When you’re selling something that’s never existed before, you can’t Google “competitor messaging examples”—because there aren’t any. You’re not just launching another productivity app or skincare line; you’re basically asking people to rewire their brains and embrace a totally new way of thinking.

This puts disruptor brands in the wonderfully chaotic position of being pioneers. Traditional brands might have the advantage of familiarity, but they’re also fighting for attention in overcrowded markets where everyone sounds the same. 

You, on the other hand, are doing something totally different. It’s like having to explain what underwater basket weaving even is, why anyone should care, and how this approach is going to revolutionize the entire aquatic crafting industry—all without making people’s eyes glaze over.

Here’s where most founders go spectacularly wrong: they’re so pumped about their innovation that they lead with features, technical jargon, and industry buzzwords instead of connecting with what their customers lose sleep over—real problems that need solving.

If you’re tired of watching potential customers nod politely and then ghost you harder than a bad Tinder date, this guide is the plot twist your marketing story needs. We’ll walk through a proven messaging framework for founders that helps disruptor brands explain their brilliance sans yawns, disinterested smiles, or even worse… people saying “that’s crazy” without any follow-up.

It’s time to chuck the rulebook out the window—you’re in charge here

Traditional brands sell familiar solutions to problems everyone understands. Need coffee? 

You know what coffee does. 

You know why you need it (because Monday). 

You’re just picking between brands based on price, taste, or whether the packaging makes you feel like a sophisticated human.

Disruptive brand strategy requires a completely different approach. 

You’re selling new realities to problems people might not even know they have. 

You’re not selling coffee—you’re selling a complete reimagining of how morning energy should work. 

Maybe you’ve created mushroom-based nootropics. Maybe you’ve figured out how to deliver caffeine through patches. Maybe you’ve eliminated the crash entirely.

Here’s where founders consistently face-plant: they assume their target customers are as well-versed in their problems as they are. They lead with the innovation—”Our patent-pending adaptogenic blend uses bioavailable compounds to optimize circadian rhythm regulation”—instead of the outcome—”Finally, all-day energy without feeling like garbage at 3 PM.”

The biggest mistake in brand messaging for disruptor brands? Leading with what you built instead of why it matters in your customer’s messy, coffee-stained life.

Your messaging strategy for startups needs to translate breakthrough innovation into “holy crap, I need this” clarity.

A messaging framework for founders that makes it impossible to click away

Part 1: Your vision (AKA your flag in the ground)

Your vision is your brand’s personal manifesto—what you believe is fundamentally broken in the current market and why your approach is the answer everyone’s been waiting for. This isn’t about stirring up drama for clicks; it’s about clearly stating the problem that made you build something new in the first place.

Start by identifying what’s genuinely messed up about how people currently solve this challenge. What assumptions does your industry cling to that make you want to flip tables? What trade-offs do people accept that are completely unnecessary?

For example, most meal kit services assume you have 45 minutes to play chef every night and that you’re dying to learn seventeen new cooking techniques. Factor does a really good job at combatting this. This meal service anchors its marketing in this core truth: most people are busy and just want to feed their family real food without having a breakdown in the grocery store. They don’t need another cooking class; they need dinner that doesn’t require a culinary degree.

Your vision is your unique point of view and becomes the lens through which your audience starts questioning their current situation and recognizing why they need something different.

Part 2: Connecting pain points to solutions (aka customer truth)

Customer truth is where you connect your industry insights with your audience’s daily chaos. This isn’t just about identifying logical pain points—it’s about understanding the emotional and practical frustrations that make people want to throw their laptop out the window.

Most founders nail the surface-level problems. Building a new project management tool? Obviously teams struggle with missed deadlines and scattered communication. But the emotional truth always runs deeper: project managers feel like glorified babysitters instead of strategic contributors, and they’re exhausted from being the person everyone blames when things go sideways. Monday.com understands this and positions their platform as the anecdote to frustrated disconnect in the workplace.

Let’s see how other disruptor brands have cracked the customer truth code:

Graza (the olive oil brand that doesn’t make you feel guilty for using good oil on a Tuesday) figured out that people wanted restaurant-quality ingredients for everyday cooking. The customer truth wasn’t just “good olive oil costs too much”—it was “I want to cook healthier meals at home, but using the fancy stuff for regular dinners feels like burning money.”

Primally Pure (clean beauty that doesn’t require a chemistry PhD to understand) realized their customers weren’t just worried about toxic ingredients—they were overwhelmed by conflicting information and frustrated that making healthy choices required becoming a label-reading detective. The customer truth: “I shouldn’t need a science degree to buy face wash that won’t slowly poison me.”

Canopy (the humidifier that made you realize you were settling for medieval air quality) cracked the code on something nobody wanted to admit: we all know humidifiers are good for us, but who wants an ugly-ass plastic eyesore on their nightstand that’s guaranteed to grow mold? The surface problem was “dry air is uncomfortable,” but the customer truth ran deeper: “I want better skin, healthier air for my baby, shinier hair—but I refuse to live with another hideous appliance that becomes a maintenance nightmare.” Instead of competing on “moisturizes air better,” they repositioned around your skin, your baby’s health, your hair. Most humidifiers basically said “good luck with that tap water situation and inevitable mold growth”—Canopy said “nah, we’ll filter that for you AND make it dishwasher-safe.” While the rest of us are scrubbing mold out of impossible-to-reach corners with a toothbrush at 11 PM (UGH RELATABLE), Canopy owners are literally throwing their humidifier parts in with the dinner dishes. They solved the age-old problem of buying something for your health and then resenting it three weeks later.

