Positioning for tech companies. Author of the best-selling books Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch.

April Dunford is the world's foremost authority on product positioning for B2B technology companies. As a consultant, April helps companies make complex products easy to understand and love. After a 25-year career as a VP of Marketing at various fast-growing technology firms, she has consulted with 300 technology companies, including Google, Epic Games, Postman, and others. April is the acclaimed author of the best-selling book, "Obviously Awesome," which delves into the art of positioning, and the newly released, "Sales Pitch," which unveils the secrets to crafting a winning sales narrative in the market.

April Dunford

ANNOUNCEMENT - The new updated and expanded Obviously Awesome is coming!!! 🎉 🎉 

I've been sitting on this one for a while, so I'm SUPER EXCITED to get this out into the world!! 

Almost 7 years ago, I published Obviously Awesome, my attempt at describing the process I use to position B2B tech products and companies. I didn't expect many people to read it. I was wrong. 

Since then, more than 100,000 people have bought the book, and countless companies have used the process. A few hundred did that with me directly, and many, many more of you worked through the process on your own using the book. I've learned a LOT over the past 7 years, and I decided it was time to bring those learnings back to the book. 

The new edition is coming in FEBRUARY (don't ask me for a specific date - it's Amazon's world, we're just living in it). Here's what's new:

📙 5 STEPS (not 10) - In the first edition, I describe 5 components of positioning and a 10-step process for doing it. Some of you really hated that the number of steps in the process wasn’t equal to the number of components. The first few steps were pre-work, and the final steps are work that follows the exercise. I have repositioned those steps (see what I did there), and we now have 5 components and 5 steps. 

📙 The PRE-WORK section has been expanded to include key decisions a team should make before beginning a positioning exercise. This is based on my work with clients, and I think it will greatly improve any team’s chances of success when following this process.

📙 I have included sections that are more relevant to MULTIPRODUCT companies grappling with how to position their products in a company with multiple offerings. 

📙 Some steps in the process have been significantly expanded—particularly the Differentiated Value step. Most teams told me they got stuck there. I hope this new, improved section helps to clarify the concept.

📙 The final section, What Happens AFTER a Positioning Exercise, has been greatly expanded. This new section reflects my current thinking on how best to create a sales pitch to test positioning and then turn that positioning into messaging.

📙 For the first time, there will be a HARDCOVER edition. Most of you won't care, but I have seen some seriously well-loved (but also beat-up and scraggly) paperbacks at conferences, and I decided some of you need a copy that’s a little more durable!

🎙️ To go with the book, I'm reviving the Positioning PODCAST and will release a new series of episodes that dive into the book's new material. 
✍ The same goes for the NEWSLETTER (always the best way to follow my stuff). 

A new podcast episode and newsletter article drop TOMORROW - links in the comments.

🟧 Hugo H. Macedo 🟧

Farol Growth Partners

Building a new kind of Go-to-Market and Growth firm to help companies Unstuck Growth and create sustainable growth engines.
We don't deliver presentations or reports. 
We deliver Revenue Growth.

Founder and Managing Partner

GROUND CAPITAL

Venture Partner

Forbes Communications Council

Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only organization for senior-level communications and public relations executives.

Official Member

PandaDoc

Hired and built the team and Product Marketing scope.
Positioning. Segmentation. ICP. Personas. 
Product Strategy and Go-to-Market Strategy.
Launches. Continuous Product comms and enablement.
Product-Market-fit expansion strategy.
Market and Category intelligence.
Product Adoption.

Global Product Marketing Leader

Unbabel

Lead the Crowdsourced Community unit of Unbabel. 
The Community is the group of our freelancers that every day ensures that the translations Unbabel delivers have the quality that our customers demand. Overall, together with the proprietary and world-class AI, it's what makes Unbabel unique and able to deliver world-class amazing value to our customers.

VP of Community

During this period I lead the Marketing of Unbabel and contributed to grow 10x the business.
I covered different areas of Marketing: DemandGen, Events, Product Marketing, ABM, Partnership Marketing, Customer Marketing, Content Marketing, Brand and PR.

VP of Marketing

Unbabel is accelerating the shift towards a world without language barriers by enabling trustworthy, seamless and scalable translations between companies and their customers.

International businesses trust Unbabel’s enterprise platform to open up and grow new markets by harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence and a global community of mobile linguists.

Backed by Notion Capital, Google Ventures, Caixa Capital and Y Combinator, Unbabel is helping customers like Pinterest, Skyscanner, Under Armour, Trello and Oculus VR to understand and be understood.

Besides being part of the Leadership Team, I lead the Product Team behind our Customer Service Integrations with SalesForce and Zendesk. We help companies support their customers in their own language in a more efficient way.

Product Lead & Leadership Team

I will be developing the Editor Community - growth and engagement.

Unbabel.com is a startup that is disrupting the translation business using a combination of machine translation and crowd-translation so that translation is faster and cheaper.

