to convert. However, just like any market, they have a multitude of struggles. The key is to rank them in order of importance.
This is where Jobs-to-be-Done stops being theory and starts becoming actionable strategy.
Rather than debating features, categories, or long-term market size, start by writing a small number of job statements.
Not many. Just enough to be precise about the progress your ideal customer is already trying to make.
Here’s an example I wrote for this founder:
NB: In this case, I have unusual context, I’m both the innovator and the customer. You won’t always have this luxury.
When I’m planning my weekly training,
I want to know that it’s genuinely optimal — taking into account my current fitness, recent load, and the other stresses in my life,
so that I can keep making progress without tipping into fatigue or injury.
What’s interesting about this statement is what it doesn’t include. No desired features. No technology. No comparisons.
Just progress, and the uncertainty that comes from not knowing whether I’m getting it right.
Here’s another one we explored:
When I’m setting long-term goals,
I want feedback on what feels realistic and unrealistic,
so that I can continue to feel motivated.
Both of these statements describe moments of struggle, desired progress, and a very meaningful outcome.
Why this kind of focus matters in crowded markets
Job statements are incredibly constraining—but in a good way.
They make it much harder to justify building things that nobody actually needs.
They also prevent you competing with incumbents on their terms. You’re not trying to match their entire “surface area”. You’re simply helping your ideal customer make progress in a handful of very specific areas of their life.
This is not a shortcut. It’s a deliberate product strategy.
For teams building something new, a well-crafted (and validated) set of job statements provides the building blocks for an MVP.
For more established teams launching new products, they provide a way to understand the progress an untapped market is trying to make—and an opportunity to strengthen an existing value proposition.
A simple job statement template
If you want to try this yourself, here’s the format most people use:
When I’m in a specific situation …
And I’m struggling with a specific constraint…
I want to make a specific kind of progress…
So I can achieve a meaningful outcome.
A few rules that matter here:
Avoid product or solution language
Anchor it in a real-world moment, not a made-up persona
Make the “so I can” about meaningful outcomes, not functional tasks
Turning job statements into decisions
Once you’ve written a handful of job statements, you can use them immediately to start making decisions by prioritising how important they are to your customer.
For each job statement, I use a simple breakdown:
Frequency: how often does this situation occur?
Pain: how bad is it when things go wrong? How much friction is involved?
Current workaround: what are people doing instead, and how hard is that?
Value of success: what changes when they get this right?
Proof: what evidence would convince them (and others) the job is being solved?
Two practical outputs come from this:
An MVP that solves for your ideal customer’s top jobs
A roadmap made up of a series of bets
A 30-minute exercise you can run this week
If you want something concrete, try this with your team:
10 mins: Pick one role and one moment (not a persona)
10 mins: Write three versions of the job statement (the third is usually the best)
10 mins: Decide what “proof” would look like if you solved it
If you do nothing else this week, do this.
It will turn your next roadmap conversation from opinion-led to customer-led.
One final thought
Competitive markets don’t punish you for being small. They punish you for being vague.
If you can be relentlessly specific about the progress that matters - especially for people already doing the job the hard way - focus becomes your advantage.