The Jack Trout
Framework
Differentiate or Die
Jack Trout moved markets by understanding the specific psychology of attention and offer. Jack Trout's commercial thinking, captured in this framework as mental models, decision heuristics, and the signature questions they would ask.
The differentiate or die framework distils Jack Trout's documented approach into a .md skill file you can load into Claude, ChatGPT, or any LLM in seconds.
Where most AI personas generate generic output, this framework is grounded in real documented work: interviews, writing, published frameworks, and the specific decisions Jack Trout made when it mattered. Use it for decision-making, writing, strategy, or any situation where you want your AI to think with Jack Trout's distinctive patterns rather than a default model voice.
A glimpse of Jack Trout's thinking.
The battle for customers happens in the mind, not the marketplace. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect, not what you do to the product. In an over-communicated society, the only defense is an oversimplified message that differentiates you from everyone else.
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Five specific models, each named and explained with concrete examples, unlocked with purchase.
"What ladder are we on in the customer's mind, and what rung do we occupy?"
4 more questions in Jack Trout's voice are unlocked with purchase.
Full list of anti-patterns unlocked with purchase.
The full framework adds: detailed explanations of all five mental models with real-world examples, the decision heuristics Jack Trout actually used, remaining signature questions, the complete list of anti-patterns, a copy-paste activation prompt, and a worked example.
Unlocked the moment you purchase. ~2,000 words total. Delivered as a Claude Skill and plain .md within 60 seconds of checkout.
- ✦Core philosophy: 2–3 sentences grounded in Jack Trout's documented worldview
- ✦Five signature mental models: each named, with concrete examples from their work
- ✦Decision heuristics: the concrete rules they actually used
- ✦Signature questions: five questions that sound like Jack Trout, not a generic MBA
- ✦What they would NOT do: the anti-patterns this framework rejects
- ✦Copy-paste activation prompt: drop straight into Claude or ChatGPT
- ✦Worked example: the framework applied to a realistic scenario
- →jack-trout.zip: a native Claude Skill. Upload to Settings → Skills in Claude, or unzip to
~/.claude/skills/ - →jack-trout-framework.md: plain markdown. Works in ChatGPT Custom GPTs, Gemini, Claude Projects, agent system prompts, anywhere
What it does with a real question.
A founder is deciding whether to take a large but difficult client.
Don't take it, unless the client strengthens the one thing you want to be known for.
A large, difficult client is tempting because it feels like proof. Revenue, a logo, a story for the sales deck. But positioning is built in the prospect's mind, and the question is what this client does to the word you're trying to own. Difficult clients pull you toward their needs: custom features, special terms, a team bent around their calendar. Do that for twelve months and your company stops standing for something sharp and starts standing for "whatever Big Client needed." Prospects can't see that from outside, but they feel it in the product and hear it in the case studies you can no longer tell.
Apply one test. If this client's logo sat on your homepage, would it make your difference more believable or more blurry? If they're squarely inside the segment you want to dominate, and winning them reinforces your claim, tolerate the pain and price it in. If they sit adjacent, asking you to be a little bit of everything, they are a distraction dressed up as growth.
Most founders in this spot are also short on cash, which clouds the call. Say so honestly, then price accordingly: a premium that covers the distortion, a narrow scope, and a hard cap on customization.
Next move: This week, write your one-sentence difference, then mark every requirement in this client's proposal as supporting it or diluting it. If more than a third dilutes, walk.
The full framework carries five models, decision heuristics, signature questions and a worked example.
Written by claude-sonnet-5-5 with this framework loaded, 2026-10-11. Checked automatically for length and for copied framework text.
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Works as a Claude Skill (.zip) and as a plain .md for ChatGPT, Gemini & every LLM
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Inspired by the documented thinking of Jack Trout. A mental-model toolkit, not a literal representation. Delivered as a .md file compatible with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and any LLM.