How to build a value proposition as a startup

One of the most common reasons startups fail isn’t a lack of funding or a poor product.
 It’s building something no one wants.

Too many early-stage founders invest months of energy, money, and passion into a product, only to discover there’s no real demand.

At the earliest stages, your job isn’t to scale. It’s not about adding features, growing users, or chasing investors. It’s about figuring out what matters most to your ideal customers—and creating value they care about. That’s why nailing your value proposition early is critical.

This guide will help you design a compelling value proposition before writing a single line of code.

Let’s start with the basics.

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What’s a Value Proposition, really?

A value proposition answers a deceptively simple question:

Why should someone choose your product over every other option? Including doing nothing at all?

It’s not your tagline or product description. It’s the why behind your product. A strong value proposition clearly communicates:

• The problem you solve
• Who you solve it for
• Why is your solution better or different

It describes the real value of what you’re building and the outcome it delivers clearly, specifically, and in your customer’s language.

That’s what makes people care. That’s what drives action.

Great products come from deep customer understanding

Many startups start with an idea they love. They imagine features, sketch out interfaces, and only later ask, “Who’s this really for?”

The best products don’t come from guessing. They come from an obsessive understanding of the customer.

That’s where the Value Proposition Roadmap comes in. It breaks your thinking into two halves:

• Your customer’s world
• Your product’s response

The strongest value propositions are born out of insight, not assumption.

The Roadmap: Mapping both sides of the story

Customer Profile

Before building anything, understand the people you want to serve. Start by mapping three things:

• Jobs: What are they trying to do – Functional (e.g. “find a job”), emotional (“feel confident”), or social (“look successful”).
  
• Pains: What’s frustrating or slowing them down?
  
• Gains: What would success look like? What outcomes would make their life easier, faster, or more enjoyable?

Don’t guess. Have real conversations. Ask open-ended questions. Watch how they talk about their challenges and what they value. This is where real insight lives.

Your Product Profile

Now shift to what you’re building, and make sure it connects directly to real needs.

• Products & Services: What exactly are you offering?
  
• Relief Point: How does it reduce or eliminate customer pain?
  
• Customer’s Gain: How does it help them achieve their goal?

Golden Rule: If your product doesn’t solve a real pain or create a meaningful gain, it’s noise.

Your solution should feel like it was made for them. The best reactions sound like, “This is exactly what I need.”

Too many founders do the opposite: they fall in love with the product, not the problem. They imagine features, then try to find a problem that justifies them.

Flip it. Fall in love with a problem first, then build the best solution for it.

Value Proposition Statement Design

Once you’ve mapped the customer profile and product fit, it’s time to translate your insights into a clear, compelling value proposition statement.

This isn’t a copy just for your homepage or a pitch to investors, yet. It’s the internal, foundational articulation of why your product matters to the people you’re building for.

A good value proposition statement should be:

• Specific: Avoid vague claims. Speak directly to outcomes.
• Customer-focused: Centre their needs, not your features.
• Clear: No jargon. Simple language that resonates.

Here’s a simple, effective template you can use:

For [target customer] who [specific need or pain], [Product name] is a [product category] that [key benefit or outcome].

Match Your Product to Their Needs

Let’s make this real.

Imagine you’re building a product for remote designers who are constantly on the hunt for good job opportunities.

You talk to 15 of them. You realise:

• They spend hours every week sifting through irrelevant listings
• They feel overwhelmed by low-quality job boards
• They crave tailored insights, not noise

From that, you map out:

Jobs: Find remote, well-paying design jobs
Pains: Wasting time, feeling uncertain, lacking visibility
Gains: Curated roles, faster application, better chances of success

Now, imagine your product offers:

• A newsletter with high-quality, vetted job listings
• Application tips tailored to each listing
• An option to track follow-up responses

You’re not just pushing a product. You’re relieving a pain and delivering a gain.
That’s a value proposition that resonates.

Learn Fast. Build Later.

The biggest myth in startup land is that you need to build something before testing it.
 You don’t.

You can (and should) test your value proposition before you ever launch. That’s how you save time, money, and heartache.

Start with:

• A landing page that communicates your offer
  
• A simple call-to-action: “Join waitlist,” “Download preview,” “Book a call”
  
• Real conversations to see how people react

Are they nodding along? Asking questions? Clicking the CTA? Or are they bouncing without a second thought?

Your goal isn’t perfection. It’s clarity. You’re trying to figure out whether what you think is valuable is also what your customer thinks is valuable.

If it’s not? No shame. Tweak. Refine. Iterate.

Remember to Build for the Right Problem

It’s easy to build something that looks good.
It’s harder and far more powerful to build something people can’t live without.

And that starts with your value proposition. When you get it right, everything else becomes easier: marketing, sales, product direction, growth.

But getting it right requires humility, curiosity, and a deep respect for the people you’re building for.

So before you scale, pause. Zoom in. Talk to your customers.
And build a value proposition that makes them feel seen, understood, and genuinely excited to say yes.

Writer: Olajumoke Adigun

Connect: www.linkedin.com/in/olajumokeadigun