Episodes

Josh hosted a live workshop to help folks get their positioning back on track. Topics included: The Three Hard Positioning Problems everybody faces. The best tool to fix each one. And why everything will fall into place when you master these tools. Josh has written the positioning for over 100 companies including Uber, Qualtrics and Gainsight. And he’s the founder of Gold Front, the category design studio. Now let’s fix your positioning.

Josh shares the Gold Front Category Design Canvas, a tool that helps you ask and answer the essential questions for crafting great category strategy. Plus, there’s a Mario-themed mnemonic that makes the canvas easy to remember. This is the actual tool we use to help tech companies design new categories. Did we mention it’s Mario-themed?

Join Josh and Anna Furmanov for live strategy work. Anna is the founder of Furmanov Marketing, who’s been called the “Marie Kondo of startup marketing”. Josh and Anna talk about: Gold Front’s category strategy. The unique problem Anna’s business solves. Giving the problem a name CEOs will connect with. And how to get more specific with language. A good show! Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

We are back! Josh explains category design. Topics include: Why category design sometimes gets people so angry. Strategy is just thinking before you act. And category as a force multiplier for strategy. Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh shares 5 foundational principles that category creators can use to stay focused on the work that really matters. It’s easy to lose your way when creating new categories, use these tools and insights to keep yourself, and your category, on track for success. They are: Is thinking happening? Are you creating something in the mind of the customer? Is it different? Is it interesting? Is it true? Did you know there's a newsletter too? Check it out at: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh answers listener questions about category creation. My boss, the VP of marketing, wants to test everything, even an Instagram story, and I think it's making us late to get content out. Have you dealt with this? What are the main signs that a Category POV is not working? Is designing a category sort of putting the cart before the horse? Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh shares 5 laws for branding to help you design original, interesting, and un-boring brands. Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh shares his process for writing strategy. Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh talks to Paul McDonnell, Vice President at one of the world's largest private equity firms, Insight Partners, about the qualities and mindset that successful category creation teams must have. In his work at Insight's Marketing Center of Excellence, Paul has seen inside many different category leadership teams, including successes like Bizzabo, Chargebee, OwnBackup, and more, and speaks first hand to what will make or break a new category. Some highlights: What it means to have the right c...

Josh answers listener questions about category creation. What are the biggest mistakes you see category creators make? Have all these hype-first startups like Theranos, WeWork, FTX, etc. made investors skeptical of companies that lead with story? How do you communicate that a company is more than just hype? What's the difference in the way you approach category design for a B2B client vs. a B2C client. Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh tries to teach ChatGPT to be his strategist, which gets him thinking the future of knowledge work. Later, he shares four “New World Skills” that will be in high demand as AI takes off. Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

We hate to break it to you, but your website probably sucks. (Even ours needs some TLC). But don't stress, Josh will walk you through the 5 reasons why your website is not looking so good, and how to make it better. Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh hosts a special Q&A episode with John Weeke, a Product Marketing Manager at Iron cloud, to talk about the differences between positioning and category strategy. Some highlights: How positioning can sometimes lead to companies being only incrementally better than their competitors. Why you need different versions of your company's story, such as a more visionary story for a CEO presentation, or a more tactical story for sales strategy. How ChatGPT and AI will lead to a flurry of new categ...

Josh answers listener questions about category creation. Who are your biggest mentors and influences? You work for a lot of startups. Is business slow? Should my company design a category now for cheap? Or wait until we hopefully secure our next round of funding? My company offers a complex product with different use cases. Why do I need one strategic narrative? Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

​​Josh answers Patrick's questions about category creation. Why do we urge clients to stick to the "shift, gap, category idea" story structure? What do you disagree with or do differently than the book Play Bigger. What's the value of pushing B2B brands towards design that's so much different than they are used to? How's the Category First podcast going? What's the behind the scenes right now? Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh answers listener questions about category creation. How does Andy Raskin's idea of "the old way vs. the new way," when creating a strategic narrative, relate to category? There's a lot of chatter about companies creating their own media brands. Will this replace category creation? How do you see those two things working together? My company is SEO crazy, but how do you do SEO for a category that doesn't exist yet? Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.subs...

Welcome to a new feature of the pod: Let's Write a Book. Josh and Ben talk through ideas for the first chapter of the Category First book, entitled “Strategy Is Thinking”. Highlights include: Why "Strategy is thinking about what you do, before you do it" is such a powerful first principle to begin category creation from. When thinking is not actually thinking. Why all great category creators rebel against the status quo. And why, when changing the trajectory of your company, the CEO is your...

ChatGPT-4 is out. How will AI change category design (and everything else under the Sun)? Josh shares "Three Stages of AI" as it relates to category creation. Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh answers listener questions about category creation. Our story is way too safe, but our CEO is one of those engineering types that overanalyzes everything. How do I get them to take some chances ? How do we adjust messaging after buying a company that does something outside our category? With the economy the way it is, how can I justify to my CEO that we should put money into a strategic narrative? Josh—Would you reconsider your position on tracking short-term category perception? Submi...

Josh talks to Latané Conant, Chief Market Officer at 6sense. Latané takes us behind the scenes at the creation of 6sense's new category Revenue AI. We get a first hand account of some of the challenges they faced, the ups and downs of bringing this new category into the world, and how she preps her category design team for success. Latané also serves as an Advisory Board Member for Mediafly and Atrium, and is the author of the book No Forms. No Spam. No Cold Calls: The next generation of accoun...

Josh answers listener questions about category creation. How would you launch a category in 2 months? What launch deliverables should we prioritize if our budget is tight? How do you come up with a good campaign line? Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh answers listener questions about category creation. How did you get so interested in category design? How does category designing your own agency differ from the work you do with clients? We're thinking about writing a category strategy in house, but how do we know if we should bring in an agency? You've said that all great categories have a human truth. Can you talk about that some more? Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com

Josh talks to Ben Hughes, VP of creative at Squarespace, about their shared love for ads, brands, writing, and good creative work. Ben leads Squarespace's in-house creative team, which is responsible for crafting one of the most well-loved website creation company brands. He and Josh talk about: Ben's first passion—music journalism. Working as an assistant, then a copywriter at agencies like Olgivy and Mather and Wieden and Kennedy. Creating highly original and interesting work at Mother Wh...

Josh answers listener questions about category creation. Who should be on my category design team? How do you get the most out of video (especially on a budget)? How does category design work alongside product design? What's the most common problem you run into during category design? Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com