the market doesn’t owe you clarity.
the market is telling you something. will you listen?
the market doesn't give a fuck
about my or your feelings.
it's not a guidance counselor
that’s validating your career choices. not a fair system that rewards good people who work hard. the market is brutally simple: it has problems. it pays people who solve them. everything else is noise.
you keep expecting the market
to meet you where you are. to recognize your potential. to value your years of experience. to care that you're thoughtful and strategic and have great ideas.
but markets don't work backward
from your skills to find problems. they work forward from problems to find solutions. and right now, you're selling skills, not solutions.
the delusion that's
killing your job search
you think you're being strategic.
you're not. you're being tactical.
there's a difference. let me show you.
tactical: "i'll add more keywords to match job postings"
strategic: "i'll understand why they need this role in the first place"
tactical: "i'll network to get referrals"
strategic: "i'll understand industry pain before i reach out"
tactical: "i'll customize my resume for each application"
strategic: "i'll position myself as the obvious solution to their specific problem"
see the pattern?
tactical thinking assumes the market's requirements are fixed. strategic thinking recognizes markets broadcast pain constantly. you just have to listen.
markets scream their needs everywhere
in founder tweets about scaling challenges.
in product reviews about missing features.
in job postings that stay open for months.
in employee complaints on glassdoor.
today we decode
what the market actually wants.
not what job postings say.
tomorrow we'll deepdive
into your experience and reposition
it to match. but first, you need
to understand the game.
only three signals matter
growthx members will recognize this from capstone. but here's the hiring version. a much lighter version of the original.
1. people signals
who works in that function/title
who works in your dream role
who works in your dream company
2. product signals
roadmap: what they're building next
business goals: what metrics matter
revenue goals: how they make money
tech goals: what breaks at scale
3. market signals
tailwinds: what's pushing them forward
headwinds: what's holding them back
let's go deeper,
pay attention.
1/ people signals:
the human intelligence
talk to people that work in the function/title you want. talk to who works in your dream title regardless of company type. and who works in your dream company. you want to speak to at least 10 people in these 3 segments. people leave breadcrumbs everywhere. you just have to follow them.
please don’t ask
“what’s it like at your company.”
that’s too narrow.
most people can’t or won’t answer well.
instead, ask from an industry lens:
“i’m trying to crack a role in this space. what are you seeing across the industry that most people miss?”
“what are the hardest things growth/product/tech teams are trying to solve right now?”
“if you had to hire someone tomorrow, what’s the one skill they have to show?”
no one wants to give you a job.
but almost everyone wants to feel like an expert. let them teach you. skip the career advice questions and go operational. ask them:
“Where’s the real friction in this kind of role?”
“What does ‘good’ look like for someone in this role?”
“What’s changed in this industry that most people haven’t caught up to yet?”
you’re mining for demand signals.
the stuff no JD ever says. once you
collect 5–6 of these across companies,
the patterns emerge. and patterns
are where positioning power lives.
make your reachout clear,
and please don’t say pick your brain.
say you’re trying to understand the
industry better. you’d love to swiggy
their fav coffee or dessert in return.
if you have warm connects,
use them, and even then, swiggy
them a coffee/dessert.
they’ll remember. be kind.
be grateful.
2/ product signals
what they're actually building
start with roadmap mining
do it via job postings. it's underrated. early stage companies often describe real problems they’re solving, especially in product, data, tech, design and marketing roles.
as companies grow, JDs get generic.
that’s when you shift to product teardown mode. sign up for 5 to 10 products across your target space, across lifecycle. look for what features are being pushed in onboarding? what’s gated vs ungated? where are they nudging paid conversion? what's their support experience like?
also, when you're speaking to the same folks we mentioned earlier, don’t ask what their company is building. why would they tell a stranger?
instead, ask:
what’s actually shifting in the industry? what product bets in the industry you’ve seen work? what’s no one talking about, but everyone’s quietly working on in the industry right now?
negative signals are equally powerful.
go to review sites (G2, Capterra, Reddit). for B2C, play store and app Store reviews often show product gaps, broken promises, and unmet needs.
your end goal is
to form a directional map on roadmap, business goals, revenue model & tech priorities. do it either via people or just plain old google. ( jk, use gpt search )
most people stay reactive.
this gives you the edge of
seeing why they’re hiring,
not just who they’re hiring.
3/ market signals:
the forces at play
fundamentally understand 3 things here
1/ industry nuance
every industry has its nuance.
saas cares about expansion
and enterprise customers.
ecommerce obsesses over
conversion and repeats.
fintech lives or dies
by compliance and trust.
ask why those metrics matter
immerse in the ecosystem. read
investor memos, follow industry
operators, study exits and shutdowns.
nuance lives in the second layer.
2/ market movement
understand what are the tailwinds
i.e. things that are giving the market
a big boost vs headwinds that
are creating challenges.
every role is a bet
on these movements.
your job is to spot where
the wind is blowing.
3/ company naunce
a series b company has very
different problems than a public one.
scaling chaos is normal. middle
management is still forming.
priorities shift quarter to quarter.
if they’re prepping for IPO,
expect a shift toward compliance,
predictability, cost control, but also
a huge push for brand visibility.
now, let’s document.
see, don’t stress.
if you do just 30% of what i’ve written above you’re already in the top 1% of applicants. so today, block 2 hours and research 5 five companies, speak with 10 people, and you will see patterns emerge. i want you to just label them. create tags of sort.
btw, if i had to prioritise
doing just ONE thing from the above 3, i would speak to people. speaking to people is more impactful the other 2 combined.
so speak to people.
that’s non negotiable.
tomorrow, we look at your experience.
we'll map projects you've built to the problems you discovered today. come prepared. come specific. come as someone who already solved their problem.
see folks, the market is constantly
telling you what it wants. in plain sight.
using clear language. with specific pain points.
but most candidates expect
the market to work backward from
their resume. to somehow discover
their potential. to recognize their
value despite generic positioning.
the market does NOT care.
doesn't care what
you think you deserve.
doesn't care about
your years of experience.
doesn't care that
you're smart & hardworking.
it cares about one thing:
can you solve the specific problem
keeping someone awake at night?
the market is telling you something.
the only question is, will you listen?
Brutal and Useful! Thanks for sharing