Category Design: Creating New Markets

Category Design

Creating New Markets and Defining Business Categories

What is Category Design?

Strategic discipline of creating new market categories

Focuses on defining problems customers didn't know they had

Positions companies as category kings, not competitors

Combines product innovation with market education

The Pioneers: Play Bigger

Category Design was formalized by Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, and Kevin Maney in their groundbreaking work.

Founded Play Bigger consulting firm in 2013

Published 'Play Bigger' book in 2016

Coined the term 'Category Design'

Studied unicorn companies and market creation patterns

Timeline: From Concept to Movement

2013: Play Bigger advisory firm founded

2014-2015: Initial client work and methodology development

2016: 'Play Bigger' book published and gains traction

2017-2019: Category Design adopted by major VCs and startups

2020+: Mainstream adoption across Silicon Valley and beyond

Category Design Success Stories

Salesforce: Created 'Customer Success' category

Tesla: Defined 'Premium Electric Vehicle' space

Uber: Established 'Ride-sharing' category

HubSpot: Pioneered 'Inbound Marketing' methodology

Slack: Created 'Team Communication Platform' category

Category kings capture 70% or more of the economic value in their categories

Current Popularity and Adoption

Embraced by top-tier VCs (a16z, Sequoia, Benchmark)

Standard practice among Silicon Valley unicorns

Growing adoption in Fortune 500 companies

Featured in major business schools' curricula

Active category design community and conferences

Today, category design is considered essential for startups aiming for significant market impact and is increasingly taught as a core business strategy.

The Future of Category Design

As markets become increasingly saturated, the ability to create new categories rather than compete in existing ones has become a critical competitive advantage.

Category design isn't just about building products—it's about changing how people think

Thank you for exploring the evolution and impact of category design as a transformative business strategy.