Are you ready to master the most powerful business skill on the planet?

Over the past 20 years, Category Creation and Category Design has gone from being a little-known "positioning" secret from advertising legends like David Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, Al Ries, Jack Trout, Gary Halbert, and more, to now becoming the single most in-demand skill among business leaders, Fortune 500 executives, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, marketers, and even the next generation of digital creators. 

Why?

Because the business world is starting to wake up and realize branding comes second to category design.

No meaningful category? 

No meaningful company.

Christopher Lochhead, Eddie Yoon, and Nicolas Cole—otherwise known as the Category Pirates—are the leaders of Category Creation and Category Design thinking in the digital age. And in The Category Design Toolkit, they walk readers through 15 absolutely mind-altering frameworks for how to see business, life, and the way people organize information into "categories" in their minds. Are you a B2B enterprise software company? Do you sell plastic widgets on Amazon? Maybe you're a small business owner, a biotech entrepreneur, or a YouTuber. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do. In order to have a meaningful impact on the world, in order to become known for a niche you own, and in order to dominate your industry in a way that separates you from any and all competition, you must create your own category.

Which means you must learn the skill of category design.

In this book, you will learn:

✓ How to objectively measure whether you and your company are creating a new category versus competing in someone else's (existing) category.

✓ How to prosecute The Magic Triangle: product design, company/business model design, and category design.

✓ How to find your Superconsumers, and leverage Superconsumer data to discover new potential categories.

✓ How to engineer a category breakthrough (even if you think your industry is "too saturated" or "all the good ideas are taken").

✓ The importance of being a missionary versus a mercenary—and why mercenary entrepreneurs and executives unknowingly compete over 24% of the market.

✓ The 8 category differentiation levers, and all the ways you can create a defensible moat around your business.

✓ How you can apply category creation & category design principles even as a small "e" entrepreneur or local business owner.

✓ How category design can also be applied to your career (and why you should aim to become known for a niche you own, not "build a personal brand).

✓ What happens if you neglect your category—and how to rage category violence industry leaders who make this mistake.

✓ How to write a legendary S-1 and raise hundreds of millions (even billions) of dollars in your company's IPO by making a case for the future growth of your category (which you created & designed).

✓ Why "Blue Ocean" isn't what you are looking for. And if you want to truly create a category of your own, you should execute a No Ocean Strategy.

This book is everything you need to know in order to learn, practice, and master the skill of category design.

To read this “mini-book,” as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

How do you build a career with meaning?

Why do some writers and creators become known for a term, a phrase, or even an entire category, while others (talented as they might be) fade away?

Because the most memorable writers and creators become known for a niche they own. And, more importantly, they invented new language to help them show the world how and why they are different.

In typical Pirate fashion, this “mini-book” is the furthest thing you’ll find to conventional personal branding advice or “the ultimate guide to marketing yourself well.” Christopher Lochhead, Eddie Yoon, and Nicolas Cole (otherwise known as Category Pirates), reveal why it’s not enough to just be “better” than the competition. You have to be different—radically different—and then you have to invent new language that solidifies your new ground. 

And they did it by inventing a new word that means exactly what they are preaching (how meta is that?).

Languaging: The strategic use of language to change thinking.

Languaging, according to Category Pirates, is what separates legendary writers, creators, and thinkers who make a dent in the universe from everyone else. It’s word-of-mouth marketing at its finest.

Want to stand out?

You can’t just “be” different. You have to Name & Claim your “different,” so other people can talk about it.

In this “mini-book” you will learn:

• How legendary writers use languaging: the strategic use of language to change thinking.
• Why it’s so important to “niche down,” and why the greatest writers & creators become known for a niche they own.
• What makes word-of-mouth marketing work, and how you can use Languaging to put “the right words in the right mouths.”
• How companies like Pfizer, Netflix, and McKinsey & Company all used Languaging to change the way customers perceived the value of their products and services.
• How Peter Drucker became one of the most prolific business writers in the world by using Languaging.
• How Malcolm Gladwell used Languaging to write one of the best-selling nonfiction books of our generation, The Tipping Point.
• And how Languaging + Category Design = a legendary, differentiated career.

Short, sweet, and to the point, this is niche marketing at its finest, and a playbook for how you can become known for a niche you own.

