---
schema: 1
type: term
title: '**counter-positioning**'
description: >-
  **Counter-positioning** is a strategy in which a startup gains its edge
  through its _business model_ rather than its product features — in this
  channel's material, by offering AI as a substitute for expensive labor instead
  of selling another software license, so that established incumbents can't
  follow without undermining their own model.
canonical: >-
  https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/counter-positioning-eab39c54bc2a
markdown: >-
  https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/counter-positioning-eab39c54bc2a.md
llms: null
parent: 'https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/llms.txt'
channel: everyinc
updated: '2026-10-23T22:12:35.346Z'
language: null
children: []
---


# \*\*counter-positioning\*\*

Canonical: https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/explore/term/counter-positioning-eab39c54bc2a

Parent: [Channel index](https://liquidgold.cc/channel/everyinc/llms.txt)

## Definition

**Counter-positioning** is a strategy in which a startup gains its edge through its _business model_ rather than its product features — in this channel's material, by offering AI as a substitute for expensive labor instead of selling another software license, so that established incumbents can't follow without undermining their own model.

In the channel's material, **counter-positioning** appears in Mike Maples Jr.'s argument about AI strategy: the biggest edge a startup can hold isn't a better product feature, but a *business model* move — offering AI as a **substitute for expensive labor** rather than selling yet another software license. Maples flips the usual equation of *insight* with product features or technical novelty: the real insight can live in _the how_, not only _the what_.The point of counter-positioning is that an incumbent has a hard time following the challenger without damaging its own model. A company built on selling software seats can't easily pivot to replacing the labor that software was only assisting — so the challenger's advantage comes from the incumbent's unwillingness to copy it, not from any single feature.- **Counter-positioning** = a strategy where a new entrant's business model is one incumbents can't match without undermining themselves.- In the AI context, it means positioning AI to *replace costly labor*, not to be another product feature or license.- Maples locates startup **insight** in the business model (_the how_), not just in the product (_the what_).