Language-Market Fit #54

What's Below in Issue #53:

📰 - A look into finding language-market fit

📊 - Data behind the increased number of down-rounds

🎙️ - Exclusive AMA with Our Newsletter Writer and Syndicate Expert

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Happy New Year from Thunder!!!

Welcome to 2024! This will be a very exciting year for startups after a tough year in 2023 for venture capital. Lots of doom and gloom wrapped up in 2023, and those who survived it will thrive!

As a reminder, The Fundraising Demystified podcast will be launching season 2 within the next two weeks. In the meantime, our team is hosting a kick-off 2024 AMA next week (be sure to RSVP).

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Language-Market Fit: "My customers just don't understand me!"

“I try so hard to explain my product, but no one seems to understand it.”

“I can’t keep people on my website long enough to purchase.”

These are all signs that you might be missing language-market fit. You may have heard of product-market fit, which is aligning your product with a market that will use it, but for this to work, you will need language-market fit, which is connecting the product description to that market.

The easiest way to think of language-market fit is by asking if what you tell your customers hits an emotional nerve that makes them say “YES! That’s exactly what I’m thinking!” If your description is too long or complex, users will be scratching their heads to understand why they need your solution.

For example, the description “Smart device integration for the entire home” does not answer why a user will want it, while “stop using 10 apps to control your house. Use us!” connects directly with the problem that many users of smart home devices are frustrated that they need multiple apps.

Another example, “Fast and easy website creation” tells me little about what the actual product is and why I should use it, while “Build your first blog in under 15 minutes. No Code. Cheapest price.” tells me the company is aimed at first time bloggers who want an easy and cheap solution.

Why does it matter? It can 10x your sales overnight. We’ve seen this firsthand from several startups who have changed their branding and descriptions to match the customer’s pain point.

The reasons you may want to focus on language-market fit are:

• Increased engagement. People naturally gravitate to others who understand them. By showing clearly that you understand the problem they face, there will be an increased level of trust.
• Easy way to increase sales. It will surprise you how much these changes will impact your sales. Users are more willing to try a brand that has demonstrated their understanding of the problem and sympathize with them.
• Can be done quickly. Iterating a product can take weeks while changing the language users see can be done within a day. It only takes a few hours of brainstorming to make a large difference.

The best part is finding language-market fit is in many ways easier than finding product-market fit. Here are some simple steps to help you along the way.

• Talk to your users. Ask to have a call with them and walk you through their purchase decision. What was their pain point and what were they specifically looking for? Once you speak to a handful, you will start to notice a pattern of words and phrases they use to describe their problem. Those words should be used to describe your product as the solution to their problem.
• Rethink descriptions. Instead of trying to describe what your product does, try to reframe it in terms of how it solves a specific problem. Your customers have a problem they are trying to solve and connecting to that will keep their attention on the solution you want to sell them.
• Try different descriptions. In the same way, the product is changed over time based on feedback, the language you use should change over time based on what sells best. Even better, try different email campaigns with different descriptions to see which ones have the most interaction.

If you have not worked on language-market fit yet, take a day off to work on it. It is much easier and faster than product-market fit and will help make the entire startup journey much easier.

Relevant Articles to Language Market Fit

• Finding Language/Market Fit: How to Make Customers Feel Like You’ve Read Their Minds - 👉 First Round Review
• From Product/Market Fit to Language/Market Fit: A New Brand Storytelling Framework - 👉 Medium
• Finding Language/Market Fit - 👉 Jorge Arango

Data Corner

1 in 5 Startup Raises are Down Rounds

As we discussed in the article above, founders should expect more down rounds. However, this data also highlights that while we may have more down rounds than normal, the shock has been exacerbated by the unusually low number of down rounds in 2021. Before Covid, 10%  down rounds was the average.

Exclusive AMA with Our Newsletter Writer and Syndicate Expert

Toviya Slager is both an analyst and newsletter producer at Thunder. Before joining at Thunder, Toviya worked at Maccabee Ventures and F50 Ventures, both early-stage funds. He graduated from Yeshiva University with a double major in mathematical economics and psychology, and a minor in finance.

Alex Pattis spent nearly a decade scaling early-stage startups focusing on growth & commercial strategy. Alex is now a General Partner @ Riverside Ventures, a venture fund & syndicate, and has invested in 200+ companies. He also wrote Last Money In, a newsletter focused on Venture Capital syndicates.

Join us on January 8th @1PM EST for an AMA discussion around the venture market, how to start the 2024 running, and anything else you want to know. RSVP Here

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Written by Jason Kirby - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonrkirby
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