Key Takeaways

  • Stewart Butterfield wrote an internal memo before launching Slack titled “We Don't Sell Saddles Here,” urging his team to create a new market rather than fight for an existing one.
  • Shaan Puri explains that Acme Saddle Inc. would starve if it only targeted existing riders, so it had to sell the joy of horseback riding instead.
  • Nike expanded beyond track athletes by popularizing everyday jogging, while Lululemon hosted yoga classes inside retail stores to turn casual shoppers into practitioners.
  • Positioning Slack as the enabler of great team communication allowed the product to target all desk workers rather than just software developers.
  • Founders expanding small markets can execute this shift using Butterfield's 'Sell the Saddle' Marketing Method.

The Butterfield's 'Sell the Saddle' Marketing Method

Step 1: Identify the Joy, Not the Product

Rather than pitching the technical product or hardware, focus entirely on creating demand for the ultimate experience and emotional benefit (e.g., selling the joy of horseback riding rather than the saddle itself).

Step 2: Expand the Addressable Market via Lifestyle

Promote the surrounding lifestyle to attract non-practitioners into the category, exactly as Nike did with everyday jogging and Lululemon did by offering yoga classes inside retail stores.

Step 3: Position the Product as the Enabler

Present the product not as the main attraction, but as the essential tool that enables the user to achieve the desired feeling, such as fewer meetings, cleared inboxes, and seamless team camaraderie.

When This Works (and When It Doesn't)

Shaan Puri points out that this method applies when you want to expand beyond a limited existing market by manufacturing category demand. Butterfield knew that pitching another chat tool to technical teams capped Slack at a modest market cap. As Puri put it, “That's what we need to sell is the feeling of great team communication, of a team working well together is what we're going to sell. And Slack is going to be a tool to help you get there. It's just your saddle.”

This approach fails when your core tool suffers from weak retention or your category is an uninspired commodity. If you sell replacement industrial crane parts, crane operators do not want a lifestyle movement. They want exact tolerances, verified safety ratings, and overnight shipping. Do not invent an emotional identity for a utilitarian procurement purchase where buyers only evaluate unit price and delivery speed.

What to Do With This

Audit your homepage hero copy and sales deck this week. If you run a business email tool, remove the bullet points highlighting inbox filters, search latency, and keyboard shortcuts.

Rewrite your value proposition around the feeling of a clean 5:00 PM workday and calm evenings without work pings. Run a campaign showing managers how to eliminate three hours of status meetings every week. Once prospects crave that lighter work schedule, position your software as the saddle they need to make that routine possible.