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Most founders focus on building better products when they should focus on reaching more customers. The best product rarely wins—the product that reaches customers most effectively wins.

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Why Distribution Usually Matters More

Perfect products without customers fail. You can build something technically superior, but if people don’t know it exists or can’t easily buy it, it doesn’t matter. Good products with great distribution beat great products with poor distribution. A decent solution that’s easy to find, buy, and implement often wins against a superior solution that’s hard to access. Distribution advantages compound. Once you establish effective channels, they become easier to scale and harder for competitors to replicate. Most founders underestimate distribution difficulty. Building a product is hard, but predictable. Finding customers is harder and less predictable.

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Start with One Channel (Within Your Primary Market)

The biggest distribution mistake is trying multiple channels simultaneously. This spreads attention too thin and makes it impossible to understand what’s working. Pick one channel and make it work in your primary market first. If you choose partnership sales, spend months understanding how partnerships work in your main market. What motivates partners? How do they prefer to be supported? What tools do they need? Test channels systematically within markets. Try one channel for 2-3 months with focused effort in one market. If it shows promise, double down. If it doesn’t work, move to the next channel in the same market. Measure actual results, not activity. Track customers acquired and revenue generated, not meetings attended or partnerships signed. Master one channel completely before expanding geographically. Once you have predictable customer acquisition through one channel in one market, you can test that same channel in adjacent markets, or experiment with additional channels from a position of strength. Note: This approach complements the global expansion strategy in “Breaking Out”—master distribution in your home market before expanding internationally, but always evaluate whether your successful channel can work in other markets.
Common Distribution Channels by Business Type
  • B2B Software: Direct sales, partnerships, content marketing, industry events
  • Consumer Apps: App store optimization, social media, influencers, referrals
  • E-commerce: Search ads, marketplaces, affiliate marketing, social commerce
  • Professional Services: Referrals, content marketing, speaking, networking

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Understanding Your Market’s Distribution Patterns

How do customers in your market actually find and buy similar products? Don’t assume—research how existing solutions reach customers in your specific market. What influences purchase decisions? Personal recommendations, online reviews, price comparisons, brand recognition, or regulatory compliance? Who are the intermediaries? Distributors, resellers, consultants, or influencers who connect products with customers. What are the typical sales cycles and decision-making processes? Some markets favor quick online purchases, others require lengthy relationship-building.

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Testing Distribution Channels

Direct sales: Can you personally sell your product to customers? This tests whether the product value proposition is clear and compelling. Partnerships: Can other businesses successfully sell your product to their customers? This tests whether your product fits into existing sales processes. Content marketing: Can you attract customers by creating valuable content about problems you solve? This tests whether you understand customer problems well enough to provide helpful information. Paid advertising: Can you profitably acquire customers through paid channels? This tests whether your unit economics support scalable growth.

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Distribution in Practice

Week 1-2: Research how similar products reach customers in your market. Interview customers about how they discovered and evaluated solutions. Week 3-4: Choose one distribution channel based on your research. Create a simple plan for testing it. Weeks 5-16: Execute your plan consistently. Track customers acquired and cost per acquisition. Week 17: Evaluate results. If successful, invest more resources. If unsuccessful, analyze what went wrong and try a different channel.
Relationship-based sales often work well in markets where trust and personal connections matter for business decisions. But don’t assume this applies to every market or every product category—test what actually works for your specific situation.

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Common Distribution Mistakes

Trying to be everywhere at once. Focus beats breadth in early-stage distribution. Master one channel before adding others. Focusing on channels you like instead of channels that work. You might prefer content marketing to direct sales, but customers might respond better to personal outreach. Underestimating the time and effort required. Most distribution channels take 3-6 months of focused effort before you can evaluate their effectiveness. Copying other companies’ distribution strategies without understanding your market. What works for a Silicon Valley SaaS company might not work for a MENA e-commerce business. Optimizing for vanity metrics instead of actual customers. Social media followers, website traffic, and email subscribers don’t matter if they don’t convert to paying customers.

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When Distribution Is Working

Customer acquisition cost is predictable and sustainable. You know how much it costs to acquire customers and that cost is significantly less than customer lifetime value. You can increase customer volume by increasing channel investment. Spending more money or effort on the channel reliably produces more customers. Customers acquired through the channel have good retention and satisfaction. They don’t just buy once—they continue using your product and recommend it to others. The channel provides feedback for product improvement. Customer conversations reveal what features matter most and what problems need solving. Distribution is ultimately about understanding how value flows from your product to customers in your specific market context. Generic distribution advice rarely works—you need to understand the specific dynamics of how customers in each of your target markets discover, evaluate, and purchase solutions like yours. This market-specific approach aligns with the expansion strategy outlined in “Breaking Out”—master distribution in your primary market first, then adapt systematically for each new market you enter.
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