Business Marketing Entrepreneurship

Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets (Summary)

by Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, and Kevin Maney

In the late 90s, Salesforce wasn't just another CRM company trying to beat the industry giant, Siebel. They did something far more radical: they declared war on 'software' itself, plastering their conference with 'NO SOFTWARE' logos and driving a prop tank through the streets. By creating and evangelizing a new category—cloud-based software—they didn't just compete; they made their competition's entire business model seem obsolete.

Don't Compete, Create a New Game

The goal isn't to be better than the competition; it's to make the competition irrelevant. This is achieved through 'category design,' which involves creating a new market category that you can define, develop, and dominate.

When Reed Hastings launched Netflix, he didn't try to build a better video rental store to compete with Blockbuster. He created a new category: 'subscription-based movie delivery by mail.' This fundamentally changed the game, and Blockbuster, the undisputed king of the old category, couldn't adapt and went bankrupt.

Evangelize a Problem, Not Just a Product

To create a new category, you must first articulate a clear and compelling Point of View (POV). Your POV defines a problem people may not have even known they had, frames it in a new way, and then presents your company's approach as the only logical solution.

Salesforce's POV wasn't 'our CRM is better.' It was a radical story about the future: 'Software is dead. It's complex, expensive, and a hassle to maintain. The future is on the internet.' This POV framed the problem and positioned their cloud solution as the inevitable answer, attracting a tribe of followers.

Winning Requires the 'Magic Triangle'

Dominating a category requires a perfect synergy between three elements: Product Design (a breakthrough product), Company Design (the right business model and culture), and Category Design (the market you're creating and shaping).

Tesla didn't just design a great electric car (Product). They also built a new business model with direct sales and a supercharger network (Company), all while evangelizing the new category of 'high-performance, desirable electric vehicles' that shifted the market's perception from golf carts to the future of driving (Category).

Orchestrate a 'Lightning Strike' to Seize the Narrative

A 'Lightning Strike' is a carefully planned event or campaign designed to announce your new category to the world, shock the market into paying attention, and establish you as the leader before anyone else can react.

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, he didn't just announce a new phone. He famously called it three revolutionary products in one: 'a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough internet communications device.' This was a lightning strike that instantly defined the 'smartphone' category and left competitors scrambling to understand the new rules.

Go deeper into these insights in the full book:
Buy on Amazon
Listen to the full audio book with an Audible Free Trial.
As an Amazon Associate, qualifying purchases help support this site.