Category Pirates

Making a difference, for people who make a difference. Writing, teaching, and podcasting about the greatest (underground) skill in business. Category design. With the legendary Eddie Yoon & Katrina Kirsch.

Co-creator

Airspeed

Helping the Airspeed team cure the Digital Disconnect.

Advisor

Christopher Lochhead Follow Your Different

CoAuthor Niche Down

Podcaster

Lochhead on Marketing

#1 apple business podcast focused on marketing & category creation/design

HarperCollins Publishers

Every entrepreneur looking to alter the landscape and every CEO looking to reimagine their business can learn from this book. Play Bigger provides inspiration and a framework for building companies that transcend gravity.” — Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO, Salesforce

“Play Bigger is the new how-to guide for entrepreneurs and executives who want to build legendary, enduring companies.” — Jim Goetz, Partner, Sequoia Capital

In this widely acclaimed, farsighted new book, the authors rely on experience, data analysis and interviews to understand the inner workings of “category kings”— companies such as Amazon, Salesforce, Uber, and IKEA—that give us new ways of living, thinking or doing business, often solving problems we didn’t know we had. 

Crossing the Chasm revolutionized how we think about new products in an existing market. The Innovator’s Dilemma taught us about disrupting an aging market. Now, Play Bigger is transforming business once again, showing us how to create the market itself with the new discipline of "category design."

CoAuthor: Play Bigger How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets

HalloApp

Play Bigger Advisors, LLC.

Advised over 30 Silicon Valley venture-backed startups in strategy, marketing & category design.
CoAuthored Harper Collins "Instant Classic" Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets.

co-founding partner

LOCHHEAD Enterprises, Inc.

Advised over 20 Silicon Valley venture-backed startups on Strategy, Marketing and Category Design

Founder

Orchestria

Board Director

Mercury Interactive (Acquired by HP)

I was lucky to be with a great team of people @ Mercury. HP Acquired the company for $5B in November of 2006, after Mercury had grown to over $1B in sales.

Chief Marketing Officer

Ever notice how much content is actually content-free-content?

Thanks for stopping by.  I’m a friend to the different and am  best known for Play Bigger, Category Pirates and being a Godfather of Category Design.
🏴‍☠️

I help startup founders, CEOs, marketers, creators, and ambitious professionals category design legendary markets and careers in a post-AI world.

**Why Category Design & Creator Capitalism?**

Category designers create markets, not competition, capturing **76% of the value** in the spaces they pioneer. 

Creator Capitalists unlock their different **superpower**—that unique edge only they bring—to build wealth and impact in an AI-driven economy. 

Whether you’re launching a company or redefining your career, I’ll show you how to own your niche and thrive.

**What I Do:**

With my partners at Category Pirates 🏴‍☠️ I empower you to:

*Design & dominate new markets through writing, courses, and community.

*Discover your superpower to become a Creator Capitalist, mastering your career in the AI era.

*Build legendary businesses & careers with strategies from our #1 Amazon-charting books.

Join us at **www.categorypirates.com** to start pirating.

**My Track Record:**

*Author: Co-authored 14 #1 bestsellers, including *Play Bigger* (the first book on category design), *Niche Down*, and *Snow Leopard*.

*Podcaster: Host of Follow Your Different* (“Best Business Podcast” – Podcast Magazine) and Lochhead on Marketing (#1 charting).

*Newsletter: Run Category Pirates 🏴‍☠️ Substack (top 0.5% paid business newsletter).

*Career: Former 3X Silicon Valley public company CMO, advisor, and VC limited partner.

**What People Say:**

*Play Bigger is required reading for entrepreneurs altering the landscape.” *Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce
*“A quasar of energy and ideas.” – Bill Walton, NBA Legend
*“Off-putting to some, but undeniably brilliant.” – The Economist

*The Future Needs You

If you’re ready to category design a market or unleash your superpower? 

Connect with me or visit **www.categorypirates.com**. 

Let’s build something legendary—together. 
🏴‍☠️

Christopher Lochhead🏴‍☠️

My brother Tushar Atre was murdered 2,228 days ago. Today, we head back to court. This is the third of four trials for the men who killed him.

Christopher Lochhead 🇺🇸🇮🇱🏴‍☠️

“A quasar, a godfather of category design” Bill Walton | “Off-putting to some” The Economist | 15X #1 author Play Bigger & Category Pirates 🏴‍☠️| #1 Charting Apple Business Podcast

My friend brother Tushar Atre was killed 2,228 days ago. Today, we head back to court. This is the third of four trials for the men who murdered him. 

Open article: Walking Through Fire: 2,228 Days Since My Brother’s Murder by Christopher Lochhead 🇺🇸🇮🇱🏴‍☠️ • 4 min read

Walking Through Fire: 2,228 Days Since My Brother’s Murder

Today is Al Ries Day. Yeah, I’m celebrating. And you should too. Because the man earns his own damn holiday. If you care about marketing, entrepreneurship, category design, business strategy, or frankly winning, then you owe Al Ries more than a polite nod. You owe him a standing ovation.