The magic happens when you connect practical and emotional pain points. People buy solutions to practical problems, and they buy from brands that get how those problems feel.

Part 3: Paint the transformation

This is where you position your approach as the obvious alternative to the current dumpster fire. Instead of comparing yourself to direct competitors, you’re presenting an entirely new way of thinking about the category.

Focus on what becomes possible when someone chooses your path instead of the traditional route. Skip the feature list and describe the transformation—the “after” picture that makes people think “that could be my life.”

If traditional fitness apps assume you need hour-long workouts and obsessive macro tracking, your category opportunity might be: “What if getting stronger didn’t require turning into a gym robot? What if you could see real progress with the time and energy you have, not the fantasy schedule you wish you had?”

Painting the transformation for customers should feel both aspirational and grounded in the reality of your customer’s constraints and desires.

Why most brand messaging for disruptor brands sounds like corporate gibberish

Here’s the messaging mistake that kills more disruptor brands than decaf coffee kills productivity: trying to sound like everyone else in your space when you should be running in the opposite direction.

Founders fall into this trap for totally understandable reasons. First, they’re way too close to their product. They know it’s brilliant and world-changing, but when conversion rates are flatter than day-old soda, panic sets in. The instinct is to retreat to what feels “safe” and “professional”—aka boring and forgettable.

Second, there’s this weird belief that sounding more like established players builds credibility. But for disruptor brands, this strategy backfires spectacularly. When you use the same corporate-speak as everyone else, you lose the thing that makes you special—your completely different approach.

The most dangerous version of this? When founders start over-explaining their innovation to prove they’re legit, making their messaging about as accessible as advanced calculus. Or when they make it so complicated to understand how to buy something that potential customers give up and go back to whatever they were using before.

Here’s the thing that entrepreneurs are taking way too long to learn: your differentiation is your superpower, not something to apologize for. If you’re truly disrupting a category, leaning into what makes you different—instead of trying to blend in—is what attracts the right customers and sends the wrong ones packing.

You’re not trying to appeal to everyone. You’re trying to be irresistible to people who are already fed up with the status quo and ready for something that works.

How this messaging framework for founders transforms boring copy into conversion gold

Let’s see how this framework transforms copy:

Before (features and jargon): “Our AI-powered nutrition platform leverages machine learning algorithms to analyze metabolic biomarkers and generate personalized meal recommendations optimized for your unique genetic profile and lifestyle parameters.”

After (framework in action): “Most nutrition advice assumes you’re basically a carbon copy of everyone else. Cookie-cutter meal plans ignore the fact that your metabolism, schedule, and goals are as unique as your Netflix viewing history. We use science that’s smarter than your average diet guru to create nutrition that works with how your body operates and how you live. Finally, eating well doesn’t require following someone else’s rule book—or pretending you’re someone you’re not.”

See the difference? The “after” version leads with point of view (one-size-fits-all nutrition is ridiculous), connects to customer truth (your life is unique and your nutrition should be too), and presents the category opportunity (personalized nutrition that works with your real life, not some fantasy version).

The technology is still there—”science that’s smarter than your average diet guru”—but now it’s positioned as the bridge to the outcome, not the main event.

Your action plan: stop overthinking and start implementing

Ready to apply this messaging strategy for startups to your own brand? Here are three exercises that’ll give you clarity faster than your morning espresso:

1. The manifesto test: Write down what you believe is fundamentally broken about how your industry operates. What assumptions do your competitors make that make you want to stage an intervention?
2. The frustration audit: List both practical and emotional pain points your customers experience with current solutions. Think beyond your product category—what’s their entire experience like when trying to solve this problem?
3. The dream state description: Describe what becomes possible when someone chooses your approach. Focus on the transformation, not the technical specs.

Want to dig deeper into what triggers people to look for your solution? Try these AI prompts:

Prompt 1: “Help me identify the specific trigger events that cause someone to search for [your product/service category]. What situations, frustrations, or life changes typically happen right before someone decides the status quo isn’t working anymore?”

Prompt 2: “I’m building [brief description of your solution]. What are the moments when my target customer [brief description] would think ‘there has to be a better way to do this’ and start hunting for alternatives?”

These prompts will help you nail down the precise moments when your audience is most likely to pay attention to your message and take action.

Your disruptive brand strategy messaging is about to get GOOOOD

Creating messaging that connects with your audience while clearly explaining your unique value isn’t just about wordsmithing—it’s about understanding your market position and customer psychology well enough to bridge the gap between “this is revolutionary” and “I need this right now.”

Need help building a messaging strategy for startups that sticks? Our team specializes in helping disruptor brands find their voice and turn up the volume. We’ve guided dozens of category-creating companies through this process, transforming complex innovations into clear, compelling messages that drive real growth.