Category Design Advisors
Category Design Advisors is inspired by the book Play Bigger, co-Authored by our partner Kevin Maney We are Category Designers. It’s what CDA helps companies do.
We work with leadership teams to help them define, develop and ultimately dominate a new category of business. Using the methodology and frameworks from the book Play Bigger, it is possible to design your category.
31/10/2024
New article: How the Teachings of Aristotle Apply to Category Design
How the Teachings of Aristotle Apply to Category Design The concepts that make category design so effective are deeply rooted in human behavior. They are timeless. Around 350 BC, in ancient Greece, Aristotle int
09/10/2024
Want to turn investors into believers? It all starts with your pitch deck.
Traditional pitch decks are designed to fit into existing categories. But what if your company creates a new category? That's where Category Design comes in.
This article by Mike Damphousse and Kevin Maney explores how to build a Category Designer’s Pitch Deck that goes beyond product features to show investors a whole new market opportunity—and makes you the obvious choice.
- Don't just pitch a product—pitch a movement.
Turn your investors into true believers.
A Category Designer's Pitch Deck: Turning Investors Into Believers When a company pitches investors for funding, a category design approach makes the story and pitch deck more powerful. The smartest investors first want to
12/07/2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEC7ByvlavU
The Power of Category Design with Kevin Maney - The Transaction - Ep #15 In this engaging episode of The Transaction, hosts Matt Amundsen and Craig Rosenberg welcome Kevin Maney, renowned author of “Play Bigger” and expert in cate...
28/02/2024
It can take years to successfully design and build a category.
You don’t have that much time to see the outcomes of ?!?
Don’t sweat it, the shorter term outcomes can be significant for both and established companies alike.
Hear it from the CEOs who've been there in our latest post.
Four leaders share their compelling stories on leveraging category design to achieve significant outcomes:
- aligning their teams
- improved valuations
- successful funding rounds
- acquisitions
Their experiences highlight the power of defining new market categories and the tangible benefits that follow.
Whether you're a startup, an established company, or a firm, these insights offer invaluable lessons on driving growth and success through category design.
Dive into their journey for inspiration and guidance.
Link to full article with videos in comments.
Special thanks to our client CEOs that participated:
Chris Blackley, CEO of PPrescryptiveCarlos Abisambra, CEO of Travelers Haven
Akshay Ahooja, CEO of TTrainiac by GympassStanislav Ermilov, CEO of Tallarium
Full article and videos here: https://www.categorydesignadvisors.com/four-ceos-talk-about-the-category-design-process/
26/02/2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xSAO20_cDk
Kevin Maney Unveiled: Mastering Market Domination with the Mind Behind 'Play Bigger - Ep 02 Dive into an enlightening conversation with Kevin Maney, the acclaimed co-author of "Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate M...
06/02/2024
Steve Jobs knew to talk to the elephant, and so should you. Engaging the 'elephant' – the emotional side of your audience – is key to persuasion. Category Design Advisors’ partner and Play Bigger co-author, Kevin Maney, explains how to make your company's point of view (POV) truly compelling.
Full article here:
Consider the Elephant: Why Your Company’s POV Should Touch Emotions Emotions open the door. Facts seal the deal. That works far better than the other way around. We’ve worked on category design with hundreds of startup CEOs
27/11/2023
Reading about perception vs. perspective in business is like hearing someone say, “Get your head out of your ass!”
But in the corporate world, they would use softer language, like “Please adjust your cranial positioning relative to your gluteal region.”
I mean, we’ve all been there, right?
You and your team are so obsessed with your own ideas, it’s like wearing blinders. And not the cool horse kind, more like you’ve got your head stuck in a tuba kind.
“See your business from the outside-in.” That’s business speak for, “Hey, the world doesn’t revolve around your presentation.”
So next time you’re in a meeting and someone’s going on about their “game-changing” new strategy, just ask, “perception or perspective?” It’s the polite way of saying, “Get your head out of your ass!”
Link to full article 👇🏼 in comments.
09/08/2023
Sixteen years ago, in June 2007, Marc Andreessen wrote a blog post titled “The only thing that matters.” It was the first use of the term “product/market fit” – which is what Marc declared is the only thing that matters.
These days, product/market fit is a term you hear constantly in the tech startup ecosystem. Every company is looking for product/market fit.
Except they really should be looking for market/product fit.
Full article below talks about how and would support this.
Andreessen Proposed Product/Market Fit, but it really is Market/Product Fit Sixteen years ago, in June 2007, Marc Andreessen wrote a blog post titled “The only thing that matters.” It was the first use of the term “product/market
21/03/2023
“If it’s a huge market category, there’s room for lots of winners.” ... Well, yeah, but that depends on how you define “winners.”
The Enduring Power of Winning a Market Category Any ambitious company should want to do everything it can to create and win a market category. Over the years at Category Design Advisors, we’ve often been
10/03/2023
Latest article celebrating the women in the world on
As well as a shout out to all the incredible women Category Design Advisors has worked with over the years – those that have embraced category design and worked with us to set their category flag on the hill. So many to list after working with over 50 companies and loads of venture portfolio companies, but we salute you all! Keep that category thinking front of mind and own your category!
Celebrating Female Category Designers on #InternationalWomensDay For International Women’s Day, we want to celebrate all the female category designers out there. These legendary category designers have successfully implemented their category strategies and created their own unique space in the market, leaving their competition behind and owning the economics of...
23/02/2023
New Ways to Solve Category Design Problems for Early Stage Companies and Investors.
New Ways to Solve Category Design Problems for Early Stage Companies and Investors You’re on the leadership team of an early-stage startup. Maybe you got turned on to category design when you read the book Play Bigger. Or one of your VC inve
16/02/2023
Write me an article about what backcasting and the adjacent possible can tell you about an innovation like chatGPT
What Backcasting and the Adjacent Possible Can Tell You About an Innovation (Like ChatGPT) Put two category design concepts together – adjacent possible and backcasting – and you can get an interesting way to look at the meaning of and prospects f
09/01/2023
Category Design Resources for the New Year As Category Design Advisors enters its seventh year, we’ve launched a new website and organized a Resources page that makes it easier to find category-creatio
31/10/2022
Happy Halloween !
05/10/2022
In this podcast episode, Ashley McManus from Smart Eye features Category Design Advisors partner Kevin Maney. Kevin and Ashley cover topics surrounding the future of AI and why being different matters: Listen to the episode here: https://hubs.li/Q01p1FlN0
23/09/2022
Want to see a pitch-perfect lightning strike to introduce a new market category? LinkedIn Sales Solutions pulled one off this week for its category. Here's the full story.
LinkedIn Sales Solutions and the “Deep” Category Design Lightning Strike of 2022 LinkedIn’s Sales Solution business unit pulled off a pitch-perfect, multi-threaded lightning strike to introduce the “deep sales” category it is creating.
15/09/2022
"What you see determines what you do, and what you do determines what you get.” Too few companies spend enough time "seeing." The category design process is all about "seeing." Check out Kevin Maney's breakdown of how Stephen Covey's Seven Habits applies to category design >> https://hubs.li/Q01mrpPM0
How Covey’s “The Seven Habits” Applies to Category Design Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People contains a powerful contribution to category design thinking.
Videos (show all)
