Most early-stage B2B tech companies don’t lose because the product is weak. They lose because the market cannot repeat back what they do, why it matters, and why they’re different.
Jonathan W. Buckley, founder of the Artesian Network, helps early and mid-stage B2B tech companies position, launch, and scale faster by finding and proving repeatable, predictable revenue models. Most companies treat messaging as a copywriting task when it should function as a company-wide operating system, ensuring sales, product, marketing, and leadership all pull from one source of truth.
“If your message is not sharp, your strategy cannot be heard,” says Buckley.
Buckley believes winning requires finding white space through value claims analysis that identifies defensible positions, proving ICP through experimentation that narrows focus before broadening, and distributing consistently across owned, shared, and earned media so trust compounds over time.
Finding White Space Through Value Claims Analysis
Your competitors and substitutes are already training your buyer on what to believe.
“We start by extracting the claims the market repeats. Not what the product features are, the claims,” Buckley explains. “Things like faster onboarding, lower risk, better visibility, simpler compliance, and fewer manual steps. Then we ask a hard question: where is the white space?”
Most early-stage teams begin messaging by describing what their product does: features, capabilities, and technical architecture. They assume differentiation comes from being better at what competitors already do. This creates messaging that sounds identical to established players who’ve already captured mindshare for those value claims.
Finding white space requires extracting the claims that the market already repeats. Not product descriptions, but buyer beliefs shaped by competitors. Faster onboarding, lower risk and better visibility are all claims. These shape what buyers expect and how they evaluate options.
Once you map existing claims, the hard question becomes clear: where is the white space? Not a clever tagline, but a defensible, ownable value claim you can prove. If you sound like everyone, you’ll compete like everyone on price.
“Differentiation is not what you say, it is what you can prove,” Buckley emphasizes.
White space might be serving segment competitors ignore, solving problems adjacent to what the market expects, or proving outcomes others can’t demonstrate. The key is finding a position you can own and defend rather than fighting for a share of an existing claim.
Proving ICP Through Experimentation That Narrows First
Early-stage teams love to say their market is huge. But that’s not a strategy, that’s a wish.
“Narrow is fast and broad is slow,” Buckley explains. “We treat early go-to-market like experimentation. We pick an ICP, we pressure test it, we refine it based on what’s working in the real world.”
Most B2B tech companies launch with a broad target market to maximize opportunity. They pursue any company showing interest, assuming scale comes from casting a wide net. This creates messaging generic enough to appeal to everyone, which means it resonates with no one strongly enough to drive decisions.
Proving ICP through experimentation works differently. It involves picking a specific ideal customer profile based on a hypothesis about who has the most acute problem and the highest willingness to pay. Pressure test it through real sales conversations, revealing whether hypothesized pain points actually drive urgency and budget. Refine based on what’s working, which industries close faster, which company sizes have smoother implementations, and which personas champion internally.
“Inside your ICP are multiple personas. A champion, a decision maker, a skeptic. Maybe a technical evaluator and always a finance gatekeeper,” Buckley notes. “Each person needs a slightly different twist of the story to maximize appeal.”
Distributing Consistently So Trust Compounds
Media strategy requires thinking in three buckets: owned media, shared media, and earned media.
“Owned media is your website, your email, your content library,” Buckley explains. “Shared media is LinkedIn, communities and partners. Earned media is podcasts, PR, analyst conversations, and guest articles. The goal is not random tactics. The goal is the same core story showing up in the right places, for the right personas, at a steady cadence.”
Most early-stage companies approach media opportunistically. They publish content when they have time, pursue PR when launching features and post on LinkedIn sporadically. This creates random visibility that doesn’t compound because messaging never repeats consistently enough for the market to internalize it.
Distributing consistently means the same core story shows up across all three media buckets. Owned media establishes a foundational narrative through website positioning and content library. Shared media amplifies narrative through LinkedIn presence, community participation, and partner channels. Earned media validates narrative through third-party credibility from podcasts, press coverage, and analyst mentions.
“Consistency beats intensity every time,” Buckley emphasizes.
Making Your Message Heard
“A great product with unclear messaging is a quiet company,” Buckley concludes. “Find the white space, prove the ICP, and distribute with discipline. That’s how you make yours heard.”
When the market can repeat back what you do, why it matters, and why you’re different, your strategy gets heard.
Connect with Jonathan W. Buckley on LinkedIn for insights on leading corporate messaging and media strategy.