#1 Amazon Bestseller

A mediocre Category Designer will beat a world-class marketer every day of the week.

The reason is because all marketing sits within a context. "He or she who frames the problem owns the solution." Without this context—without a category—your marketing becomes nothing but screaming, shouting, and pitching customers with deals, discounts, and other short-term tactics in the hopes of landing a sale. But are you building your business? More importantly, are any of these efforts going to compound over time and establish you as the category leader?

Christopher Lochhead, Eddie Yoon, and Nicolas Cole—otherwise known as the Category Pirates—are the authorities of Category Creation and Category Design in the digital world. Pirate Christopher is a 3x CMO, Pirate Eddie has driven over $8 billion in annual sales generated for companies, and Pirate Cole is a serial writing entrepreneur, and together they have put together A Marketer's Guide To Category Design.

In this book, you will learn:

✓ There is a new category of "human" in today's world: Native Digitals (people under the age of 35 years old). And if you are a Native Analog, then all of your marketing efforts need to sit in this new context called, "For Native Digitals, the digital world is the real world."

✓ Why so many marketers, entrepreneurs, executives, and even investors fall for The Big Brand Lie (falsly believing it's the company's "brand" customers care about).

✓ The "Better" Trap: why comparison marketing never works, and causes comparison-focused companies to fight over only 24% of the market.

✓ How to successfully execute a Dam The Demand strategy, stopping customers in the "old" world and moving them over to the new & different future you are creating.

✓ How to launch a Lightning Strike Strategy—and why "Peanut Butter Marketing" (spread out evenly throughout the year) is a guaranteed path to irrelevancy.

✓ What most marketers don't understand about Black Friday, and why discount campaigns and coupons are a bad way to grow your business.

✓ And finally, the difference between content marketing that captures people's attention and makes a difference versus content that goes nowhere.

If you are a marketer, or an entrepreneur/executive who wants to approach marketing through a category lens, this is the book for you.

To read this “mini-book,” as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

There are 5 levels to becoming a legendary writer, creator, and “thought leader” in your field.

• Level 1: Consumption
  
• Level 2: Curation
• Level 3: Obvious Connection
• Level 4: Non-Obvious Connection
  
• Level 5: Category Creation
  

Unfortunately, most people who aspire to be a “thought leader” (by any definition of the term) struggle to make it past Levels 2 or 3 on The Content Pyramid. They mistake passionately sharing someone else’s ideas, or stating a “Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious,” for thought leadership.

Again, while this might be a terrific strategy for getting short-term likes, followers, and approval, there is a giant difference between Gary Vee and Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Because in order to be a “thought leader,” you must be willing to LEAD WITH YOUR THOUGHTS.

In this “mini-book” you will learn:

• How legendary writers, creators, entrepreneurs, executives, and industry thought leaders measure success and understand Category Design.
  
• Why so many aspiring thought leaders don't actually “lead thoughts” in a different direction.
• The number one mistake aspiring writers and creators make when trying to be thought leaders.
• Why people consume empty intellectual calories and how to develop enriching content by creating your own category and becoming known for a niche you own.
• Tips to apply the five levels of the Content Pyramid to become a legendary writer, creator, and “thought leader” in your field.
  

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this “mini-book” shares unique insight into what it takes to become a thought leader and successfully build a unique and differentiated category.

To read this “mini-book,” as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

Actual “thinking” is not reflexive. It’s reflective.

Almost all thinking is reflexive (having an unconscious “reflex” in response) versus “reflective” (taking a moment to consciously reflect on how the past may have created a preexisting mental model keeping you from considering a new and different future).

But reflexive thinking causes a scarcity of fresh thinking in the world.

In order to build the skill of coming up with fresh, new ideas, we have to first define what it means to “think.”

In this “mini-book” you will learn:

• How Sequoia Capital's mental awareness to ask a "thinking" question led to investing in Airbnb—and earning more than $12 billion.
• Strategic ways to move up and out of Obvious, incremental instruction and into exponential Non-Obvious thinking.
• Why languaging your thinking is the secret to being seen as a brilliant thinker and writer.
• The 5 archetypes of highly effective creators, writers, and entrepreneurs who create Non-Obvious ideas.
• Tips to become legendary by knowing the people you're creating for, what their expectations are, and why it matters to them.

