Category Conversation
Episode 32

How a Gartner Analyst Looks at Categories

January 23, 2024

Listen on...

In this episode, we’re joined by Dan Gottlieb, a Senior Director Analyst at Gartner. Dan shares his take on how analysts like him define categories and when to establish a new one. He also unpacks how startups can stand out in crowded categories by defining their “unique capabilities” and shares how and when startups should educate analysts like him about their solutions.


This episode was hosted by John Rougeux and Mike "Damp" Damphousse, and sponsored by:


Category Design Advisors

BeTheStage.live

Flag & Frontier

Featured in this episode

Hosts

John Rougeux
Founder
Flag & Frontier
Mike Damphousse
Co-founder / Partner
Category Design Advisors
Dan Gottlieb
Senior Data Analyst
Gartner

Guests

Recent Episodes

Category Conversation
Episode 39

Voyage in Carving Out a Learning and Skill Development Category w/ Hywel Carver

March 19, 2024
Hywel Carver, CEO of Skiller Whale, shares his company's category design journey and the challenges they faced in defining their offering and how the workshop by Category Design Advisors, along with the book "Play Bigger," helped them create a new category, "Live Team Coaching."
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 38

Designing a Category In an Old School Industry w/ Frederik Hendriksen

March 12, 2024
Frederik Hendriksen, founder of Rensair, introduces a revolutionary smart ventilation system tailored for commercial real estate, enhancing energy efficiency and indoor air quality.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 37

How to Right-Size the Problem You’re Solving w/ Lauren Pufpaf

February 27, 2024
In this episode, Lauren Pufpaf, President, COO, and co-founder of Feed Media Group, talks about how she and her team used Category Design to shift gears while upscaling their company.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 36

Keeping Your Point Of View Unique In A Wave Of Competition w/ Brian Schiff

February 19, 2024
In this episode, we have a conversation with Brian Schiff on Category Design and A.I. A.I. has created a massive shift in context, and with that comes massive opportunities for category designers, but it also means a flood of competitors into the same space.
Listen Now
Category Panel
Episode 35

Al Ramadan of Play Bigger – Category Design Beyond Tech Startups – Changing the World

February 13, 2024
Al Ramadan is the CEO of Play Bigger, LLC and one of the co-authors of “Play Bigger”. In this replay of our live AMA event, Discover how shifts in context—ranging from environmental changes to global events like pandemics, wars, or financial crises—can spark innovative solutions.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 34

How Category Design Reveals Buyer Problems w/ Rebecca Kirstein Resch

February 6, 2024
In this episode, we interview Rebecca Kirstein Resch, the founder and CEO at inqli. Her company is dedicated to helping workplace teams tap into the power of ‘tacit knowledge.’ Listen in to hear the insights sh has unlocked through her founder’s journey and how she’s t
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 33

Why Vertical SaaS is Fertile Ground for Category Design w/ Nick Tippmann

January 30, 2024
In this episode, Nick Tippmann, former CMO of Greenlight Guru, joins us to break down his journey as a marketer turned investor. Nick shares why vertical SaaS companies should think like category designers and how he evaluates the category potential of early-stage startups.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 32

How a Gartner Analyst Looks at Categories

January 23, 2024
In this episode, Dan Gottlieb, a Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, joins us. He shares insights on defining categories, how startups can stand out with their unique capabilities, and the right time for them to educate analysts about their solutions.
Listen Now
Category Panel
Episode 31

Sangram Vajre’s Events and Community Playbook

January 16, 2024
In our AMA with Sangram Vajre, a top B2B SaaS category designer, learn how he used events and community at Terminus, Peak, and GTM Partners to drive category strategy, and how it's still feasible to build your own category and community.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 30

Do You Need Category Design (Or Is It A Choice)? w/ Brad Luttrell

January 9, 2024
In this episode, Brad Luttrell joins us to talk through how he discovered category design a year and a half ago, why it was the strategy Holler Commerce needed to adopt, and what he has done to design social commerce as a service category ever since.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 29

How Category Memetics Can Help A New Category Stick w/ Ken Rutsky

January 2, 2024
In this episode, Ken Rutsky discusses 'category memetics,' explaining how new categories can replicate like memes, spreading rapidly. He shares strategies for creating successful category memes and delves into the research behind his insights.
Listen Now
Category Panel
Episode 28

3 Tools for Category Concepts w/ Josh Lowman

December 26, 2023
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.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 27

