Tailored category design strategies for every growth stage
Whether you're a startup shaping your first market narrative, a scaling company seeking clarity, or an investor supporting a portfolio of ambitious teams, Category Design Advisors offers a structured, collaborative approach to developing a compelling category strategy.
We work with you to uncover the problem your business is uniquely built to solve, define what the solution must look like, and establish the strategic foundation for building and leading a market category. Our process is designed to support long-term brand relevance and precise market targeting – especially critical as your company grows or redefines its role in an evolving ecosystem.
Each engagement is grounded in our proven category design methodology, and is shaped to meet your needs at whatever stage you’re in – whether you're building a new category or rethinking how your existing business fits in the market.
From hands-on category design work with company leadership teams to investor-led portfolio workshops and speaking engagements, our offerings are flexible, focused, and designed to deliver long-term strategic clarity.
Strategic Category Design: for high-growth startups and established companies
Strategic Category Design is a proven approach for startups, established companies and business units inside large enterprises to infuse category design thinking into their teams. As a leading category design firm, we guide companies through a clear, collaborative category design process. The result is a compelling market targeting strategy that sets them on a path to lead and dominate a category of their own.
Category Design Portfolio Day: for VCs and other investors
For investors, including VCs and private equity groups, injecting category design thinking into portfolio companies can increase the odds of better returns. By guiding companies to define and lead new market categories, we help them gain a competitive edge, setting the stage for long-term success.
Speaking Engagements: for conferences, board meetings, off-sites and more
Bring category design thinking to your next event. Kevin Maney – founding partner at Category Design Advisors, co-author of the book Play Bigger and bestselling author on business and technology – is available for speaking engagements. He delivers compelling talks on market targeting, business growth, and the category design process, tailored to audiences ranging from executive teams to large conferences.