Packed with incredibly valuable insights, this short “mini-book” shows how to spot, create, or unlock Non-Obvious problems and solutions to come up with the most valuable ideas.

To read this “mini-book,” as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

Some writers don’t want to think about the money side.

The question of how to monetize as a writer, creator, and thought leader is a bit loaded—because it requires you to address a deeper question, first.

Two questions, actually…

• Question #1: What does the party cost?
• Question #2: And who is the party for?

“What does the party cost?” is your “burn rate"—the amount of money it costs to sustain your lifestyle of happy living.

“Who is the party for?” is a deeper, more complicated question—and usually the root issue that keeps so many people from pursuing their passions.

In this “mini-book” you will learn:

• Why most people make financial decisions based on what they want other people to think about them, as opposed to what they truly want for themselves.
• How to determine your "ultimate goal" as a writer or creator (hint: it's not how to make money).
• Why Ryan Holiday and Malcolm Gladwell are both legendary writers, but one is better than the other at Category Design.
• How to monetize content, whether you write a book, create a course, put together a keynote speech, or hold monthly mastermind sessions.
• Tips to monetize your audience at each level of the Category Design pyramid, depending on how you build your audience and who’s in it.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this “mini-book” shares how you get people to talk about you and your work, solidify your Category Design position, and build a legendary career that “pays for your party” for the rest of your life.

To read this “mini-book,” as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here: 

categorypirates.substack.com

Listen to the way most CMOs talk about their budget, and what you’ll hear is this:

“I’m not sure that’s in my budget.”

As a result, most marketing budgets get treated like a service bureau where everyone in the company gets a say as to where money should be spent. The result? “Peanut butter marketing” that gets spread around equally, yielding little to no meaningful results for the company.

Want to know how legendary CMOs create annual marketing plans that make a huge difference in the marketplace?

In this “mini-book” you will learn:

• Why the CMO needs to build a legendary relationship with the CFO (and the marketing & finance departments need to work together).
• How to throttle your marketing budget at the end of every quarter.
• Why Reach & Frequency marketing strategies don’t work, and the reason companies should operate on a 2-3x per year Lightning Strike marketing model.
• How Hershey, Macy’s, Apple, Chegg, and Amazon have executed some of the greatest Lightning Strike marketing campaigns in history.
• And more.
  

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this “mini-book” explains why year-long marketing should not be your dominant focus, and explains the exponential benefits of mattering to your most loyal customers just a few times per year. 

To read this “mini-book,” as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

Silicon Valley says, "The best product always wins." But does it?

The goal of every entrepreneur, then, is to build the best product. How? Put the incumbent of the industry you want to “disrupt” in your sights, funnel tens (or hundreds) of millions of dollars into your scope, and build a “monster” product. Wipe them off the face of the earth. Show their customers how much better you are than them. And when you’re done? Hire a new CEO, bump yourself up to Chairman, and go on a speaking tour spreading the good word: “The best product always wins.”

There’s just one problem.

The best product does not always win.

In this “mini-book” you will learn:

• What entrepreneurs, founders, executives, investors, and artists get wrong when they believe "the best product wins."
• The three most repeated “product” myths in the business world and how they can prevent pioneering a new industry.
• Why it’s often the DIFFERENT product that wins and how the FANS (aka the category) make it successful.
• The product strategy that helped Dropbox grow from 100,000 users to four million users in 15 months.
• Why no legendary company has ever created a product that fits into an existing category.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this “mini-book” busts common product myths and shows how to MAKE a place in the world for your product.

To read this “mini-book,” as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

Human beings are not brands.

Listen closely...

Oprah Winfrey is not a brand. Oprah is a Black woman who was born into poverty in Mississippi to a single teenage mother who used her challenging and troubling childhood to inspire her to create a new category of television talk show that evangelized a more intimate, emotional, and confessional form of media. She did something different.

Muhammad Ali is not a brand, he’s one of the greatest boxers and human rights activists to ever live.

Bill Gates is not a brand. He’s one of the greatest entrepreneurs in history.

None of these people became historical figures because they were known for being known. They mastered their craft, did something unique and different, provided immense value to the world, and then they became known as a byproduct of their work and their commitment to sharing their insights, perspectives, and talents with other people.

The unfortunate reality is that the term “personal branding” gets people’s heads confused.

