The Message-Market Fit Kit
For founders whose product works and whose explanation of it does not.
Definition
Message-market fit is the state where buyers can accurately repeat what you do to someone else, achieved by describing the product in the language buyers already use about their problem rather than in the language the product was built in.
People nod when you explain what you do. Then they describe it to someone else and get it wrong.
That gap is a messaging failure, not a marketing budget problem. This is the diagnostic and the rebuild: finding the words your buyers already use, and rewriting the pitch until it survives being repeated.
What you get
- The research method for collecting the exact words your buyers already use
- The comprehension diagnostic that finds where your pitch loses people
- The rebuild sequence, using their vocabulary instead of yours
- The repetition test, because a message that cannot be repeated does not travel
The problem
Why this keeps happening
Founders describe their product in the language of how it was built. Buyers understand products in the language of the problem they woke up with. Those two vocabularies rarely overlap, and the gap is invisible from the inside.
The usual response is to spend more on distribution, which amplifies a message that was not working. More people hear it, the same proportion misunderstand it, and the conclusion is that the market is not ready.
The fix is unglamorous. You go and collect the exact words real buyers use, and then you use those instead of yours.
What is The Message-Market Fit Kit?
The Message-Market Fit Kit is message-market fit is the state where buyers can accurately repeat what you do to someone else, achieved by describing the product in the language buyers already use about their problem rather than in the language the product was built in.
A research method for collecting the language buyers actually use, a diagnostic for finding where your pitch loses them, and a rebuild sequence that produces a message which survives being repeated by someone else.
Illustrative diagram. Shape of the argument, not measured data.
How it runs
How does The Message-Market Fit Kit work, step by step?
The Message-Market Fit Kit runs in 5 steps: collect, diagnose, rebuild, test, deploy. Each step is described below with what it produces and why its position in the sequence matters.
- 01
Collect
Gather the buyer's own words from calls, reviews and support threads, unedited.
- 02
Diagnose
Find the exact point where comprehension breaks. It is usually earlier than you think.
- 03
Rebuild
Reconstruct the message using their vocabulary rather than yours.
- 04
Test
Have someone repeat it back. If they cannot, it is not finished.
- 05
Deploy
Push the corrected message consistently across every surface, which is where most rebuilds die.
What is inside
What do you get with The Message-Market Fit Kit?
The Message-Market Fit Kit is delivered as a working skill file plus a written companion covering the method. It contains 4 parts: language collection, comprehension diagnostic, rebuild sequence, consistency rollout.
- Language collection25%
- Comprehension diagnostic25%
- Rebuild sequence30%
- Consistency rollout20%
Failure modes
What do people get wrong?
The 4 most common failures are: rewriting without research; using the language of your category; testing on people who know you; fixing the website only. Each one is explained below with why it happens and what to do instead.
- 01
Rewriting without research
You cannot hear your own jargon, so every rewrite preserves it.
- 02
Using the language of your category
Category language is what everyone else already sounds like.
- 03
Testing on people who know you
They fill in your context automatically and tell you it is clear.
- 04
Fixing the website only
A corrected message that appears in one place does not change how you are described.
People nod when you explain what you do. Then they describe it to someone else and get it wrong.
Bhavik Sarkhedi · somewhere over Australia
The alternatives
How does The Message-Market Fit Kit compare to the alternatives?
There are three ways to solve this: do it yourself, hire it out, or buy the method. The Message-Market Fit Kit is the third. It costs $25 once, the method stays yours, and you can re-run it without paying again.
| Consideration | Doing it yourself | Hiring it out | This system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source of words | Your own head | A strategist's head | Your buyers' mouths |
| Cost shape | Endless rewrites | Serious project fee | One payment |
| Finds the break point | No | Usually | Yes, diagnostically |
| Rolled out everywhere | Rarely | Recommended | Included |
| Testable | Subjective | Subjective | Repetition test |
Key terms
The vocabulary, defined
- Build language
- Describing a product in terms of how it works.
- Problem language
- The words a buyer uses about the situation they woke up with.
- Comprehension break
- The exact point in your pitch where the listener stops following.
- Repetition test
- Whether a listener can accurately describe it onward.
Who is behind it
Built from the actual work
Named to the Forbes 2025 list of top personal branding experts. Published twice in The New York Times. Writing for HuffPost since 2016.
Before you buy
Questions
Is this the same as brand positioning?
Positioning decides where you sit in a market. Message-market fit decides whether people understand you when you say it out loud. You can be positioned correctly and still be incomprehensible.
Is this just a pack of prompts?
No. A prompt is one instruction. This is a working system: the method, the order, the judgement calls, and the standard for what finished work looks like. You are buying the workflow I run inside a paid engagement.
I am an executive, not an operator. Is this too hands-on?
Each one is built so you can either run it yourself or hand it to whoever does this work for you. The value is that the method is decided, so nobody is improvising on your reputation.
Could I not just ask an AI to do this?
You can ask. You will get a generic answer, because the model does not know what good looks like at a senior level and has no opinion about sequence. That judgement is the product.
Do I need to be technical?
No. Installing it is dragging one file into a folder.
What format do I actually receive?
A working skill file you install once, plus a written companion explaining the method so you can adapt it rather than follow it blindly. It runs inside Claude.
What happens after I click buy?
It opens an email to me, already filled in. I reply with a payment link and send the files the same day. Deliberately human, because I want to know who is using these.
Is there a refund?
Yes. If you use it properly and it does not do what this page said, tell me and I refund you. No argument.
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