Insight certainty 4/5 debate potential 3/5

Cohen: Hyper-narrow ICP positioning attracts a 100x larger adjacent market

Jason Cohen · Episode 817 | Bootstrapping in the Age of AI with Jason Cohen · Jan 27, 2026 · at 24:40

WP Engine founder Jason Cohen discusses the benefits of niching down with host Rob Walling on Startups for the Rest of Us.

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“If I'm very specific about what I am, then my ideal customer will definitely buy, which is already a reason to do it, but like a hundred times larger market than that. We'll see that specificity as a reason to buy your set of trade-offs, even though they're not quote unquote ideal and they buy anyway.”

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