We love the idea that great products win, that if you make something exceptional then success will follow.
However, the reality is that great products fail all the time, often for the same reasons: poor positioning, bad distribution, and a weak link to a real, felt need.
Meanwhile, average or even clunky products can dominate markets because they’re clear, accessible, and solve a problem.
If you’re building something brilliant, this might sound frustrating, but it should also feel empowering. Once you understand what separates success from obscurity, you can start designing your way around the pitfalls.
Plenty of technically superior products have failed to gain traction. The following cases highlight how even strong offerings can falter when other critical elements are missing:
Betamax was technically superior to VHS, with higher resolution, better colour, and better sound. However, it lost the home video wars in the 1980s.
This is mainly because Sony kept Betamax proprietary (and often more expensive), while JVC opened up VHS to manufacturers and retailers.
Betamax was better, but when VHS was available everywhere, that’s what consumers chose.
Then there’s the Amazon Fire Phone. It had decent hardware, tight integration with Amazon services, and the full weight of one of the world’s most powerful companies behind it. But it flopped.
Why? Amazon tied it exclusively to AT&T, limiting its market. The phone also focused on features Amazon wanted (like 3D dynamic perspective) rather than what users actually needed. And it lacked a compelling reason to switch from iOS or Android.
Other notable casualties include Google Glass, MiniDisc, and Quibi. Each launched with hype and impressive tech. Each failed because they didn’t give people a clear, urgent reason to adopt them.
Product quality is just one part of the equation. Distribution, timing, clarity, and emotional resonance often matter more. As Marc Andreessen put it, "The only thing that matters is getting to product-market fit".
Superior products often fail because the value isn’t clear, urgent or easy to access.
The startup graveyard is full of technically excellent products that assumed ‘better’ was enough.
People don’t choose products based on objective superiority, they choose what makes sense to them in the moment. That’s often the product that’s easiest to understand, find and use, not the one with the longest feature list.
Blair Enns put it well: “In a world of infinite choices, people don’t choose the best option, they choose the most obvious one.”
That’s especially true when your audience is busy, under pressure, or dealing with multiple competing solutions. They’re not doing side-by-side comparisons of technical specs. They’re scanning for trust signals, relevance and ease.
This is where many good products fall short. Their creators believe users will dig into the details to understand the product, but the truth is that most users make snap decisions based on gut feel, familiarity or a recommendation.
If your value isn’t clear immediately, they move on.
Great marketing can amplify a mediocre product, but even a brilliant product can't save muddled positioning.
When you look at failed but technically sound products, three themes keep emerging: unclear positioning, poor distribution, and a weak connection to real customer pain.
Without these, even exceptional design or engineering can't carry a product across the finish line.
A product without a clear reason to exist is invisible, no matter how good it is. Betamax wasn’t just a video format, it was a product without a story and so users didn’t know why it mattered.
Amazon’s Fire Phone made the same mistake. It didn’t differentiate itself in a way that spoke to everyday smartphone users.
If people can’t find, try or buy your product easily, it won’t grow. Accessibility matters as much as capability. The Fire Phone’s exclusive AT&T deal is a perfect example, where a product built for reach ended up with a limited audience.
Many great products are engineered around cleverness rather than necessity. They’re answers in search of a question. Think Google Wave or MiniDisc, both brilliant on a technical level, but too complex, or solving problems that weren’t urgent for users.
“If you’re not solving a painful, obvious problem, you don’t have a product, you have a feature.” - Eric Ries, The Lean Startup
Winning products are rarely the most sophisticated. But they’re almost always the clearest, the easiest to access, and the most attuned to the user’s real, lived experience.
It wasn’t the first chat tool but it nailed its positioning with a simple promise: ‘Be less busy.’ That emotional benefit resonated. It made Slack feel like relief in a chaotic workday, not just another messaging app.
Zoom succeeded where others had failed because it removed friction. It wasn’t that much better than WebEx in terms of features, but it was dramatically simpler to start a call, share a link, and connect without logins or downloads.
In a pandemic-era world, that simplicity made it the obvious choice.
This is a quiet, single-purpose tool that solves a universal pain point: the back-and-forth of finding a time to meet. No fancy features. Just instant clarity and ease. That’s what made it sticky.
According to McKinsey, companies that prioritise customer-centric design grow revenues two to three times faster than those that don’t.
These aren’t always the companies with the most features, they’re the ones that solve a meaningful problem in the simplest possible way.
All of these products show that success comes from tuning into user psychology, not just engineering excellence.
If you’re building something great, don’t assume the product will speak for itself. You need to make it win.
Start with clarity. Strip your messaging down to its core promise. If someone can’t explain what your product does and why it matters in one sentence, you’ve lost them.
Use real language, not marketing buzz. “We help X do Y” will always beat ‘empowering scalable synergies.’
Next, make sure you’re solving a problem that’s not just real, but urgent. Look for the intersection of pain and frequency.
Is this problem something your customer feels every day? Does it cost them time, money, or credibility? If not, your product may be seen as a nice-to-have.
Then focus on distribution. This is where many great ideas die. Your product needs a go-to-market engine that matches its ambition. That could be:
Data from OpenView shows that product-led growth companies outperform their peers in revenue growth and valuation multiples.
Understand where and how your customers make decisions. Most tools aren’t chosen through RFPs, they’re discovered through peers, Reddit threads, newsletters, or casual Google searches. Make sure you’re showing up in those moments.
To win, your product has to be three things:
Great products fail when they’re hard to understand, tough to access, or unclear in their value. Being better isn’t enough: what wins is being obvious, useful, and easy to adopt.
Success isn’t just about what you build, but how you position it. The best products solve urgent problems and slot naturally into users’ lives.
Forget perfect. Aim for relevant, resonant, and reachable.
“The best product doesn’t always win. The product that communicates best and reaches the right people does.” - April Dunford.