Today is Al Ries Day. Yeah, I’m celebrating. And you should too. Because the man earns his own damn holiday. If you care about marketing, entrepreneur

Open article: Happy Al Ries Day by Christopher Lochhead 🇺🇸🇮🇱🏴‍☠️ • 3 min read

I always love it when people (donkeys) say, “category design is hard”… to which I respond. 

As compared to what?

Building a legendary company. Hard. 

Building a legendary product. Hard. 

Category designing a new market. Hard. 

If you don’t like to do hard legendary things. 

Get a job at the DMV.

Thank you for risking your lives, to save our lives.

No alternative text description for this image

Black Friday Is Stupid. Here’s Why: Every November, companies reenact the same clown show 🤡

•Slash prices. 
•Torch margins.
•Fight for existing demand.

Call it “strategy.”
It’s not strategy.
It’s surrender.

Black Friday is when a business publicly announces:
“We have no real category, no real POV, and no real value… so here’s 40% off.”

If you want to see how this movie ends, just look at Groupon. 
The company that turned Black Friday into a business model.

At IPO, Groupon was worth around $13B.
Today it’s limping along under $1B.

A 95% vaporization of value.
All because it trained customers to only show up when prices were in the basement.

That’s what happens when you live by discounting:

•You become a commodity.
•You teach your buyers to wait you out.
•And you die slowly, on sale.

Every business running Black Friday is doing a Mini-Groupon.

•A little hit of the same drug.
•A little erosion of brand, belief, and pricing power.
•A little “race to the bottom” disguised as “a busy weekend.”

Legendary category designers don’t bribe people to buy.
•They create value.
•They create demand.
•They create word of mouth.
So yeah.

Black Friday is stupid.
And to celebrate the stupidity?

Our new #1 bestselling Lightning Strike Marketing book is $100.
A middle finger to the publishing industry. 🖕
And to the Black Friday discount death cult. 🖕

Be legendary or be discounted.
Pick one.
🏴‍☠️

Most people. Accept the premise. If you want a legendary career, you gotta stop playing by inherited rules. 🏴‍☠️

Most people. Accept the premise. If you want a legendary career, you gotta stop playing by inherited rules. The fastest way to stay average is to acce

Open article: Reject the Premise by Christopher Lochhead 🇺🇸🇮🇱🏴‍☠️ • 3 min read

Most people have no idea how to value their value. And most companies? Even worse. 

They spend 51 weeks out of the year trying to convince the world they’re of value.

Only to torch their own brand. 
In one glorious, annual, self-inflicted ritual of value destruction: 
Black Friday.
🤡

Next week, you will witness the single greatest mass devaluation event in modern commerce.

A global orgy of:
“Please, please, PLEASE buy from us...we’ll do ANYTHING!”
The sad part?

None of the companies doing this actually need to.
They’re just trapped in the herd.

Following the script someone else wrote.
(Like the sad-uniformed donkey's they are)

Here’s the uncomfortable truth no one in marketing wants to admit:
The easiest way to crush yourself is to make your category worthless.

And nothing makes your category worthless faster than telling the world:
“Hey! Remember everything we said about being:

•scarce
•quality
•crafted
•curated
•premium
•advanced
•meaningful
•purpose-built 
•and category-defining?

Yeah. 
Forget all that. 
"Today we’re cheap.”

Once you burn belief. 
It doesn’t (just) grow back.

Legends don’t participate in the annual race to the bottom.
•They reject the premise.
•They set their value.
•Their own rules.
•Their own POV.

And the market comes them.
So please (with whiskey on top) value your value.
🙏

Stop teaching people to expect less.
Stop training your customers to wait for discounts.
Stop telling the world your product isn’t worth what you say it is.

Because if you don’t value your value…
No one else will.
(Read this three times)

And next week, while everyone else is lighting their brand equity on fire for sport?

You’ll be building yours.
Strengthening your category.
And proving what legends already know:

Price isn’t a number.
Price is belief.

And belief, once broken, is hell to rebuild.
Hold the line.

Protect the premium.
And for the love of all things holy.
Don’t Black Friday your future.
🏴‍☠️

Ps. Our new Lightning Strike Marketing book, is the first $100 book to hit #1 on the Amazon Global Marketing Chart.

It will not be on sale next week.
Hit the l!nk in comments to pick up yours.
The book also makes a legendary (not-discounted) gift.
😎

Framework Consulting Inc.

The firm focuses on solving clients' toughest problems in the area of strategic planning. We also assist companies in boosting employee productivity.

President

ScheduleU at 2Time Labs

ScheduleU offers the Task Management & Time Blocking Summit. It's a training company focused on building the skills of highly motivated, busy people who use their task lists, apps and calendars in innovative empowering ways. Our mission is to change the way people's relationship with time via their calendars so that it becomes a powerful resources that allows them to accomplish their dreams.
I'm also the creator of the Task Management & Time Blocking Podcast.

Jamaica Gleaner Company

I author a popular column on topics related to strategic planning and productivity in one of the Caribbean's most popular and respected newspapers.

In addition, I have also been published in two Trinidadian newspapers: the Newsday (where I was a quarterly contributor) and also in the Guardian.

