Three Steps to Improve Your Value Proposition
Thank you for your submission. An honest assessment is the first step to a stronger message.
Your Results
Count the number of boxes you just checked. This is your score.
Your Score | Your Diagnosis & Next Step |
4-5 (This is Urgent) | • Pain: You feel like you're "throwing spaghetti at the wall." Your message is confusing, and you're struggling to attract any ideal customers. • Solution: You need to stop all other marketing and go back to basics. Your immediate focus must be on building a clear and compelling strategic foundation from the ground up. |
2-3 (Lost Potential) | • Pain: You're getting some traction, but it's inconsistent. Something feels "off," and you're leaving customers and revenue on the table. • Solution: Your focus should be on diagnosing and fixing the "leaks" in your core message. This is the most common and highest-leverage stage. |
0-1 (Let’s Optimize & Scale) | • Pain: You have a solid foundation, but you feel like your growth has plateaued. • Solution: Your focus should be on optimization and scaling. You're ready for more advanced strategies. |
Three Steps to a Strong Value Proposition
We turn uncertainty into advantage finding growth opportunities, who buys, and what sells.
🧭 Step 1
You’re unclear about your direction.
You’ve made several on-the-fly pivots you later regretted, wasting months that shortened your runway.
↓
Messaging Audit
Find & fix the blind spots killing your sales and marketing here →
🎯 Step 2
Your audience doesn’t “get” what you offer.
You’re unsure who to target or what motivates them, spinning your wheels and losing customers.
↓
Target Market Strategy
Examine your bright spots to clarify which audience will buy now here →
📈 Step 3
You’re unsure what to invest in.
You've poured your resources into big bets, only to build the wrong things and disappoint customers.
↓
Product Roadmap Training
Build what sells and keeps customers here →
Need something else? Let’s Talk →
Trusted by
Dan Wu, JD/PhD
Lead Innovation Advisor
SVP of Product & Chief Strategy Officer. As a go-to-market-focused product leader, I’ve led and launched products and teams at tech startups in highly-regulated domains, ranging from 6 to 8 figures in revenue.
Led core products and product marketing key to pre-seed to E raises across highly-regulated industries such as data/AI governance, real estate, & fintech; rebuilt buyer / user journeys to triple conversion rates; Won Toyota’s national startup competition
Harvard JD/PhD focused on responsible innovation for basic needs & cross-sector social capital formation, with a strong background in mixed-methods research.
Selected as a National Science Foundation fellow & published on responsible strategy and innovation in outlets like Oxford University Press, Fast Company, & Techcrunch (more here)
First-generation college student prioritizing inclusion and belonging in his practice.
I was raised by a single mother without a high school degree. I’m passionate about mentoring and coaching using methods that “works with” (versus “do to”), sensitive to one’s constraints and experiences.
Published in
Innovation Advisor to Social Impact Leaders
I look forward to my discussions with Dan more than any other. After each interaction, I come away with tangible work products that we can immediately apply.
Dan Wu is incredible. His CEO coaching has been transformative for me. He adeptly, patiently, and carefully facilitates conversations so that we both come away with new insights, to which he immediately follows up with strategies and practical steps. While we started work on product managing, Dan uncovered that my priorities shifted to go-to-market, sales, fundraising, and operations, and was able to step in all these other domains to provide support.
I look forward to my calls with Dan more than any other. After each call, I come away with tangible work products that we can immediately apply. His questions, content, and templates elegantly clarify problems, break them down into smaller pieces, and generate new experiments to test. Our work together has resulted in faster learning and growth across these critical and diverse domains. Maybe most importantly, our work has instilled a new sense of progress, hope, and energy that is so valuable in the ups and downs of being a startup CEO. His capacity to distill challenges, unlock creative solutions, and his keen ability to make individuals feel heard and valued has been a major reason for our productive sessions.
He’s a light, helping me see with more clarity where to spend my energy and how to move us forward. I highly recommend Dan to others seeking coaching for their startup, in GTM, product, sales, or all of the above!
- CEO, Brightlines (women-own/led) & former Partner, Truman National Security Project
There were moments when I could not see light at the end of the tunnel. I survived because of his guidance and support.
Dan Wu has been an exceptional executive coach. In short, there were moments when I could not see light at the end of the tunnel. I survived because of his guidance and support. He has provided invaluable strategic guidance with a diverse array of problems — including target market selection, GTM opportunity prioritization, operational efficiency, grant proposals, sales, pricing, negotiation, product strategy, & board management — helped me secure new revenue and validate emerging business models. His responsiveness, project management skills, and proactive approach have also helped me enhance organization, focus, and clarity to our GTM and revenue operations. Dan's coaching has been instrumental in tackling challenges in real time, and his ability to pivot seamlessly based on new information has proven invaluable. He is also a pleasure to work with. In summary, I wholeheartedly recommend him to any organization seeking transformative growth.