Editor Growth and Engagement Leader

Revenue Collective

The Revenue Collective is a private, invitation-only community of sales and marketing executives at growth-focused companies.

Member

McKinsey & Company

Established and developed the Communication department of a public sector institution in Angola.
Including Communication Strategy, Stakeholder Management and Team Management.

Associate - Expert

Beta-i - Associação para a Promoção da Inovação e do Empreendedorismo

We develop change programs within companies and institutions to foster innovation using a new methodology - Lean Innovation - that we have developed with our experience with startups accelerator programs.

Our Lean Innovation approach is inspired by Design Thinking, Business Model Innovation and Lean Startup.

Our Programs can go from Evangelising Presentations, Action Learning Training Workshops and Innovation Teams Facilitation and Consulting.

Business Innovator

Part of the founding team that developed the roots of currently one of the most recognized and important portuguese organizations for the development of entrepreneurship.
Actively involved in the design of Beta-start accelerator program and as mentor and coach of participants

Co-Founder

Founder Institute Lisbon

The Founder Institute is a global network of startups and mentors that helps entrepreneurs launch meaningful and enduring technology companies. Through our four month idea-stage incubator program, you can launch your dream company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs, while not being required to quit your day job. Our unique Bonus Pool also shares equity upside with all participants, creating local, teamwork-based ecosystems where great startups can flourish.

I launch and lead the Founder Institute Lisbon Chapter.

Director

ViewDo S.A.

ViewDo is a start-up focus on innovative products and technologies that leverage the link between online and offline interactions.

We developed and launched 2 products:
Swypit : a system that enables brands to expand their online impact form offline events. Through a proprietary technology based on RFID and QRCodes we make it easy for consumers to share their experience in brand activation events to their social network. We multiply by a factor +100 your events impact!

Elizabet - qwin of challenge (beta): a new social betting game (web&mobile) where consumers can challenge their friends in any bet. An innovative product in the social gaming/entertainment space with potential mass appeal.

Director & Partner

Passionate about people, innovation, and the transformative power of change, I specialize in marketing, strategy, and new ventures. 
With over two decades of experience, I excel in identifying and developing market opportunities through strategic thinking, customer-centric approaches, and innovative solutions.

My career has been marked by achievements in scaling businesses, launching new products, and driving growth. From leading a new telecom unit from 0 to 300K customers in a mature market to scaling a digital marketing agency from $1M to $13M in revenue and growing an AI Startup from $1M to $10M ARR in just three years, I have consistently delivered impactful results. At PandaDoc, a B2B SaaS, I built the Product Marketing function, contributing to doubling the revenue and a $1B valuation. 

Today, as an independent consultant, I help tech startups unlock growth with marketing and go-to-market strategies.

I thrive in dynamic environments where creativity and strategic vision drive success. My leadership style is characterized by empathy, curiosity, and a commitment to excellence. I bring a unique blend of strategic insight and hands-on execution to every role.

Key Strengths:
- Strategic Thinking: Ability to see the big picture and develop actionable plans.
- Initiative and Leadership: Proven track record of leading teams to success.
- Customer and Results-oriented: Focus on delivering value and achieving goals.
Innovation and Creativity: Passion for finding new and effective solutions.
- Adaptability to Change: Thriving in dynamic, fast-paced environments.

Curiosity and a passion for learning have been the driving forces in my career. I admire eclectic thinkers like Winston Churchill and creative icons like David Bowie. 

As an INFP Myers-Briggs profile, I bring creativity, empathy, and a thoughtful approach to my work, always striving to connect with others and inspire positive change.

Humans are the ultimate frontier, and understanding human nature is a never-ending quest. 

Outside of work, I enjoy music, reading, and cinema. Recently, I took up running and completed a half marathon. 
When feeling stuck, I revert to All Ries and Jack Trout's quote: “Don't try harder. Try different.”

— 

I'm currently pursuing Independent Consulting and Venture Building/Capital investment interests.
I continue to write and publish about Strategy, Marketing and Startups.

Senior Director of Product Marketing

Mentoring is selfish.

I know what I'm talking about — adplist.org just named me a Top 50 
Product Marketing Mentor

But I didn't do it for the badge. 
I did it because mentoring gives back more than it takes:


1. It keeps you sharp. 
Thirty minutes to understand a real problem and offer helpful advice. No slides. No fluff. Harder than it looks.


2. It stretches your world. 
I've had calls with people in Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Iran, Argentina—places I'd rarely interact with otherwise. Different contexts force better thinking and empathy.


3. It lets you pay it forward. 
What you've learned can help someone else flourish. That matters.



To everyone who trusted me with their challenges—thank you. 

To anyone considering mentorship, go to adplist.org, explore, and connect.

🎯Hugo H. Macedo 🎯

Product Marketing & GTM | Turning noise into sharp positioning and go-to-market for SaaS, AI & fintech

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