In this “mini-book” you will learn:

• Why personal Category Design is the single point of failure for careers, creators, professionals of all sorts, and artists.
  
• The one thing that is going to determine your ability to land a life-changing opportunity—and it is not your title.
• How to earn a reputation by the category, the customers, and the ecosystem around you.
• How musicians like Dave Grohl, Bob Dylan, and Jay-Z carved out their own personal Category Design.
• The steps to becoming known for a new and differentiated niche you own.
  

Jam-packed with valuable insights and actionable steps, this “mini-book” will share what can you be legendary at that creates significant value for others.

To read this “mini-book,” as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here: 

categorypirates.substack.com

Category Neglect doesn’t come from people being stupid or lacking sufficient data and resources to spot the headwinds and tailwinds of the future. 

It comes from a refusal to acknowledge which direction the wind is really blowing.

Today, there is a new category of human emerging, and no one seems to be noticing it: “Native Digitals.” These are people who are ages 35 and under and grew up in a world full of screens, Internet connections, smartphones, social media, and technology integrated into every aspect of their lives.

As a result, this means anyone over the age of 35 is a Native Analog.

Native Analogs. These are Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, born anywhere from the 1940s all the way up to the early ‘80s. Today, they range between the ages of 40 to 75, and make up approximately 136.8 million Americans. 

Native digitals. These are Millennials and Gen Zers, born between the early 1980s to as recently as the 2010s. These demographics are around 35 years of age on the high end today, down to as young as 6 years old, and make up approximately 140.1 million Americans.

The result, of course, is that soon the world will be run by Native Digitals, who believe the digital world is more important than the real world.

This will have cataclysmic effects on every category, in every industry.

In this “mini-book” you will learn:

• The cautionary tale of Tymshare, and why it’s risky to bet against innovation.
• The major differences between Native Analogs and Native Digitals, and what this new category of human means for industries of the future.
• How most companies in the world today (including the world’s largest digital companies: Google, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, etc.) are run by Native Analogs, and soon, that will no longer be the case.
• Why demand for analog “stuff” will continue to go down, and demand for digital “stuff” will continue to go up.
• And more.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this “mini-book” questions which reality will mean more to people in the future (the “real” world or the digital world), and reveals ways for creators, investors, entrepreneurs, executives, and investors to remain relevant as the world changes.

To read this “mini-book,” as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here: 

categorypirates.substack.com

One of the most common questions entrepreneurs and small business owners ask is, “How do I create a category if I’m not a heavily funded startup or some massively successful company? How can someone like me create a category of my own?”

This reveals maybe the single greatest benefit of category design:

Anyone can do it, at any stage of their life.

In this “mini-book,” you will learn the 7 ways small “e” entrepreneurs (solopreneurs, small business owners, consultants, advisors, freelancers, etc.) can become known for a niche they own: 

• WHAT do you do… that you are uniquely known for?
• WHO do you do it for… who are surprisingly willing to pay large premiums?
• WHEN do you do it… that sits at the peak intersection of Important and Urgent?
• WHERE do you do it… that if money were no object, everyone would want it?
• WHY do you do it… that is so in sync with the Superconsumer, word of mouth spreads like wildfire?
• What OUTCOME do you unlock… that is 100x more valuable than the price you charge?
• How much and “how” does it COST… that is both a value & a premium, and the ‘way you pay’ is a benefit in itself all at the same time?

Each of these are areas of opportunity for you to execute a No Ocean Strategy, meaning you CREATE something in the world that previously did not exist. And the more of these “niche down” opportunities you combine together, the more different you are and the more difficult it becomes for someone else to “do what you do.”

In addition, in this mini-book you will learn:

• How Velveeta became one of the most successful brands at Kraft, and how you can double-down on what makes your product or service truly different.
  
• Why Superconsumers are more valuable than high-volume buyers, and how you can grow your business by targeting underserved customers who are obsessed with your category.
  
• How to be a true missionary with a radically different POV in a way that gets word-of-mouth marketing to spread like wildfire.
  
• And how to niche down, and niche down again, to ensure you have zero competition—and is seen as both a "value buy" and a premium product or service at the same time.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this mini-book is a How-To guide for any solopreneur, entrepreneur, or small business owner looking to supercharge their business.