From scattered use cases to €550k seed: How community positioning unlocked investment
- Chris Hug
- Dec 9
- 5 min read
At-a-glance
Early-stage startup, pre-seed, subject matter specialists in people development
Challenge: Building SaaS with different features for different segments—scattered focus, unclear differentiation
Approach: 3-month PMF diagnosis revealing platform positioning opportunity (IP in methodology/data, not software features)
Validation: problem-offering evaluation, 7 pilot customers, market research, partnership opportunities, confirmed positioning
Results: €550k seed round from angels, attracted by scale potential and lean business model
The starting point: Experts building software
Two subject matter specialists sat across from us with a product roadmap.
They knew people development. Years of experience in recruiting, learning and development, and education. Deep expertise in how organisations build capabilities.
They'd identified a gap. AI was changing how companies approached workforce development, but existing tools weren't built for this new reality.
So they did what many experts do: they started building software.
A SaaS platform. Different features for different customer segments. Recruiting teams got one set of capabilities. L&D teams got another. Educational institutions got a third.
The roadmap was comprehensive. The vision was ambitious. The positioning was scattered.
When we asked, "What makes you defensible?", the answer was honest: "We're not sure yet."
The problem nobody wanted to say out loud
SaaS features aren't a moat. Especially not in 2025.
AI makes software development faster and cheaper every quarter. A feature that takes six months to build today takes six weeks tomorrow. Competitors can copy your interface. Substitutes emerge constantly.
If your differentiation is "we have these features, and they don't”, you're one funding round away from irrelevance.
The founders knew this. They just didn't know what else to position around.
Their early customer conversations showed interest. But prospects kept asking: "How is this different from our existing tool plus AI wrapper?"
No clear answer. No strong positioning.
The diagnosis: Your IP isn't the software
We ran our PMF System customer-centricity diagnostic over a period of three weeks.
Week 1: Problem-offering match
Mapped their domain expertise to market problems
Analysed what customers actually valued in early conversations
Identified patterns in who responded positively vs. who didn't
Week 2: Alternative analysis
Profiled competitors and substitutes from the buyer's perspective
Identified what made alternatives weak (generic AI, no domain methodology)
Found the gap: methodology and data, not software
Week 3: Strategic positioning
Tested platform hypothesis: Enable others to build specialised offerings
Validated with network experts in target segments
Defined new positioning: Platform provider, not point solution
The insight that changed everything:
Their real IP wasn't the SaaS features. It was:
Methodology: How to structure people development in AI-augmented workflows
Data: Proprietary insights on what works across industries and roles
Frameworks: Validated approaches that took years to develop
Other experts and companies could build SaaS offerings on top of that foundation. The founders didn't need to serve every segment themselves. They needed to enable specialists to serve their niches better.
Platform positioning. Not scattered feature positioning.
The pivot: From SaaS builder to community provider
The shift was profound.
Before:
"We're building SaaS for recruiting, L&D, and education"
Competing on features
Need to serve multiple segments directly
High customer acquisition costs
Hard to scale without a large team
After:
"We're a platform enabling specialists to build AI-powered people development solutions"
Competing on methodology and data IP
Partners serve their segments using our foundation
Partnership model = lower CAC
Scales through network effects, not headcount
Investor narrative transformed:
Before: "We're better than existing tools" (hard to prove, easy to copy)
After: "We enable an ecosystem" (network effects, partnership revenue, platform economics)
The founders' reaction: "This is what we should have been building from day one. We were too focused on the software."
The validation: 7 short pilots in 5 weeks
We didn't just reposition. We validated.
Using our expert network and the founders' domain expertise, we identified potential pilot customers and partners.
Pilot approach:
3 companies are testing the methodology with their internal teams
4 specialists exploring a partnership model (building on the platform)
The combination validated both sides of the platform
What we learned:
Partners wanted the methodology and data, and would build their own interfaces
Companies using it internally quickly saw 20-30% better results using the methodology
Several pilots indicated willingness to pay, even pre-product
Two partnership opportunities emerged with clear commercial intent
Market research validated the opportunity:
Growing category (AI-enabled people development)
Fragmented market (many niches, no dominant platform)
High willingness to pay for proven methodology
Partnership model is attractive to specialists who don't want to build infrastructure
The combination of pilot traction, market research, and partnership opportunities created compelling proof points for investors.
The pitch: Scale potential with lean economics
We helped structure the pitch deck around three pillars:
1. Emerging category, defensible positioning
AI is creating a new category in people development
IP is methodology/data, not software (harder to copy)
Platform enables ecosystem (network effects)
2. Validated demand
7 pilots showing traction
Partnership model proving out
Early revenue indicators
3. Superior unit economics
Partnership model = lower CAC than direct sales
Platform scales without linear headcount growth
Lean business model is attractive to angels
The pitch resonated. Multiple angels committed. €550k seed round closed within 3 months of our initial engagement.
What convinced investors:
Not "we built better software" (hard to defend)
Instead, "we enable specialists with proven methodology" (ecosystem play)
Lower organisational costs = more runway, better margins
Clear path to scale through partnerships, not just direct sales
What made the difference
Not building more features. Not perfecting the software. Not targeting more segments.
Clarity on differentiation.
Understanding that their expertise was the product, not the software wrapper around it. Positioning as a platform provider instead of a point solution.
The PMF System helped them see what customers actually valued (methodology and data) vs. what they thought they should build (SaaS features).
Three months from scattered positioning to a funded startup with a clear direction.
The pattern we see early-stage
Subject matter experts identify a real problem
Assuming the solution is software (because that's how it was in the past)
Build features without clear differentiation
Early customers show interest, but no strong pull
Positioning is scattered across segments
Fundraising is hard because "better features" isn't long-term compelling
The companies that break through:
Diagnose what customers actually value (often full approach/method, not software templates)
Position around defensible IP, not easily copied features
Find business models that scale without linear costs
Validate with pilots before building everything
Tell investor stories about ecosystems, not feature lists
The dimensions diagnosis
This was primarily a Customer and Story dimension challenge:
Customer Dimension: Trying to serve multiple segments directly instead of enabling partners to serve their niches
Story Dimension: Positioning around SaaS features (commodity) instead of methodology and data IP (defensible)
Both stemmed from a lack of clarity on differentiation. What makes you defensible? What can't be easily copied?
The answer wasn't in the software. It was in the expertise and frameworks that took years to develop.
Platform positioning solved both dimensions: clear customer (partners who need your methodology) and clear story (enable specialists, don't compete with them).
About this story
All details are from a real engagement. Company and individual identities are anonymised to protect competitive confidentiality. We work with clients on sensitive strategic challenges and respect their privacy.
Building something new?
Early-stage founders often struggle with positioning. You know the problem. You're building a solution. But you're not sure what makes you defensible or how to tell that story to investors.
Customer-centric diagnosis answers:
What do customers actually value? (Often not what you think)
What's defensible in your positioning? (Hint: maybe not the features)
What business model scales without burning cash?
How do you validate before building everything?
That's how you go from idea to funded startup in months, not years.