Getting Analysts To Buy Into Your Category Design w/ Scott Albro

December 19, 2023
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.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 26

How to Condition The Market w/ David West, CEO of Proscia

December 12, 2023
Innovative firms must show how their solutions differ from the norm and why that matters. Crafting the right narrative is tough, but a good POV helps. We're joined by David West, CEO of Proscia, who shares how a workshop helped him convey why their pathology breakthrough is vital
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 25

"When Should You Design a Category?" w/ Jonathan Gandolf

December 5, 2023
Explore category design's diverse applications with Jonathan Gandolf, CEO of The Juice. From software to breweries, he's mastered this discipline. Now, he's contemplating its role in his new venture. Tune in to discover his decision-making process in this insightful episode.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 24

How Community & Category Design Go Hand in Hand w/ Jared Robin, Founder of RevGenius

November 28, 2023
In this episode, Jared of RevGenius discusses intertwining category design with community building. Starting with a small LinkedIn group in 2020, he grew it to 40k members. Highlights: his journey, making unique communities, the need for a shared POV, and category design's role.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 23

Minimal Viable Category Design w/ Pietro Bezza

November 21, 2023
In this episode, Pietro Bezza, co-founder of Connect Ventures, introduces the concept of 'minimal viable category design,' aimed at guiding early-stage startups in addressing and promoting their unique solutions.
Listen Now
Category Panel
Episode 22

After 7 Years, Why Did Category Design Advisors Rewrite Their Own Point of View?

November 14, 2023
After co-authoring "Play Bigger" in 2016, Kevin Maney and Mike Damphousse founded Category Design Advisors. Now, with John Rougeux and 40+ clients later, they've reworked their category POV. In this live AMA, they discussed applying their own strategies and the lessons learned.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 21

Designing A Category As A Bootstrapped Service Agency w/ James Carbary

November 7, 2023
In this episode, James Carbary of Sweet Fish Media explains his shift from blogging to dominance in B2B podcasting via category design, and discusses pioneering a new owned media category.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 20

Taking Advantage of a Context Shift Through Category Design w/ Doug Camplejohn

October 31, 2023
Doug Camplejohn was working at Salesforce when the world changed in 2020, and quickly realized that there may be an opportunity happening. That’s when he decided to start Airspeed, a family of apps that help employees feel connected and celebrated.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 19

Founder Clarity Through Category Design for Fundraising, Product, and Culture w/ Lauren Dunford, CEO of Guidewheel

October 24, 2023
In this episode, Lauren highlights category design for startups, using Guidewheel’s FactoryOps to attract stakeholders. We discuss sustainability, AI's role in data firms, and valuation impact.
Listen Now
Category Panel
Episode 18

Nearbound and the Early Stages of Category Design w/ Jared Fuller and Isaac Morehouse

October 17, 2023
Jared Fuller and Isaac Morehouse pioneered our talk on nearbound, a game-changing GTM strategy. Advocates of category design, they've shaped one of the fastest-growing B2B media brands ever.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 17

Getting Sales' Buy In For Category Design w/ Dan Tyre

October 10, 2023
This week’s show is with Dan Tyre, a legendary executive at Hubspot. Hired as employee number six, Dan talks about the backstory of the inbound category, how to get sales to support your category design strategy, and the importance of company culture when designing a category.
Listen Now
Category Panel
Episode 16

Category Design for Early-Stage Startups: AMA w/ Rachel Josepho and Waleed Cope

October 3, 2023
Fresh off a category design workshop in NYC, Rachel Josepho, Founder & CEO of Mindfull, and Waleed Cope, CEO of The Soap Box, joined us to share their journey as category designers leading early-stage startups.
Listen Now
Category Short
Episode 15

Is Your Startup Caught In Category Jail?

September 26, 2023
In this episode, John Rougeux explains why a concept called “category jail” needs to be on the radar of every startup. Category jail occurs when your novel solution is mentally miscategorized by buyers, causing your company to get unfairly written off as another “me-too” product.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 14

How to Validate Your Startup Idea Using Category Design w/ Rio Hodges

September 19, 2023
In this episode, we chat with Rio Hodges, Principal at Antler. Rio encounters hundreds of startups each year through his firm's accelerator programs, so his perspective is invaluable if you’re in the early chapters of this journey.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 13

Done Properly, Category Design Creates Demand w/ Craig Rosenberg

September 12, 2023
Scale Venture Partners’ Craig Rosenberg, Chief Platform Officer at Scale and long-time friend and collaborator of co-host, Damp, chats about category design driving demand, mentoring founders, and stories from the startup and VC trenches.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 12

