04. Make Your Startup Worth Talking About Before You Try to Be Seen
- Ben Steenstra
- Jul 16, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 7
Lesson 4 of 8 in the Startup Course.
Watch the video version of this lesson here:
A lot of founders think they need more visibility.
More posts.
More reach.
More impressions.
More content.
More followers.
Usually, that is not the first problem.
The first problem is often much simpler and much more uncomfortable:
the startup is still not clear enough, focused enough, or good enough at one thing for people to naturally talk about it.
That is what this lesson is about.
Because before you try to be seen, you need to become worth talking about.
The Real Magic Is Focus
Most startups underestimate how much momentum they lose by trying to do too much too early.
More features.
More services.
More directions.
More audiences.
More ideas.
More possible revenue streams.
It feels like growth.
But in the early phase, it is usually dilution.
A startup is already hard enough. You are learning, building, fixing, pitching, adjusting, and trying to win the trust of your first real customers. If you add too many offers too early, you are not expanding your strength. You are splitting your energy.
And when your energy gets split, your position gets blurred.
Are you a design agency?
A DTP studio?
A creative duo?
A coffee brand?
A platform?
A coaching business?
A retreat marketplace?
A tech company?
If people cannot quickly understand what you really are, they will hesitate.
And hesitation kills traction.
Clarity Builds Trust
This is the core principle behind the lesson:
clarity creates trust, and trust creates traction.
When people can describe your offer in one sentence, your startup becomes easier to remember, easier to recommend, and easier to buy from.
When people need examples, explanations, side notes, and category corrections before they understand you, your startup is already working too hard.
That is why focus matters so much in the beginning.
Focus does not make you smaller.
It makes you legible.
And legibility matters more than ambition in the early phase.
Because a confused customer does not convert.
A vague proposition does not travel.
An offer that tries to be everything usually becomes forgettable.
Most Great Companies Started Narrow
Founders often admire big companies at their current scale and forget how narrow they were at the beginning.
Airbnb started with spare rooms.
Amazon started with books.
Uber started with one car category.
Instagram started with photo sharing.
Google started with a simple search box.
Tesla started with one car.
They did not become strong by launching broad.
They became strong by proving one clear core first.
That is the founder lesson.
You earn the right to expand by making the first thing unmistakably valuable.
Focus Is Not Only About the Offer
There is another important nuance here.
Focus is not only about what you offer.
It is also about who you offer it to.
That is where many founders make a second mistake.
They may have a product that is technically strong, but they are still vague about the audience. That makes the whole startup feel unfocused anyway.
I saw that clearly in The One, a platform I co-founded. The idea was powerful: video calling, pay per minute, global access, direct support, learning, advice, expertise. But again and again, the same question came back:
Who is this really for?
Coaches?
Therapists?
Marketers?
Experts?
Entrepreneurs?
That question matters.
Because even when the technology is clear, the proposition can still be vague if the audience is not defined enough.
A startup does not become strong just because it can serve everyone.
It becomes strong when the right people instantly feel:
this is for me.
Growth Often Disguises Itself as Diffusion
This is one of the most dangerous moments for founders.
Something good is starting to form.
Momentum is beginning.
The quality is there.
Then new ideas arrive.
What if we also offer this?
What if we broaden the audience?
What if we add a second category?
What if we open it up to a wider market?
What if we become a platform for everything?
It sounds strategic.
But often it is fear disguised as ambition.
Fear of missing out.
Fear of being too niche.
Fear of not moving fast enough.
Fear of leaving opportunities on the table.
So founders add.
And add.
And add.
Until the original strength becomes fuzzy.
That is why restraint is such an important founder skill. Not because less is always better, but because early-stage growth depends on concentration.
The strongest startups do not just know what to say yes to.
They also know what to keep saying no to.
Value Comes Before Visibility
This may be the most important sentence in the whole lesson:
You do not need to be more visible first.
You need to be more valuable first.
If people are not talking about your work in real life, not on social media but in actual conversations, then the problem is often not reach. The problem is usually that the offer, quality, clarity, or positioning still needs work.
That is hard to hear, because marketing feels easier to adjust than the core.
It is easier to post more than to sharpen the offer.
Easier to redesign the brand than to simplify the proposition.
Easier to chase attention than to deepen quality.
But startups that win long term usually become visible because people start recommending them, not because the founder shouted louder than everyone else.
That is why word of mouth matters so much.
Not because it is old-fashioned.
Because it is one of the strongest signals that the foundation is working.
Master the Craft Before You Amplify the Message
There is a deeper layer here too.
Focus is not only about saying one thing.
It is also about doing one thing exceptionally well.
A founder can have a clever concept, good aesthetics, strong storytelling, and still not be excellent enough at the actual delivery.
That creates a dangerous mismatch.
The startup gets attention before it has earned recommendation.
And when that happens, visibility becomes fragile. The message spreads faster than the quality.
That is why the order matters so much.
Master the craft.
Deliver real value.
Make the experience strong.
Let the quality become undeniable.
Then amplify.
That is a healthier growth path than building hype around something that is still unstable at the core.
Five Founder Lessons from This
1. Focus is not limitation. It is acceleration.
When you stop scattering your effort, your startup becomes easier to build, explain, and sell.
2. If people cannot describe your offer clearly, your positioning is still weak.
Clarity is one of the earliest forms of traction.
3. Broad too early usually means blurred too early.
You do not need more categories yet. You need more proof in one category first.
4. Word of mouth is a stronger signal than vanity metrics.
If people recommend you without being asked, something real is happening.
5. Visibility works better when value already exists.
Attention can expose quality, but it cannot replace it.
The Question for Founders
So here is the question behind this lesson:
What do you need to cut so your startup becomes easier to understand, easier to trust, and easier to recommend?
Not what more can you add.
What can you remove?
What can you simplify?
What can you sharpen?
What can you stop doing?
What offer needs to become clearer?
What audience needs to become narrower?
What part of your craft still needs to become stronger before you amplify it?
Because before you build a bigger brand, you need a stronger core.
Before you chase visibility, build something worth repeating in conversation.
Before you try to be seen, become worth talking about.
Startup Course: All Lessons
- 03. What Most Founders Always Get Wrong - And What to Do Instead
Related Reading on BenSteenstra.com
Note: This video was created with the help of AI so these lessons can be shared clearly in languages Ben does not speak natively.
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