The Best Marketing Memo You’ll Ever Read – And Why It Still Matters
A memo from Slack's Stewart Butterfield that shaped the positioning of Slack and its success.
Why “We Don’t Sell Saddles Here” is a Masterclass in Startup Positioning
The memo "We Don’t Sell Saddles Here" by Stewart Butterfield, CEO of Slack, is one of the most iconic pieces of internal communication in tech. Written in 2013, it was aimed at aligning Slack's early team around the product's vision and value proposition.
Slack was initially conceived as an internal communication tool developed during the making of a video game. The memo was crafted as Slack prepared to introduce the product to the market, focusing on positioning and messaging.
The memo is not just about communication software – it’s about how to frame your product, shift perspectives, and create new markets and categories.
What can you find in this memo?
Positioning Masterclass – The memo has become a template for how to articulate the larger purpose behind a product.
Cultural Impact – It played a crucial role in shaping Slack’s brand and rallying the team around a shared mission.
Enduring Influence – Many startups reference this memo as they develop their own product narratives and internal alignment strategies.
We Don’t Sell Saddles Here
By Stewart Butterfield (2013)
You can read the full memo in this link, but here’s a shorter version:
As we approach the launch of Slack, it’s important to remind ourselves what we’re actually creating. Slack isn’t just a tool – and we’re not simply selling messaging software.
We’re not selling saddles. We’re selling the ability to ride a horse better.
No one buys a saddle because they love leather or craftsmanship. They buy it because they want to ride faster, more comfortably, and with greater control. Likewise, no one will choose Slack because they’re excited about another chat app. They’ll choose Slack because it makes their working lives simpler, more pleasant, and more productive.
People buy better versions of themselves, not products.
Our customers won’t adopt Slack just for its features – they’ll adopt it because it makes them feel more organized, effective, and in control. We’re not just selling software. We’re selling organization, clarity, transparency, and agility.
Slack reduces the friction of constant emails, scattered conversations, and endless meetings. It gives teams the ability to communicate more openly, make decisions faster, and stay aligned. The goal isn’t to replace email or build a better chat room – it’s to transform how people work together.
If we frame our mission around selling a better chat app, we’ll limit ourselves.
But if we focus on the outcomes – the less stressful, more productive working lives we enable – we unlock a much bigger opportunity.
This is the essence of our mission. Let’s stay grounded in the bigger picture and remember:
Our job is to make people’s working lives simpler, more pleasant, and more productive.
If we keep this front and center, the rest – growth, adoption, and success – will follow naturally.
Let’s keep our focus on the value we provide, not just the tool we sell. If we do that, growth will follow. We have the opportunity to build something that fundamentally changes how teams collaborate – and that’s a mission worth dedicating ourselves to.
Changing the Conversation
Butterfield’s memo isn’t just about Slack - it’s about changing the conversation around your product. It’s a reminder that the most successful startups don’t sell better products, they sell better futures.
The key takeaways from this memo are -
👉 Selling the Benefit, Not the Product
Butterfield highlights the importance of selling the value and outcome of the product rather than the product itself. The "saddle" metaphor underscores that Slack isn't just a chat tool (the saddle); it's a means to make work more productive, collaborative, and enjoyable (the horseback riding experience).
👉 Emotional Connection to the Vision
Butterfield emphasizes that Slack’s true goal is to make people's working lives simpler and more pleasant. He appeals to the team's sense of mission, positioning Slack as a transformative solution for communication.
👉 Differentiation and Positioning
He argues that Slack isn’t competing with traditional messaging or email tools. Instead, it’s offering a fundamentally better way for teams to collaborate, reducing email bloat and improving transparency.
👉 Long-term Thinking
Butterfield urges the team to think beyond short-term sales and feature battles, encouraging them to focus on building a product that creates significant, lasting value for businesses.
The best startups don’t compete for market share – they create new categories by redefining the problem.
Until next time, keep growing 🚀
Idan
