Features get compared. Stories get chosen.
Be the story your customers believe, your team repeats and your investors back.
How strong is your story, really?
8 questions. Let’s see.
Your placement chart. The outer ring is clear, the centre is blurry. Blue lines join the answers that agree.
This week
Like what you read? See how Unpretensh works, or just ask us a question.
Explore Unpretensh See the services unpretensh@gmail.comPick your territory.
The Pin: Find the gap.
You’re hiringA fresh pair of eyesA short working session, then a written audit. We read your homepage, deck and pitch the way a stranger would, find where your positioning and story break, and tell you what to fix first.
Talk about The PinNot a fit: ads, social media, SEO and running your launches.
- Story auditWhere your homepage, deck and pitch disagree, where a stranger gets lost, and signs your story has been outgrown
- Your core messageA working draft: headline, opener and short pitch, in your customers’ words, with three proof points
- Who it’s forOne page on the person who needs it most, and who it’s not for
- Words to dropJargon out, plain words in
- Customer language bankUp to 10 phrases from your customers
- Fix list and next stepThe first fixes, in order, and which service fits
What you getA clear read on where your story breaks, and what to fix first.
On request: a review after a quarter or two, to see what’s working.
- Know something’s off, but can’t say what
- Get nods, then “so what do you do?”
- Need a clear answer this week, not in six months
The Route: Build your story.
You’re hiringA story partnerWorking sessions over up to four weeks. We talk to your customers, map your rivals and build your positioning on what they actually say: who it’s for, why you, and the story that holds it together.
Talk about The RouteNot a fit: ads, social media, SEO and running your launches.
- Customer readoutUp to 5 conversations, in their own words
- Map of the alternativesWhat customers do without you, where each option sits, and the open ground
- Who it’s forAn ICP one-pager: who to win first, and who it’s not for
- Positioning docWho it’s for, the problem, why you, the proof, and the category you sit in
- Message houseThe big idea, your core message, and the reasons to believe it
- Messaging by audienceOne version for each audience you pick first: the buyer who signs, the user, or investors
- Story foundationEverything above in one document your team and your AI tools can use, plus a baseline to review against, plus a baseline to review against
What you getA story your whole team can build on: who you serve, why you win and how to say it, backed by real customer words.
Includes a review after one to two quarters, to see if the story stuck and what moved.
- Know what you’ve built, but not yet who it’s for or why they choose you
- Need the story backed by evidence, not opinion
- Your product has grown and needs repositioning, but the message hasn’t caught up
The Atlas: Tell it everywhere.
You’re hiringA positioning lead, part-timeUp to six weeks with a part-time positioning lead. We take your story and tell it everywhere, so your website, deck, sales calls and launches all say the same thing.
Talk about The AtlasNot a fit: ads, social media, SEO and running your launches.
- Homepage messageA new headline, subhead and section order
- Sharpening passYour homepage and pitch deck edited line by line to tell the story
- Pitch narrativeThe story, told in the order buyers and investors ask
- Sales one-pagerHow to explain the product, and each release
- Sales answersThe “isn’t that just…?” questions, answered
- Launch and feature storyThe message, one-pager and sales brief for a product launch or major feature. We write the words, you run the launch
- Voice kit and team sessionSo the team, and your AI tools, say it the same way, starting with the group that matters most. Plus a handover doc
What you getA story that shows up the same way in your website, deck, sales calls and launches, and a team that can keep telling it.
The Atlas only runs on a story that’s true, so it starts after The Route. Already have recent positioning built on customer research? We review it first, and if it holds, we start from there. Skip the groundwork and the words sound like everyone else’s. We pick your starting audiences together, then review it after a quarter or two.
- Have the story, but your site, deck and team tell it differently
- Want sales to explain the product, and each release, with confidence
- Have a launch or major feature coming and want the story right
Not sure which? Play the quizSee the simple breakdown →
We know not every startup fits one of the three. If your need is off the map, we’ll map it out together and shape a custom piece of work around it. More products or segments than one of the three covers? Same deal: we’ll scope it together.
- Customer and market insight
- Positioning
- Messaging and storytelling
- Website copy
- Go-to-market and launches
- Sales enablement
- Competitive intelligence
- Pricing and packaging
- Customer proof and case studies
Product marketing makes a product real, then gets it chosen.
It comes down to three questions.
Locate your customers.
Who needs this most?
Chart your product.
Why would they pick you?
Share the map.
Can everyone explain it?
What it isn’tTikTok videos, ads, SEO. Nobody’s making you dance.
Our focus is positioning, messaging and storytelling. See how they fit together →
Pins dropped. Every corner of the map.
Mostly B2B. When the product moves on, the story has to catch up.
- Applied AI Not “AI-powered”. The job it does, in words people repeat.
- Vertical SaaS Built for builders, farmers and hauliers. Said in their words, not yours.
- Healthtech Clinicians, patients and payers. Three audiences, one clear story.
- Robotics Machines that move things. Words that move a buyer.
- Cybersecurity Fear sells once. Trust sells every renewal.
- Fintech Money moves fast. Trust doesn’t. Lead with the second.
- Climate tech Save the planet, then survive procurement. Tell both stories.
- Biotech Brilliant science, impossible sentence. We find the human one.
- Developer tools Developers smell marketing. Plain words, working code.
- Legaltech Lawyers trust precedent. Be the new one worth citing.
- Space tech “Out of this world” isn’t a position. Down to earth is.
- Ecommerce A rival is one click away. Be the reason they stay.
- Fashion Trends fade, brands don’t. Tell the story that outlasts the season.
- Logistics Supply chains are invisible until they break. Be the fix.
- Edtech The buyer isn’t the learner. Speak to both.
A speck. Nobody can place it.
- Pre-seed
- Seed
- Series A
- Series B
- Series C
Built it? Let’s find where it sits.
Tell us what you’ve built. We reply within 48 hours, and if it’s a fit, you’ll get a free 15-minute call.
Same email.
Got it.
You’ll hear from us.