Bi-Weekly Business Columnist

CaribHRForum

I created CaribHRForum in 2003 to connect HR practitioners across the region. It now connects over 3000 professionals who share online conversations, research, jobs, ideas and more.

Our upcoming Virtual Conference is being hosted by CaribHRForum Community.

Founder and Host - CaribHRForum Virtual Conference 2020-22

Time Management Software Startup

I was a member of the Advisory Board of a time management software company that has just released its latest beta version.

Advisory Board Member / Advisor

Various clients

Worked with various process improvement, business process automation and reengineering teams to implement metric-driven change. Facilitate teams, perform technical activities, build team knowledge and guide implementation efforts to ease the formation of new task teams trying to deliver results under trying circumstances.

BPM Consultant, Reengineering

Lifehack.org

I wrote regularly for Lifehack.org, one of the most popular personal development websites in the world. More recently, I have been a less frequent contributor, focusing more on my book and longer form content.

Writer

Perfect Time-Based Productivity: A unique way to protect your peace of mind as time demands increase

I wrote my second book in 2014. See http://perfect.mytimedesign.com.

More demands on your time - that's just a fact of modern life. You may be doing the job of more than one person and facing an onslaught of information, only to realize that ubiquitous, 24-7 technology has only made things worse. How do you stay ahead of the expectation that you should be able to meet all your obligations, old and new?  In the face of these increasing pressures, what do you need to do to maintain your peace of mind?

To continue reading, visit the Amazon.com page at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PY5X52Q

Author

University of Phoenix

Taught online programs in Business Research and Statistics in the graduate and undergraduate business schools.

Online Faculty

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank

Worked with a team to design a major intervention. Trained executives to deliver major components successfully, reaching every employee in the company.

External Consultant

You're an executive facing down the challenge of developing a game-changing, long-term strategic plan for your organization. You have an idea of the overall objective, but the path to get there is unclear.

Should you hire a facilitator? Or do you need experienced consulting advice on the choices in front of you? Would following the same process from prior years be enough?

Contact us at Framework Consulting via text or a call to answer these question, explore your options and make some timely decisions. Our experience includes over decades and more than 55 15-30-year strategic planning retreats, each designed to produce breakthrough results.

We have played many roles, from helping clients craft an entire planning process spanning several months, to facilitating strategic planning retreats intended to disrupt your industry. 

We also show you how to execute do-it-yourself projects in which you don't use outsiders at all, but wish to use the best available ideas. These could be traditional strategic planning techniques or borrow from the modern field of strategic foresight.

Most of our consulting projects have taken place in the USA, Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados so we have a broad range of experiences to draw from. We combine quantitative and high-touch approaches to bring the best out of your team.

Not ready to reach out, but interested in growing your knowledge? Sign up for our JumpLeap Podcast and Newsletter (https://longtermstrategy.info) and find out more about our annual conference.

Use the contact form to receive a quick reply - http://replytoFrancis.info

Francis Wade

StratCinema is live...

No sign-up required. No login wall. Just click and explore. https://stratcinema.org (stratcinema.org)

Here's what you'll see:

Five+ curated collections organized by strategic pattern—Comeback Stories, David vs. Goliath, Winners, Slow-Motion Collapses, and MBA Refresh. Plus a dedicated Caribbean business collection.

Each video is 12-25 minutes. (Most are) Each tells a complete strategic story. Each gives you that "surprisingly smarter" feeling without homework.

Where to start?

If you're curious about strategic resurrections: Start with the Comeback Stories collection. Nintendo's transformation from playing cards to gaming dominance. Marvel's journey from bankruptcy to $4 billion acquisition.

If you want to understand competitive asymmetry: David vs. Goliath shows you how smaller players outmaneuver giants. Regional airlines beating 

United. Craft brewers taking market share from Budweiser.

If you're in the mood for strategic mystery: Slow-Motion Collapses reveals how advantage erodes. Del Monte's 140-year run ending in bankruptcy. Walgreens' $90 billion disappearance.

Pick the pattern your brain is craving. Click. Watch. Move to the next one.

The optional part:
You can browse completely anonymously. But if you want to bookmark favorites or track what you've watched, create a free account (takes 30 seconds, just email and password).

No credit card. No upsell. No trial conversion.

Why this works for holiday weekend:
You have 100+ videos available. You're not committing to anything. You're just browsing for the next strategic story that makes you feel intellectually alive.

Twenty minutes between obligations. Thirty minutes before bed. Fifteen minutes while coffee brews Thursday morning.

It's designed for exactly these moments.

One request:
After you've watched a few videos, hit reply and tell me which one surprised you most. I'm curious what patterns resonate with strategy-minded professionals when they're in "off-season" mode.

Enjoy the collection. The link is: stratcinema.org (https://stratcinema.org)
Francis

P.S. The site is still in Beta so you may see some glitches. Let us know!

Consultant who solves tough strategy and productivity problems for corporations | Author | Web-Speaker | Jump Leap Long-Term Strategy Podcast

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Francis Wade

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The Battle

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Francis Wade

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Christopher Lochhead🏴‍☠️'s LinkedIn Performance

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