The Top 5 Reasons Startups Get Stuck in Growth Limbo

Startups often face a frustrating challenge: they gain initial traction but struggle to scale sustainably. This is what I call 'growth limbo' and occurs for many different reasons. I'm going to tell you what I believe are the top 5.

At the heart of this issue is a failure to achieve true market fit—often due to misconceptions about customer needs and ineffective market validation. Using the Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) framework, startups can avoid this stagnation by focusing on the actual needs and struggles of their target customers. Here are the top five reasons startups fail to get market fit right and how to avoid them by getting the foundation right using a JTBD approach.

Where is growth going to come from?

1. Confusing Product Development with Market Fit

Many founders assume that if they build a superior product, customers will come. This product-first mentality often leads to an over-engineered solution that lacks strong demand. Market fit isn’t just about product excellence—it’s about solving a high-priority job for customers better than any alternative.

JTBD Approach: Identify the core job your target customer is trying to accomplish and validate demand before scaling development. Use customer interviews and outcome-based research to determine which unmet needs are most pressing.

2. Failing to Define a Precise Market Segment or Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Startups often struggle when they try to appeal to a broad audience too early. Without a clearly defined ICP, they dilute their messaging, waste marketing spend, and struggle with weak engagement.

JTBD Approach: Instead of guessing who your ideal customer is, focus on identifying customers with the most urgent and underserved jobs. Analyse behavioral, situational, and demographic factors that indicate the highest likelihood of adoption and retention.

3. Scaling Before Achieving Repeatable Growth

Premature scaling—such as hiring aggressively or pouring money into marketing—before achieving a predictable, repeatable growth process creates what is known as “growth debt.” This often leads to unsustainable burn rates and strategic misalignment.

JTBD Approach: Ensure you have validated demand and a repeatable customer acquisition process before scaling. Measure the time-to-value for new users and test small, cost-effective experiments before investing heavily in expansion.

4. Relying on a Weak or Unsustainable Distribution Strategy

Many startups depend too heavily on paid channels (e.g., paid ads) without building an organic, scalable growth loop. This leads to high customer acquisition costs and eventual stagnation.

JTBD Approach: Instead of focusing on tactics, map out how customers naturally discover, evaluate, and adopt solutions for their jobs-to-be-done. Create a mix of channels that align with customer behavior—referrals, partnerships, inbound content, and product-led growth mechanisms.

5. Lack of Clear Differentiation and Positioning

A startup can have a great product, but if customers don’t immediately understand why it’s better or different, they won’t buy. Many founders default to feature-heavy messaging instead of highlighting what uniquely makes their solution the best way to complete the job.

JTBD Approach: Craft messaging around the core job your product fulfills and how it outperforms existing solutions. Instead of focusing on technical specs, communicate the tangible improvements in customer outcomes.

Market fit isn’t just about product-market alignment—it’s about ensuring your product is solving a critical, underserved job in a way that customers truly value. By applying the JTBD framework and focusing on customer outcomes, startups can avoid common growth pitfalls and build a scalable foundation for long-term success. Avoid these five mistakes, and your startup will be well on its way to breaking out of growth limbo.