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

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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 full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-become-a-category-pirate-christopher

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Where to find Christopher Lochhead:

• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lochhead

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherlochhead/

• Website: https://www.categorypirates.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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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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Referenced:

• Rick Rubin Says Trust Your Gut, Not Your Audience: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rick-rubin-says-trust-your-gut-not-your-audience/id1570872415?i=1000606447333

• How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-identify-your-ideal-customer

• Grant Cardone on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrantCardone

• Tai Lopez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tailopez

• The Difference Between a First Mover and a Category Creator: https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-difference-between-a-first-mover-and-a-category-creator

• Gojo Industries: https://www.gojo.com/

• Gartner reports: