Atomic Content
WE FEEL YOUR PAIN
You believed in the founders.
The problem was clear. The product made sense.
Early traction looked promising.
But now—
- Growth is slowing.
- Messaging feels muddled.
- The market’s not leaning in.
You’re starting to wonder: Is this a product problem—or something deeper?
It’s not the team. It’s the trap.
THERE IS A PATTERN
Most startups launch into existing markets because it feels fast and efficient.
But those markets come with incumbents, biases, and built-in expectations.
When a company gets stuck in one of those frames, it gets mislabeled.
Misunderstood. Miscompared.
And belief stops compounding—internally and externally.
This is the Existing Market Trap.
And it’s the silent killer of venture returns.
If the market doesn’t believe, your portfolio underperforms. Period.
THE WAY OUT
There’s a path out of the EMT.
Most Founders need support from their investors.
It starts with understanding where the trap is showing up for them.
We’ve built a 3-minute Diagnostic to show them where they might be trapped.
Share it with them.
"The best investments aren’t just bets on product-market fit—they’re bets on belief-market fit. Every investor should be fluent in this language—and every founder should read this book before starting their company."
Eric Chin
Managing General Partner, Crosslink Capital
READY TO FIND OUT WHAT'S HOLDING YOU BACK?
Take the 3-minute EMT Diagnostic and discover your path out of the trap.