Welcome to 🔥” The Slap” 🔥, the official newsletter of The MisFits, where we dive into what it takes to build a category-defining brands that slap! Visit our website | Listen to our mixtapes | Schedule a call
To the Underdogs, MisFits, and Category Creators,
Most founders think they have a marketing problem. A lot of them actually have a translation problem.
When you raise venture capital, you're effectively building two products. The first is the story you tell investors, future-focused. It talks about where the market is going, the category you're creating, and why your company could be worth 100x more in the future.
The second is the product you're selling to customers right now, and the mistake happens when founders use investor language with customers.
Customers don't care about your vision for the future if they don't understand what you do today. That's where the Translation Tax appears. It looks like slower sales cycles, confused prospects, missed opportunities, and worst of all, constantly having to explain yourself. If you leave the room, can someone accurately explain what your company does? If the answer is no, your messaging probably isn't clear enough.
The best companies build messaging that survives first contact without the founder in the room.
On a separate note, I was cooking on this one. These video essays force me to work through my thoughts. Appreciate you, CJ Hughes, for helping me capture them. For those interested in learning more about Adversarial GTM, here's my first pass at drafting the POV for it (Read It Here).
—“IRON” Mike
The Category Whisperer
***P.S. If you need help going from zero to one and finding Product-Market Fit, click below.
Be sure to read my flagship piece below. It’s part manifesto, part field manual, and part MBA for the 0.01% of veterans who aspire to build category-defining brands.
MisFits Don’t Get Into Flow, We Cook.
That means you're locked in, head down, and in the zone. To help you get there, we stream the dopest mixtapes this side of the East Coast, thanks to our DJ friends at bunkr.
Additional Resources:
The Category Design Reading Lists
