Startup positioning is no longer about product-market fit. It’s about avoiding extinction.
Most AI startups are building in what strategists call the “Kill Zone” — high incumbent attention, low defensibility. It’s the worst possible position.
The framework is simple: plot your startup on two axes. How much are Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI paying attention to your space? And how defensible is your position?
If you’re in the Kill Zone, you have 30 days to escape. Niche down into a segment incumbents will ignore for 18+ months, or build moats faster than their coordination speed.
The Sweet Spot — high defensibility, low attention — is where fortunes are made. That’s where moats compound faster than incumbents can react.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
