Your Shortcut to Differentiation: Why Every Product Needs a Villain (and How to Find Yours )

Most startup founders struggle with differentiation. They spend hours perfecting their value proposition, agonizing over messaging, and trying to make their product stand out. But here’s the secret most great brands understand:

The easiest way to make people care about what you do is to show them what you’re fighting against.

Every great product has a villain—a problem, status quo, or outdated way of doing things that your brand exists to defeat. And the companies that lean into this narrative don’t just capture attention—they build movements.

Who is your product's villain?

Villains Create Differentiation

People don’t remember long lists of features. But they do remember a compelling fight. Think about:

• Slack vs. Email Overload Slack positioned itself against endless, inefficient email chains.
  

• Hims vs. The Broken Healthcare System Hims reframed traditional healthcare as slow, inconvenient, and full of unnecessary friction—offering direct-to-consumer telehealth as the modern alternative.
  

• Zillow vs. The Gatekeeping of Traditional Real Estate Zillow took on the old real estate model where agents controlled listings and information, empowering buyers and sellers with transparency.
  

• Notion vs. The Chaos of Disorganized Workflows “The all-in-one workspace” framed Notion as the antidote to scattered docs, sticky notes, and spreadsheets.

  
  

Each of these companies made their villain clear. And by doing so, they made their own value obvious.

Finding Your Villain

Your villain doesn’t have to be an actual company. In fact, it’s better if it’s something bigger—something your audience already struggles with and wants to overcome. Here’s how to identify yours:

1. Look at the Broken Status Quo

• What frustrating, outdated process does your product replace?

• What do customers hate about the way things are done today?

• If your product disappeared, what painful reality would return?

Example: Calendly’s villain is “the endless back-and-forth of scheduling meetings.” They didn’t invent scheduling, but they framed the old way as inefficient—and themselves as the solution.

2. Listen to Your Customers’ Rants

• What do they complain about most?

• What’s the thing that makes them roll their eyes or say, “I wish this were easier”?

• What words do they use to describe their frustration?

Example: When Airtable positioned itself as “as powerful as a database, but as easy as a spreadsheet,” they were picking a villain: bloated enterprise software that required IT to manage.

3. Frame Your Villain as the Old Way

• Instead of just competing on features, position your product as a leap forward.

• “The old way vs. the new way” - This makes the shift feel inevitable.

• Make it a movement - You’re not just selling a product, you’re helping customers break free.

Example: Superhuman didn’t just build another email client. They positioned themselves against “slow, inefficient email”—offering speed as the core value.

What to Do Once You Find Your Villain

1. Make it obvious in your messaging Feature it in your website, pitch decks, and ads.
   

2. Use visuals to reinforce it Side-by-side comparisons, “before & after” graphics, or even a manifesto.
   

3. Make customers part of the fight “Join us” is more powerful than “Buy this.” Give them a reason to rally around your product.

A Quick Reality Check

• Don’t make a competitor your villain Going after another company directly can make you seem desperate.
  

• Don’t pick something irrelevant Your villain should be something your customers truly struggle with.
  

• Don’t make the villain your customer Your goal is to solve their problem, not make them feel bad.
  

Your Villain is the Shortcut to Differentiation

You don’t have to shout the loudest. You don’t have to have the most features. You just have to give people a clear reason to believe in your product. And the fastest way to do that?

Find your villain. Call it out. And show customers how you help them win.

Want help finding your product’s villain?

If you’re a Founder struggling to position your product, let’s talk. I help startups clarify their GTM strategy and messaging so they can stand out and scale faster.