Category Thinkers – Details, episodes & analysis

In this podcast episode, Hywel Carver, CEO of Skiller Whale, shares his company's category design journey after attending a workshop by Category Design Advisors, sponsored by Concept Ventures. He discusses the challenges they faced in defining their offering and how the workshop, along with the book "Play Bigger," helped them create a new category called "Live Team Coaching." The process involved the entire senior leadership team and emphasized the importance of alignment and internal collaboration. Carver also touches on the significance of humor in their brand identity, the role of storytelling in building a category, and their long-term vision of reskilling knowledge workers. The episode highlights the iterative nature of category strategy development and the value of external feedback in refining a company's approach. Hosts Mike “Damp” Damphousse and Kevin Maney.


This episode is sponsored by:

Category Design Advisors

BeTheStage.live

Flag & Frontier

Commercial real estate isn’t usually a place that is associated with technological innovation, neither is the HVAC industry, but that makes it ripe for category design. Meet Frederik Hendriksen, the founder of Rensair. Explore their groundbreaking smart ventilation system, seamlessly integrating hardware and software to optimize energy efficiency and indoor air quality in commercial buildings. Triggered by the massive shift in context during Covid, Rensair has pushed to transform their category.  Beyond offices, envision its potential applications in homes and transportation. Witness them forging a new category from an existing one in building engineering with a strong focus on sustainability. Hosts Mike “Damp” Damphousse and Kevin Maney unpack the transition of an existing category with Rensair.


This episode is sponsored by:

Category Design Advisors

BeTheStage.live

Flag & Frontier

In this episode, Ken Rutsky joins us to explore a concept he calls ‘category memetics.’ It’s the idea that new categories can act like memes – they can enter the mind, replicate, and rapidly spread to others. Ken shares his insights on how to create a successful category meme and unpacks some of the research he uncovered that led to these insights. 

Listen now to:

• Hear how memes can act as a cultural transmission tool in business
• Understand how to create effective category language 
• Learn how memetics can inform and influence your category strategy 

This conversation is moderated by the founders of Category Thinkers, Pablo Gonzalez, John Rougeux, and Mike "Damp" Damphousse.

This episode is sponsored by:

Category Design Advisors

BeTheStage.live

It takes a lot of time and commitment to write a great strategic narrative, but if you can use battle tested frameworks, they will save you  time, money and even heartbreak.   

Strategy and brand design expert Josh Lowman walks us through the three tools he uses to quickly pitch and vet new category ideas, and engages with our community in our monthly AMA.  He covers topics like:

• How the "shift" affects the category narrative, and how it differs between technological and cultural shifts
• The difference between problems, enemies, and villains when defining the category
•  What constitutes a good category name, and how to deliver it

This conversation is moderated by the founders of Category Thinkers, Pablo Gonzalez, John Rougeux, and Mike "Damp" Damphousse.

This episode is sponsored by:

Category Design Advisors

BeTheStage.live

Scott Albro, co-founder and CEO of Goldie shares his insights on why analyst buy-in is crucial for category success, strategies for effectively communicating your category vision, and real-world examples from his time at TOPO.   For those unfamiliar, TOPO, Inc. was a research and advisory firm that provided insights and consulting services to high-growth companies. Under Scott's leadership, TOPO became a beacon for businesses looking to understand and conquer their markets before being acquired by Gartner. Today, Scott brings his wealth of experience and knowledge to our discussion on topics like:

• Why it makes sense to let analyst name your category
• How engagements with analysts differ whether you are customer or not
• What many early stage companies get wrong the first time they engage analysts

This episode was hosted by John Rougeux and Mike “Damp” Damphousse.

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This episode is sponsored by:

Category Design Advisors

BeTheStage.live

Innovative companies must convince buyers and analysts why their solutions differ from the status quo, and why that difference matters. But sometimes, developing the right narrative can be a challenge. This is where a well-crafted point of view (POV) can help. In this episode, we’re joined by David West, co-founder and CEO of Proscia. After attending a category design workshop, David was finally able to get the market to understand why his company’s solution in pathology was such an important breakthrough. 

Listen now to learn:

• Why category design helped David’s company set itself apart from commoditized products in his industry
• How Proscia gained analyst support by telling their customers the story they hoped to hear
• Why having conviction in your point of view is so crucial in conditioning the market to think differently

This episode was hosted by John Rougeux and Mike “Damp” Damphousse.

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This episode is sponsored by:

Category Design Advisors

BeTheStage.live

Category design principles can be applied in different ways, for different outcomes. And while sometimes it’s clear that your business needs to act like a category designer, other times the answer is less straightforward. In this episode, we’re joined by Jonathan Gandolf, founder and CEO of The Juice. Jonathan was introduced to category design early in his career, and used the discipline in software and even breweries. Now, at The Juice, he’s in the midst of deciding if and how category design should apply to his latest venture. Listen now to find out where we land. 

In this episode, we cover..

• How to redirect demand from a known category into something new
• The importance of understanding the “why” for your business 
• How once novel categories can create new problems (and the need for new solutions)

This episode was hosted by John Rougeux and Pablo Gonzalez.

This episode is sponsored by:

Category Design Advisors

BeTheStage.live

In this episode, Jared Robin, founder of RevGenius, shares his take on how category design and community can mutually reinforce each other. In 2020, Jared took a small LinkedIn group and turned it into a community that now has over 40,000 members. In our conversation, you’ll hear all about Jared’s journey and how he plans to build community going forward – all with a category design lens. 

Episode highlights include:

• Jared's path to discovering category design and how it has shaped his thinking about building a community
• Why some communities are replaceable (and what to do about it)
• Why a vibrant community needs a shared Point of View (and how category design thinking can help you find yours)

This episode was hosted by John Rougeux and Pablo Gonzalez

This episode is sponsored by:

Category Design Advisors
BeTheStage.live

In this episode, we’re joined by Pietro Bezza, co-founder and managing partner at Connect Ventures. Pietro shares a framework he calls “minimal viable category design,” which focuses on helping early stage startups have the right conversations about the problem they’re solving and their plans for evangelizing it. 

Listen now to find out: 

• The challenges of pursuing “product/market” fit instead of “market/product” fit
• What Pietro looks for when evaluating early stage startups for investment
• Why understanding the timing and evolution of your category is key

This episode was hosted by John Rougeux and Mike Damphousse. 

This episode is sponsored by:

Category Design Advisors
BeTheStage.live

After Kevin Maney co-authored the book Play Bigger in 2016, he and Mike Damphousse founded Category Design Advisors to guide CEOs in implementing category design.

That was seven years ago. Now, after over 40 client engagements and joined by John Rougeux, the team decided it was time to rework its own category Point of View.

In this recording of a live AMA, the CDA team shares why they decided to apply category design to themselves, the process they used to redefine their Point of View, and the lessons they learned along the way.

This episode was moderated by Pablo Gonzalez.

This episode is sponsored by:

• Category Design Advisors
• BeTheStage.live