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Want to talk about designing your category?

Perhaps you've read the book Play Bigger, co-authored by CDA partner Kevin Maney, and have questions about strategic category design. Or, maybe you’re an emerging startup or established company interested in learning more about our business strategy service. Either way, feel free to book a slot on our calendar to bounce ideas off a Category Design Advisors partner – pro bono.

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The Enduring Power of Winning a Market Category
"We’re seen as different from other vendors in the space. Every time I have a conversation with CIOs and CEOs, they immediately get it... We’re seen now as the Time Intelligence company.” Raj Narayanswamy, CEO Replicon
“A fresh perspective helped. The packaging, structure of the concept – we wouldn’t have gotten so far if not for an external force making us think longer term.” Brian Leonard and Stacy Brown-Philpot , TaskRabbit
“The category design process helped us dramatically sharpen and improve our category and direction, and develop messaging and positioning around it.”
 Assaf Resnick, CEO, BigPanda
"When you’re clear about the problem, it’s amazing how the category manifests itself.”
 Ragy Thomas, CEO, Sprinklr
"It’s been an epic feat to get to this point, and the CDA team gave us the push we need to get uncomfortable, be bold, and to think differently.”
 Alyssa Merwin-Henderson, VP Global Sales Solutions, LinkedIn®
"Category Design Advisors quickly became part of the Ripples team – if we need category advice, we just tap them in."
 Yossi Meshulam, CEO, Ripples
"Our portfolio companies spent a half day understanding category design thinking and walked away with actionable takeaways." Craig Rosenberg, Chief Platform Officer, Scale Venture Partners

Orchestrate a business strategy that vaults your company to the elite level.

Strategic category design puts your company in a unique position – apart from the crowd and able to attract talent, investors, and customers. Ready to move beyond incremental growth and achieve exponential results? We help our clients define new market categories and position themselves as leaders for years to come. Check out our methodology and learn more about how our process sets us apart from business consulting companies.

1

What’s the problem to solve?

2

What solution must exist?

3

Why are you that solution?

Learn about the CDA methodology
Min

Andreessen Proposed Product/Market Fit, But It Really Is Market/Product Fit

“A fresh perspective helped. The packaging, structure of the concept – we wouldn’t have gotten so far if not for an external force making us think longer term.”

Brian Leonard and Stacy Brown-Philpot , TaskRabbit

Learn from the experts

Category Design Resources

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...Read More

2024 Looks Like a Rare Window for the Boldest Companies to Define and Win Their Categories

So 2023 sucked for the startup ecosystem. But there are signs that 2024 will bring opportunities for companies to reset, reload and win their markets.

Sure, it’s not going to...Read More

Cognitive Biases and Category Design: A Salute to Daniel Kahneman

While researching and writing the book Play Bigger, we started to realize that good category design required an understanding of cognitive biases and how they work.  So we turned...Read More

Naming Your Category – 7 Guidelines

How do you name an innovation?

When we work with companies to help them identify and define a new market category, part of defining it is giving it a name....Read More

Mind Space: Lessons From the Creation of the Electric Car Category

Creating a new market category means opening up a new space in your audience’s brains.

The New York Times recently published a story about how electric cars are finally...Read More

Navigating the Innovation Spectrum: Strategic Insights for Category Designers

When creating a new market category, an interesting question to consider is: Where will your product land on the continuum from emergent to hierarchical – what we call...Read More

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 see...Read More

Inspired by Maya Angelou, Strategic Category Design Leverages Emotion

In the busy landscape of startups and innovation, new products and services constantly flood the market. Standing out is a necessity for survival. 

One proven way...Read More

How Red-Hot Guidewheel Leveraged Category Design Into a $31M B Round

When we first worked with Lauren Dunford, during Covid, she was running a seed-stage company called Safi that had been started in Kenya. It was a small...Read More

Write the Rules, Win the Game: How to Lead and Dominate in a New Market Category

An important part of category design is what we call setting the rules for a new market category. 

The company that successfully...Read More

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 introduced the...Read More

Pitch VCs On The Category You’ll Create, Not Just Your Company

There’s something we always tell startups about pitching to VCs or seed investors – something that founders rarely get right:

Pitch the category first, and then why your...Read More