Roam Research might be the best thinking tool ever built. You have probably never used it.
That gap is the whole lesson.
Roam invented networked note-taking and raised at a $200M valuation in 2020. On the product, it still wins the argument.
It lost the market anyway. Here is why:
- It charged $15/month with no free plan, and for years no mobile app. - Notion launched free, added mobile, and let the community own the templates. - Notion now has around 100 million users. Roam has a cult.
Roam perfected the product. Notion owned the on-ramp, the templates and the search results.
Being first and best is not a distribution strategy.
What is a product you love that nobody you know has heard of?
The move. An easy on-ramp (free tier + mobile) and community-owned templates beat a superior product.
One of the things Alex keeps saying about go-to-market distribution. See the rest →