How to become a category pirate | Christopher Lochhead (Author of Play Bigger, Niche Down, more) 

Christopher Lochhead is a 14-time #1 bestselling author, top podcaster, and former 3x public tech company CMO and has been an advisor to over 50 VC-backed tech startups. He is best known as a “godfather” of category design, and Adobe named his book Play Bigger one of “the five greatest marketing books of all time.” In this episode, we discuss:• What exactly category design is
• The “Frame It, Name It, Claim It” framework
• How to go about designing your category
• Why “languaging” is so powerful
• Rating yourself on the category design scorecard
• Why Chris considers “product-market fit” a dangerous concept
• Chris’s spicy take on positioning
• The “better trap” and why it’s crucial to avoid it
• The magic triangle of product, company, and category
• How to embrace negative feedback
• Why the greatest time in the history of innovation is now
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Find the transcript and references at: www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ho...
Where to find Christopher Lochhead:
• Twitter/X: / lochhead
• LinkedIn: / christopherlochhead
• Website: www.categorypirates.com/
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com
• Twitter/X: / lennysan
• LinkedIn: / lennyrachitsky
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Chris’s background
(05:08) Why Chris shares his negative criticism on his website
(11:58) A simple explanation of category design
(18:00) How Purell mastered category design
(23:07) What Gong got right (and wrong)
(29:01) The “better trap” and why it’s crucial to avoid it
(38:51) Reflective thinking vs. reflexive thinking
(44:45) How Lomi created a revolutionary solution for food waste
(48:50) The “Frame It, Name It, Claim It” framework
(49:08) The concept of “languaging”
(54:00) Examples of languaging
(59:19) Spend more time on the problem than the solution
(1:01:37) The power of “backcasting”
(1:07:33) The truth behind building legendary brands
(1:10:39) The problem with product-market fit
(1:16:11) Chris’s spicy take on positioning
(1:19:20) “Damming the demand”
(1:24:49) Laws from Chris’s book The 22 Laws of Category Design
(1:29:46) Word of mouth: the most powerful form of marketing
(1:34:05) Chris’s closing message to listeners
(1:39:01) Lightning round
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