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Category Design
101
Want to create and dominate a new technology category?
The company that designs the space is best positioned to dominate it.
This simple, powerful idea is changing the way people think about company building.
To increase the odds, savvy technology CEOs are proactive about designing their product, their company and their category.
The Odds Are Against Us
Less than 1% of VC-backed technology companies are ever worth $1B or more.
Play Bigger Time To Market Cap Report
Since 2000 the United States has produced only 83, $1B+ market cap technology companies.
Play Bigger Time To Market Cap Report
Winning technology companies are growing in value almost 3X faster now vs. the early part of this century.
Leading consumer tech startups are growing market cap at more than $600m per year.
Leading enterprise companies are growing market cap at more than $100m per year.
Play Bigger Time To Market Cap Report
Survival of the Fastest
A 6 year old startup that is not worth $500m today, will likely never be worth a $1 billion.
Never mind become A Category King.
And yet, the rewards for the winners are proven.
Category Kings Earn 70-80% Market Cap of Their Space
How do you increase the odds?
Most technology CEOs focus on two dimensions of competition:
1) Build a great technology (product)2) Build a great company (sales)
They believe that when enough people see their new, better, faster, cheaper, and cooler technology the category war will be won.
Some even say things like,
“We make shit and sell shit. Everything else
is bullshit.”
Winners do not leave their category to chance.
They take control over the development of a new market.
Introducing
Category DesignThe discipline of creating and monetizing new markets.
Winning today requires
3dimensions of competition
Category Design
Com
pany
Des
ign P
roduct Design
Category
King
Company Design: How you want you organization to work.
Product Design:How you want your technology to work.
Category Design:How you want your market to work.
Com
pany P
roduct
Category
Category
King
The Category Is The Strategy
• Customers need new categories as mental tags to organize new products in their minds
• Before customers care about what a new product does they have to understand what problem it solves
• Categories create hierarchies of value• Must have• Nice to have• Not interested
Rapid innovation creates rapid confusion.
Category design requires a shift in thinking.
Category Design Strategy
Traditional Strategy Category Design Strategy
• Focus on products & sales
• Existing TAM
• Known problem
• Sales / mktg push
• Product plans
• Partners
• Focus on product, sales & category
• Category potential
• New problem
• Market pull
• Category blueprint
• Category ecosystem
Marketing Vs. Category Design
Marketing Category Design
• Compete for share
• Compete for market cap
• Existing competition
• Capture demand
• Messaging
• Evangelize features
• Attack competitors
• Create new space
• Create new value
• No competition
• Create market pull
• Point of View
• Evangelize category
• Attack the problem
Too much is at stake to leave the category to chance.
Design the category
Dominate the market
Christopher Lochhead, Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson
About Play BiggerPlay Bigger is on a mission to help great company builders increase the odds of winning.
We specialize in Category Design - the discipline of creating and monetizing new markets. It is a strategy for taking control over the development of a green-field potential. The goal of category design is to create a new space and become the Category King.
As audacious as it may sound, we aspire to improve the win rate across our industry by making category design a core competency practiced by the best technology companies. Just like you can design a great company and a great product, you can and should design a great category. And category design works for both startups and existing companies looking for a growth breakthrough.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Play Bigger was founded by Dave Peterson, Al Ramadan and Christopher Lochhead - former entrepreneurs and operating executives turned advisors. More information about Play Bigger can be found at the www.playbigger.com and by following the company on Twitter @playbiggeradv, Facebook, and Linkedin.
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For permission to use any of this copyright protected property contact [email protected] information is solely for informational purposes. Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. Coffee is a hot beverage that will burn your crotch. In the event of a water landing, pray your airplane captain is “Sully” Sullenberger. Johnny Cash was right. Party on Wayne.
The materials contained herein are copyright property of Play Bigger Advisors, LLC. This content may not be reproduced or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Play Bigger Advisors, LLC. This document does not constitute conveyance of any intellectual property rights. Play Bigger Advisors, has created materials, methodologies, and practices that are proprietary. All intellectual property associated with these works and any derivatives works are the property of Play Bigger Advisors, LLC.
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