Val’s Marketing Evolution: Creating a New Category in the Crowded Meeting Software Space
Entering a market dominated by Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams requires more than just better features – it demands a completely new way of thinking about the problem. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Val CEO Andy Berman revealed how they carved out a distinct category in the crowded meeting software space.
Beyond Communication: Reframing the Problem
Instead of competing directly with established video platforms, Val identified a different problem to solve. “If you go to our website on val.com, what you’ll end up seeing is AI powered meetings for fast moving teams,” Andy explains. This positioning explicitly moves away from simple communication tools.
“Historically, most of the tools are focused on communication. And communication, you don’t really care what it is. Is it FaceTime? Is it zoom? Is it meet? It doesn’t matter. The only reason you’re doing it on video is probably to see people,” Andy notes.
Finding the Category Gap
Val’s category creation started with a clear insight: existing tools weren’t built for how modern teams actually work. As Andy explains, “Most of the time you’re in a meeting, you have video open on one side, you have a document open on the other side. You’re copiously taking notes. And I just thought, there has to be a better tool out there that’s much more focused on collaboration.”
The Power of Instant Understanding
Val’s messaging focuses on the immediate “aha moment” that resonates with users. “I think there’s a massive AHA moment for people when they just land on our website and see the video,” Andy shares. This approach came from his experience in direct-to-consumer marketing, where he learned that “lofty, futuristic type messaging never converted.”
Simplicity Over Sophistication
Rather than leading with technical capabilities, Val focuses on immediate value. “The meeting ends and seven to 10 seconds later you get the notes or the summary of what happened in the action items and they’re formatted and they’re ready to go,” Andy explains.
This simple messaging resonates because it solves a universal pain point. When users describe Val, “they talk about it as time travel because it really is the type of tool that you could log into after being out on vacation for a week and read the TLDRs from six or seven meetings and know exactly what happened.”
Testing and Refining the Message
Val’s approach to messaging is scientific. “You have to take a hypothesis on it and then you have to start driving traffic to your website and seeing the conversion rate and constantly iterate on it and see if you can improve it,” Andy shares.
This iterative approach has driven remarkable results. “Our user base has, I think, tripled over the last 40 days,” Andy reveals.
Building the Category Through Integration
Rather than trying to replace existing tools, Val positions itself as an enhancement to teams’ existing workflows. “We’re rolling out our Zapier integration. We’re rolling out a whole host of other native integrations to the collaboration tools like Notion and Jira that you use,” Andy explains.
The Future of the Category
Looking ahead, Andy sees Val evolving beyond just meeting tools: “I think three to five years from now we’re pushing the information to you. So any given moment at any given time will tell you what’s relevant and give you in the moment the knowledge you need, whether it’s in the meeting or after the meeting, to be a superhuman.”
This vision positions Val not just as a meeting tool, but as a fundamental layer of workplace intelligence. “We’re digitizing one of the last spaces that’s not digital today and that’s meetings,” Andy concludes.
For B2B founders looking to create new categories, Val’s journey offers several key lessons:
- Find the gap between existing solutions and how people actually work
- Focus on immediate value over future promises
- Test and iterate on messaging continuously
- Position yourself as an enhancement to existing workflows, not a replacement
In a crowded market, the key to success isn’t just building better features – it’s fundamentally reframing the problem you’re solving.
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