AI Is Creating 3 Layers Of Category Design Opportunities w/ Manny Bernabe

September 5, 2023
AI will be create of the largest changes in context in recent history. It's the Gutenberg press reborn. On this episode, we're bringing an expert from the trenches to chat about what this means for category designers.
Listen Now
Category Panel
Episode 11

"Superconsumers" Book Club & AMA w/ Eddie Yoon

August 29, 2023
Kicked off the first ever Category Thinkers Book Club with Eddie Yoon's classic, Superconsumers. Discuss insights that led to the book, how to apply Superconsumer strategy in B2B service companies, and why understanding Superconsumers is key to a profitable community strategy.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 10

What's Next For The Inbound Category w/ Kipp Bodnar, CMO of HubSpot

August 22, 2023
On this episode of "Category Thinkers," Kipp Bodnar, HubSpot's CMO, dives into the nuances of category design in modern marketing. He highlights HubSpot's journey with inbound marketing and the transformative role of AI in shaping future categories.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 9

Reinventing a 25-Year-Old Company Through Category Design w/ Carl Daikeler, CEO of Beachbody

August 15, 2023
Founders often use category design to dominate markets. However, many encounter it post-founding. CEO Carl Daikeler of BODi, known for P90x & Insanity, faced challenges in digital transition. Using category design, he's now pioneering a new fitness category: health esteem.
Listen Now
Category Panel
Episode 8

The Life Of A Founder In The Middle of Category Design w/ Hannah Grady Williams

August 8, 2023
Diving deep into Category Design? Books and podcasts help, but firsthand insights are unmatched. Join us as startup founder Hannah Grady Williams of d'Skills gives us a real-time peek into the world of active category creation.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 7

How Category Design and Product-Led Growth Shaped Slack's GTM Strategy w/ Bill Macaitis

August 1, 2023
is the former CMO and CRO of Slack. In this conversation, we dive deep into what made Slack the category king of team collaboration tools.
Listen Now
Categories in the Wild
Episode 6

What the WWE and Sports Entertainment Can Teach Us About Category Design w/ Raj "Rajnation" Nathan

July 25, 2023
In this episode of #CategoriesInTheWild, we'll examine WWE's development of the "sports entertainment" category. It's a perfect case study that every category designer should learn from.
Listen Now
Category Jam
Episode 5

"Do We Have A Category?" w/ Josh Roenitz and Kim Bach from DailyHuman

July 18, 2023
When founders first start considering a category strategy, they spend a lot of time bouncing ideas back and forth to develop a point of view. That can feel great or it can feel like a battle, but it's impossible to know if it's productive until they share it with someone else.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 4

How to Influence Buyers to Care About a New Category w/Mark Kilens (CMO of Airmeet)

July 11, 2023
Mark Kilens has built a career as a marketing leader and category designer with HubSpot and Drift. Now, he's the CMO at Airmeet, the company behind Event-Led Growth.
Listen Now
Categories in the Wild
Episode 3

What Apple Got Wrong With the Launch of the Vision Pro w/ Jordy Van de Locht

July 4, 2023
When Apple launched the Vision Pro, it wasn't just a product launch, it was the launch of a new category called "spatial computing." But did Apple get everything right? Join us as we deconstruct Apple's newest category launch and discuss what we might have done differently.
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 2

The Current State Of Category Design And Who It's For w/Christopher Lochhead

June 27, 2023
One of the biggest reasons we knew the world needed the Category Thinkers Community (apart from our own desire to talk category strategy all day) is that there are many misconceptions about the discipline of category design, and who it's for.
Listen Now
Category Panel
Episode 1

A Call To Action For Category Designers w/Play Bigger Co-authors Christopher Lochhead, Al Ramadan, and Kevin Maney

June 21, 2023
The discipline of category design was formally launched seven years ago with the book, Play Bigger. On category design’s seventh birthday, we decided to reunite three co-authors of Play Bigger (Christopher Lochhead, Al Ramadan, Kevin Maney).
Listen Now
Category Conversation
Episode 0

The Category Thinkers Community Point of View (Trailer)

May 26, 2023
Listen to the trailer for Category Thinkers. This isn't just a podcast. It's the launch of a community. A different community dedicated to the understanding and application of category design. Naturally, we're kicking it off with our POV.
Listen Now
View all