Invisible Rules, Part 3: Product–Market Fit vs Power–Market Fit
Series note:
This is part 3 from the book – Invisible Rules: How to Outsmart the Entrepreneurial Game by my friend Ujwal Arkalgud. Here is a message from him:
Details on how to get the book for free on Amazon are at the end of this post.
The Real Game Isn’t Product–Market Fit. It’s Power–Market Fit.
When Ujwal Arkalgud started MotivBase, the product did exactly what every founder dreams of.
In meetings, research leaders at big brands would light up. His platform could surface deep cultural beliefs at scale and explain why customers behaved the way they did, often before the data caught up.
Everyone nodded. Everyone loved it.
And then… nothing happened.
Deal after deal stalled in the same place.
The people who were excited about MotivBase weren’t the ones who could actually say yes. Inside these companies, power didn’t flow to the best ideas. It flowed to the people who could produce a very specific kind of “evidence”: clean charts, simple stats, and a few quotes that reassured executives their existing story was right.
MotivBase had product–market fit with the curious people in the middle.
It didn’t have power–market fit with the people at the top.
The breakthrough came when Ujwal stopped treating this as a messaging problem and started treating it like an anthropologist.
Instead of asking, “How do I pitch better?”, he asked:
What does credibility look like in this culture?
Who is actually allowed to challenge the story in the boardroom?
What invisible rules are my buyers trying not to break?
That lens changed everything.
MotivBase stopped trying to sell “anthropology” as a disruptive new religion and started building what Ujwal calls “safe spaces” inside the existing power structure.
The team redesigned their deliverables so they looked familiar on the surface – yes, the clean charts stayed – but each slide had a deeper anthropological layer baked in.
Executives got something they could digest in 10 minutes.
Internal champions got a superpower: the ability to walk into senior meetings and say, “Here’s something about your customer you’ve never considered,” without getting shut down.
MotivBase didn’t just fit the market. It fit the way power moved inside the market.
Once they aligned with the real power dynamics, the sales motion unstuck. Deals got bigger. The right people started fighting to bring MotivBase in. And eventually, the company sold in a high eight-figure exit.
Ujwal’s takeaway, which sits at the core of Invisible Rules, is brutal and useful:
You’re not just solving for product–market fit.
You’re solving for power–market fit.
Until you understand who is allowed to say yes, what “credible” must look like in their world, and which invisible rules they’re terrified of breaking, you’re asking your buyers to lose status to buy from you.
That’s the deeper game most founders never realize they’re playing.
Lessons
Product–market fit is not enough. You can have users who love you and still lose if the people with budget and status don’t see you as “safe.”
Every buyer lives inside a status game. Your champion is trying not to look stupid in front of their peers and boss; if buying from you feels risky to their identity, they will stall.
Credibility is cultural, not abstract. In some companies, credibility is clean charts; in others it’s “what HQ does”; in others it’s “what the biggest competitor is doing.” You have to speak that language.
Design for the room you won’t be in. Your real pitch happens when your champion explains you to their leadership. Your materials must make them powerful in that room.
On Monday, do this
Map one key account and write down: “Who is genuinely excited about us?” vs “Who can actually say yes?” If those aren’t the same person, you’ve found a power gap.
Ask your current champion: “When you bring new ideas upstairs, what does ‘credible’ look like in that room?” Then adjust one core deliverable (deck, report, demo) to match that format.
Rewrite your pitch so the explicit promise to your internal champion is: “I will make you look smart and safe when you present this.” Stress less about being “innovative,” more about making them powerful.
Before your next enterprise meeting, add one slide or summary page built specifically for the senior decision maker who won’t be on the call: 2–3 clear claims, the evidence they care about, and the risk you remove.
One last thing about the book
Tomorrow Ujwal is making Invisible Rules free on Amazon. I’m trying to help him get 50 honest reviews. If you decide to grab it and it helps you, a short Amazon review during the week would go a long way.
Also send me an email to let me know so that I can personally thank you too.
Here is the link again → Invisible Rules
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I’m Harsh. I build, sell, and invest in businesses. I’m helping grow Ideals Virtual Data Rooms, and I invest through Marcellus Investment Managers. I read books and steal from my own experience, then send one story each Sunday for founders and senior operators who want useful ideas to win in business and life. If that’s you, you can join the newsletter here. Connect with me on LinkedIn here.