- Executive Director, JustFix (funded by Robin Hood, Open Society, & Chan Zuckerberg Initiative)
CEO of LabGov-US; Law Professor at Columbia:
Dan helped me tremendously improve my strategic positioning and website; my network has already complimented me on how much clearer and more compelling my offer is.
He helped me navigate through the complexities of the larger ecosystem in which my work is embedded to simplify what matters most for my local market, authentically reflecting my approach. Dan’s workshops helped me understand what I needed or didn’t need and speak to a broader audience, outside of a very slim academic one. The clarity and cohesiveness he brought to my messaging, especially around the 'Co-Cities' framework, have been invaluable. In addition to his live workshop sessions, he shared very useful guides and templates in advance that I could easily understand and apply, helping me sharpen core concepts like what success means for my website, the differentiated value proposition, and the call to action. Dan truly cares and I’m grateful for this opportunity to work with him and I’m dedicated to finding more ways to work with him on more projects. If you're looking for someone who can help you cut through the noise and truly amplify your message, Dan Wu is the strategic expert you need. Highly recommended.
👉 More Testimonials Here →
Dan showed me the power of an excellent coach, introducing me to fresh models, novel approaches, and assuming the roles of both thought partner and accountability advocate.
I've always approached coaching with a certain skepticism, believing that the value lies in someone who has outperformed me by tenfold. My work with Dan as a CEO coach has dramatically altered this perspective. Dan showed me the power of an excellent coach, introducing me to fresh models, novel approaches, and assuming the roles of both thought partner and accountability advocate. His guidance has been pivotal in driving me towards strategic objectives that often slip down the priority list, but with his insights, are now achieved more swiftly and thoughtfully.
For instance, Dan’s coaching has been invaluable in accelerating our fundraising and recruiting process. His proactive approach in identifying our most pressing priorities, prioritizing our top jobs-to-be-done, and linking them to our success criteria to our hiring process has already made a significant impact. With his assistance, we not only pinpointed an exceptional candidate but also nimbly steered away from potential pitfalls.
Furthermore, what sets Dan apart as an CEO coach compared to others I’ve worked with is his ability to translate blockers and priorities into action in real time. The artifacts we craft together in our sessions build upon prior work, setting us up for immediate impact and continuous progress and learning. I highly recommend him and am grateful for his expertise. I’m excited to refer him to my portfolio companies.
- Managing Partner & Co-founder at Third Sphere VC (formerly Urban Us)
It’s hard to put into words how transformative my time with Dan has been…Because of Dan’s guidance, I’m now far better equipped to lead the our data and technology department.
It’s hard to put into words how transformative my time with Dan has been. He was the catalyst for a real turning point in my career, helping me see myself as a strong manager and leader before I even believed it myself. Dan has an uncanny ability to match my direct, to-the-point communication style, which created a deep level of trust right from the start. I always felt I could be completely honest with him—and his thoughtful, in-kind responses never failed to steer me in the right direction.
Because of Dan’s guidance, I’m now far better equipped to lead the Working Families Party’s data and technology department, particularly in the realm of fundraising—a space that was uncharted territory for us. With his help, we’re opening up new revenue streams to support our data and tech ambitions, which is something that simply wouldn’t have happened without his strategic insights. Gosh, I think I've only just scratched the surface of what Dan knows; we could have another year-long engagement to go deeper.
There were times I walked into our sessions feeling like I’d hit a wall—that I couldn’t possibly keep going. Dan was always ready with tangible, practical advice that helped me push through an incredibly tough year. His knack for translating complex ideas into direct, actionable steps gave me the momentum I needed in everything from leadership challenges to startup-style fundraising efforts.
If Dan and I hadn’t worked together, I wouldn’t have gained the perspective, clarity, and level-headedness needed to navigate critical conversations both internally and externally. I can say with total confidence that our organization, WFP, is in a much better spot because of Dan.
I wholeheartedly recommend Dan to anyone seeking an advisor with deep business expertise and an empathetic yet rigorous, action-oriented approach.
- Chief Technology Officer, Working Families Party (funded by Tides, Rockefeller Family Fund, and Democracy Alliance)
His intelligence, insight and analytical skills are among the best I've worked with. Dan is a talented product leader.
Dan also has an incredible attention to detail and ability to manage a complex set of tasks efficiently. He’s also of high integrity, hungry to learn, a fun team member to work with!
- VP Platform, Zus Health (Series A) and former GM, Immuta (Series E)
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