Essay

Focus and Market Segmentation

David Skok · forEntrepreneurs Free Intermediate

Skok names the multi-niche trap head on and backs it with a real portfolio-company story: a startup that chased a 2,500-branch global bank it could not actually serve, burned resources, and only recovered once it refocused on a segment it could fully deliver for. It is a short, concrete read on why spreading across segments quietly kills you.

• The 80 percent problem: a product that half-fits many segments gets people interested but not over the line to buy, so wide targeting looks like traction and converts like nothing.
• Focus is hard precisely because it means saying no to attractive-looking deals, which is why founders keep making this mistake even when they know better.
• Pick a segment with acute pain, budget, and urgency where you can deliver complete value, then expand later, rather than trying to be adequate everywhere at once.