ClickUp’s Losing Strategy: Trying to Serve Everyone
January 26, 2025
ClickUp’s problem isn’t a lack of ambition or features—it’s the misguided attempt to be everything to everyone. While this strategy might seem appealing on the surface, it’s setting the product up for long-term failure.
1. A Product Built for Everyone Is Ultimately Built for No One
ClickUp’s biggest weakness lies in its attempt to serve every market.
By trying to be a one-size-fits-all tool, it becomes a jack of all trades, master of none. Instead of excelling in any one area, it delivers a mediocre experience across the board.
This strategy might attract users at first, but it’s not sustainable.
As specialized tools emerge—each designed to meet the specific needs of a particular market—ClickUp’s broad approach will fail. Market A will move to a tool that suits its needs perfectly. Market B will do the same.
And ClickUp, stretched too thin, will be left behind.
2. Bloated Interface, Bloated Problems
Every time ClickUp adds a feature for Market X, they unintentionally disrupt the experience for Market Y.
What was once a clean, intuitive interface now feels bloated and overwhelming, full of features that most users will never touch.
Jason Fried, co-founder of 37signals, once said, “Great products balance the obvious, easy, and possible.”
ClickUp fails to strike this balance because what’s obvious, easy, and possible depends entirely on the needs of a specific market. It’s impossible to balance these elements when each market defines them differently.
3. Flexibility at the Cost of Immediate Value
Nearly everyone who signs up for ClickUp spends hours—or even days—configuring the software to fit their needs.
This is largely due to its sea of features and bloated interface, which overwhelm users with too many options and demand excessive customization.
Instead of delivering immediate value, ClickUp forces users to invest time and effort just to make the tool usable—a frustrating experience that drives away people looking for something straightforward.
Betting on a Losing Strategy
ClickUp is currently serving markets that have nowhere else to go.
These markets put up with its bloated interface, frustrating setup, and overwhelming features because they have no better options. ClickUp’s flexibility lets them create something that works for their needs—despite the inconvenience.
But this is a terrible bet.
New tools designed specifically for a single market will emerge. These tools will be simpler, easier to use, and provide immediate value—unlike ClickUp.
When those tools arrive, the markets they are built for will leave ClickUp behind.
It’s only a matter of time.