v12code
Find Your 5%
A one-page checklist — companion to "The 5% Rule"
Spot the 5% that hurts
Write down the exact moment a customer leaves his current tool. He doesn't leave over the missing 90% — he leaves over the one thing nobody handled.
Confirm it's the job itself, not a 'missing feature'
For a specific slice of customers, that 5% is the reason they show up at all. If it's just a nice improvement, it isn't the one.
Check that the other 95% is "extra" for that slice
Nice if it's there, forgotten if it's not. If your customer will demand the full 95%, you haven't found your slice yet.
Verify real demand, not a gap on a chart
Watch where the market's feeling is going, not where the profit is. What are people feeling right now — urgency? Give them fast outcomes. Solve a problem the market is already moving toward.
Sit on top of the giants — infrastructure is a cost line
Don't ask your customer to leave AWS or Shopify. Build on top. The fight is your slice, not what's underneath it.
Go deep until you own the slice 100%
Go for the neck: become the best on earth at this one thing, down to its smallest details.
Expand like dominoes
Once you dominate the first 5%, take the adjacent one. Breadth is the result of compounding depth — not the strategy you open with.
Watch the 5% gaps you leave behind
Every depth leaves a fresh 5% for the next person. The cycle never ends — bundle, unbundle, bundle again. That's an opening, not a threat.