Why Some Founders Stay in Your Head After One Conversation

by Alaa Halabi

A startup can make complete sense during the conversation and still feel difficult to describe afterward. 

I was listening to a founder explain what they were building and how it all worked. They talked about the product, the features, and the roadmap. Every question had a good answer.

But I still didn’t know what the company wanted to be known for.

Sometimes founders try to explain every part of the business at the same time. To them, everything feels important, so naturally they want people to understand all of it. But when everything feels equally important, nothing gets remembered. 

People rarely remember a company for ten things. They usually remember it for one. Spotify was known for music before expanding into podcasts and audiobooks. Amazon was known for books before it sold almost everything.

But if people remember you for one thing, what should that one thing be?

We all hear companies claiming to be the best. “We have the best product. The best technology. The highest quality. The strongest team. We’re number one in the market.” But these claims rarely create an emotional connection with people. The problem is that everyone else is saying some version of the same thing. 

“Great team” is not positioning. “Best product” is not positioning.

If positioning isn’t product, technology, best price, best quality, or great team… then what is it?

It’s what people come to expect from you over time.