https://nikhilsamuel.medium.com/frameworks-and-models-for-startup-marketing-part-1-3-a57c2a9a1e8

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, 1942.

This article covers the first third of major frameworks that I have encountered that might be of use to you when you begin to think about startup marketing. I will briefly go through the classical startup frameworks and the delve deeper into frameworks that are specific to marketing and growth.

The article is a response to my own need for frameworks for unhindered thinking and clarity in making marketing decisions.

So, why are startup frameworks useful in the first place?

Startup Frameworks make for a great starting point in putting forward your ideas, implementing them, or looking at them from a different perspective.

Frameworks

Porter’s Five Forces —

Let’s start off with the classics. Every reader who has gone to business school or has an inclination towards business has come across the 5 forces framework.

Micheal Porter propounded the Five Forces Framework model leading to a large-scale adoption by many organisations. The basic tenet of the framework is that any company faces 5 major forces of competition when in a market, not just from its competitors.

The five forces are:

• Threat of new entrants — What is the time and cost of entry into the market? Are the barriers of entry high? What are the cost advantages? Is there technology protection? Do you have specialised knowledge about the market (contrarian question by peter thiel)?
• Threat of substitutes — What are your substitutes in the market? Are you 10x better than them (peter thiel)?
• Bargaining power of customers — How many customers do you have? What is the average basket size? Are customer price sensitive? Are the switching costs high?
• Bargaining power of suppliers — How many suppliers do you have? How big are they? Will you be able to quickly substitute suppliers? Are you overly dependent on one supplier?
• Industry rivalry — How many competitors do you have in the market? Are you 10x better either in speed/quality (Peter Thiel)?

All 2x2 matrices —

The power of drawing a vertical line intersecting with a horizontal line is grossly underestimated because the depth of clarity in demystifying complex concepts is so simple.