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.
Category design is the discipline of creating and monetizing new markets. It is a strategy for taking control over the development of a new market. The goal of category design is to create a new space and become the Category King.
2. 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.
4. Less than 1% of VC-backed technology
companies are ever worth $1B or more.
Play Bigger
Time To Market Cap Report
5. Since 2000 the United States has
produced only 83, $1B+ market cap
technology companies.
Play Bigger
Time To Market Cap Report
6. 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
7. A 6 year old startup that is not worth $500m today,
will likely never be worth a $1 billion.
22. 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.
Category
Category
King
23. 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.
25. 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
26. 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
27. Too much is at stake to leave the category to
chance.
30. About Play Bigger
Play 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 mary@playbigger.com
This information is solely for informational purposes. Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. Coffee is
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