Faster Than You: Why Funnel-First (Less Product) Strategy Wins In Today’s Market
This article was written by the human known as Luke Bujarski, co-founder at Jethire.
If you build it, they will come. It used to be that marketing would wait on product to energize customer acquisition efforts.
Think Steve Jobs and his relentless pursuit of product perfection, followed by earth-shattering announcements of his latest innovations.
The reverse is now almost true - or at least, marketing and go-to-market strategy is a very close second to product.
Why? Because product development costs are coming down, as customer acquisition costs go up.
Yes, artificial intelligence is bringing down the cost of production, for everything from software to manufactured goods. Inputs are cheaper. Less labor, less mistakes, less coders, less time it takes to roll out new products.
What happens when supply increases relative to demand:
1) Higher CAC. You are competing with every other founder with the same brilliant product idea. More alternatives for the same amount of demand means more competition and higher customer acquisition costs.
2) Feedback loops. Your product is only as good as your funnel. You can have the best app or gadget on the market, but fewer customers means less traction and less traction means less cash flow. With shorter and cheaper rollouts, product marketing strategy is more responsive as an integral part of the product development process.
3) ai won’t save your customer acquisition efforts - great marketing and sales strategy will. Yes, CRM automation, generative ai for content, targeted marketing, etc. - but everyone is doing that - with varying levels of success.
Furthermore, paid advertising costs on the core platforms are going up, for the same reasons i.e. more products, same amount of eyeballs.
Having a great idea was never enough.
Having a great product is no longer enough.
Having a good product with a great go-to-market execution is definitely possible.
Having a great product with great go-to-market execution is optimal.
And, that comes down to your people.
Here is the plug (because there is no shame in selling when you love what to you do):
Jethire is a recruitment firm laser focused on helping founders and hiring managers scale amazing go-to-market teams. That is our mission. What’s yours, and how can we work together?
Get in touch, let’s chat.