The Art of Saying No: How Focus Fuels Startup Success
The Hard Truth: You Can’t Be Everything to Everyone and Win
Why Most Startups Fail Trying to Be “Better”
In 2014, a small team aimed to charge $30/month for email in a market dominated by free alternatives. They didn’t compete with Gmail’s 1.8 billion users or chase enterprise customers. Instead, they focused on high-performing professionals willing to pay for speed.
Today, Superhuman is a cult product with a 90% retention rate and a $1 billion valuation.
Meanwhile, in the same decade, Jawbone—a company that raised nearly $1 billion to dominate wearables—tried to appeal to everyone and failed. In 2017, they filed for bankruptcy.
The difference? Superhuman knew who it wasn’t for, while Jawbone tried to be for everyone.
This truth defines startup success or failure: If you’re not different, you’re dead.
But here’s the twist: Differentiation isn’t about doing more. The best software companies don’t try to be everything to everyone—they say no. They narrow their focus, dominate a niche, and expand only when they’ve earned the right to.
Want to know how it’s done? Let’s get started.
The Problem of Being Everything to Everyone
Imagine you’re starting a project management software company. You look at the competition and say, “We’ll be better than Jira, Asana, and Trello. We’ll combine all their features into one super-product!”
Sounds ambitious. But here’s the reality: You launch with a half-baked product that’s too complicated for small companies and too weak for enterprises. No one knows why to use it instead of existing tools. And your marketing message is a muddled mess.
This isn’t hypothetical. Just ask Google Wave.
In 2009, Google launched Wave as an all-in-one collaboration tool to replace email, chat, and documents. Instead of simplifying work, it confused users. Was it email? Chat? Document editing? Wave tried to be everything and ended up being nothing. Google killed it within a year.
Contrast that with Linear. When it entered the crowded project management space, they didn’t try to replace every tool. They rejected bloated features, serving everyone, and unnecessary complexity. Instead, they focused on one thing: speed for developers.
Linear created a product focused on fast workflows and keyboard shortcuts by avoiding distractions. Today, they have tens of thousands of paying customers and an NPS above 70—not because they do more, but because they excel at doing less.
The Lesson: If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll end up being nothing to anyone.
The Emotional Challenge of Saying No
In theory, saying no is easy, but in practice, it’s hard—especially when turning down customers, opportunities, or features. As a founder, you’ll experience significant pressure to agree:
Customers will beg for features. You’ll worry that refusing will alienate them.
Investors will push for faster growth, and you’ll feel compelled to pursue larger markets.
Competitors will launch new features, and you’ll feel like you’re falling behind.
Here’s the truth: Saying yes to everything leads to mediocrity. Every “yes” adds complexity, spreads your resources thinner, and dilutes your differentiation.
Evernote started as a simple note-taking app. As it tried to please everyone by adding task management, chat, and endless features, it became bloated and confusing. Users left for simpler tools like Notion and Bear.
Saying no isn’t about rejecting opportunities. It’s about protecting your focus. It’s about concentrating on what makes your product special and resisting distractions.
How to Know What to Say No To
Not all "no" decisions are equal. You need a framework to make the right calls. Here's how to prioritize:
1. Align Every Decision With Your Ideal Customer Profile
Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is your guiding principle. If a feature, audience, or opportunity doesn’t serve your ICP, it’s a distraction.
Ask Yourself: Will this decision increase value for my ideal customer?
Slack initially focused on tech startups and remote teams. It rejected enterprise features like deep compliance integrations until it dominated its niche.
2. Evaluate Impact vs. Effort
Not every feature is worth building. Use an Impact vs. Effort Matrix to prioritize high-impact, low-effort opportunities.
Ask Yourself: Does this significantly improve the core experience for my target audience?
Loom focused on async video recording—a significant, manageable solution for remote teams—resisting the addition of live calls.
3. Resist FOMO
Just because a competitor is doing something doesn’t mean you should. Differentiate by focusing more on your strengths, not chasing theirs.
Ask Yourself: Does this play to our strengths, or are we just keeping up?
Linear refused to copy Jira’s endless customization options. Instead, it optimized for speed and simplicity—qualities Jira couldn’t match.
4. Test Before You Commit
When in doubt, test. Launch lightweight experiments to gauge demand before fully committing resources.
Ask Yourself: Can we quickly and affordably validate this idea?
Dropbox’s MVP—a simple explainer video—tested demand before building a full product.
Examples of Saying Yes to Too Much (and Failing)
High-profile startup failures stemmed from saying yes to too much:
Quibi tried to cater to everyone in video streaming—from casual YouTube viewers to Netflix bingeers. It spent $1.75 billion, but without a clear audience or unique value, it collapsed in six months.
Jawbone’s wearables tried to compete with fitness trackers and smartwatches. However, it couldn’t compete with Fitbit or the Apple Watch by failing to focus on one core use case.
Evernote’s shift from focused note-taking to a “workspace for everything” alienated its core users. It lost market share to simpler, more focused tools as it became bloated and confusing.
How To Differentiate (And Win)
Differentiation isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a process. Here’s how to make it practical:
1. Start With Your ICP
The foundation of differentiation is your ICP. Define the exact customer who will love your product.
Canva targeted non-designers needing simple tools, not professionals.
2. Find Your Beachhead Market
Focus on a small, underserved segment where your product’s value is undeniable.
Loom targeted remote teams needing async communication, solving one clear problem instead of competing with Zoom or Slack.
3. Solve One Pain Point
Don’t try to solve every problem. Instead, be the best at solving one.
Linear focused on speed and simplicity for developers, ignoring broader project management use cases.
The Power of Saying No
Every "no" feels like a missed opportunity. Every declined feature request could unlock massive growth. Every ignored market could be worth millions.
That's why saying no is powerful.
The best startups—Superhuman, Loom, Linear—didn't become billion-dollar companies by saying yes. They succeeded not despite their limitations, but because of them.
Saying no isn't just a decision—it's a declaration. Every no says: "We know who we are. We know what we stand for. And we're willing to bet everything on being exceptional at one thing instead of average at everything."
As a founder, your most powerful tool isn't your technology, team, or funding. It's your ability to decline the good and accept the exceptional. It's how you create a space where your product becomes irreplaceable, where your customers become advocates, and where your competition can't follow.
The companies that change the world aren’t the ones trying to do it all. They’re the ones disciplined enough to decline everything except what truly matters.
Next time you’re tempted to say yes, ask yourself: Will this make us exceptional or just average?
Your next "no" might feel like a step backward. But it might just be the step that changes everything.
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This is your most impactful piece (yet)
Thanks Tamara for sharing a real world example of this concept in action. Not saying it is easy but definitely worth taking a pause and thinking it through. Appreciate the honesty...