Nicolas Cole – författare

Mark Henson is a riverboat gambler at heart.But as a practiced cheat and card counter, he s been 86 d from half the casinos on The Strip. In his mind, he s always one game away from his luck turning around. That is, until The System arrives and warps Nevada (and the rest of the world) into a digital card-based game.When Mark awakes in the slums of Lost Vegas, a deck of cards rests on his chest. But these aren t just ordinary playing cards. They re Monster cards. And Mark finds himself with his own unique class: Card Cheat, giving him the ability to progress through this fantastical game world, level up, and manipulate the monsters in his deck to win (or at least survive).But Mark isn t the only one in Lost Vegas and in order to find his way out alive, he ll have to master his Monster Deck, scour dungeons for new cards, and level his class in this exciting new LitRPG deck-building story.Welcome to the first book in the series, THE MONSTER DECK a Deck-Building LitRPG and GameLit Series utilizing a Card-based Magic System.Set in a parallel world (Lost Vegas), this story is a blood-pumping combination of steady power progression and survival. Perfect for fans of All the Skills and Towers of Heaven, as well as nostalgic games such as Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Magic: The Gathering. Get ready for funny characters placed in not-so-funny situations, collectable magical cards with secret powers, and tons of cliffhangers that will keep you up at night, flipping the page!*Also to be available on Audible, narrated by the award-winning Gary Furlong. Gary has narrated some of the biggest LitRPG series out there: Dungeon Crawler Carl Cinematic Version by Matt Dinniman; They Called me Mad by Jpal; The Hero Slayers by OS Marrow.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here: 

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One of the most common questions entrepreneurs and small business owners ask is, "How do I create a category if I''m not a heavily funded startup or some massively successful company? How can someone like me create a category of my own?"

This reveals maybe the single greatest benefit of category design:

Anyone can do it, at any stage of their life.

In this "mini-book," you will learn the 7 ways small "e" entrepreneurs (solopreneurs, small business owners, consultants, advisors, freelancers, etc.) can become known for a niche they own: 

WHAT do you do... that you are uniquely known for?WHO do you do it for... who are surprisingly willing to pay large premiums?WHEN do you do it... that sits at the peak intersection of Important and Urgent?WHERE do you do it... that if money were no object, everyone would want it?WHY do you do it... that is so in sync with the Superconsumer, word of mouth spreads like wildfire?What OUTCOME do you unlock... that is 100x more valuable than the price you charge?How much and "how" does it COST... that is both a value & a premium, and the ''way you pay'' is a benefit in itself all at the same time?

Each of these are areas of opportunity for you to execute a No Ocean Strategy, meaning you CREATE something in the world that previously did not exist. And the more of these "niche down" opportunities you combine together, the more different you are and the more difficult it becomes for someone else to "do what you do."

In addition, in this mini-book you will learn:

How Velveeta became one of the most successful brands at Kraft, and how you can double-down on what makes your product or service truly different.Why Superconsumers are more valuable than high-volume buyers, and how you can grow your business by targeting underserved customers who are obsessed with your category.How to be a true missionary with a radically different POV in a way that gets word-of-mouth marketing to spread like wildfire.And how to niche down, and niche down again, to ensure you have zero competition-and is seen as both a "value buy" and a premium product or service at the same time.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this mini-book is a How-To guide for any solopreneur, entrepreneur, or small business owner looking to supercharge their business.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

Most entrepreneurs and business strategists believe Cirque du Soleil created something new by doing what had come before in new & different ways.

But that''s not really what happened.

The untold story of Cirque du Soleil reveals the importance of staying focused on creating a different future (rather than competing over the past).

These Category Creators are missionaries who impatiently see the way the world could be. They are creating the future. And their pursuit has more to do with this presence of a positive than the absence of a negative (competition).

Their mission is what fuels them, even in their darkest moments. Their mission unlocks new levels of problem-solving and creativity most never unlock. Their mission is what inspires employees, customers, stakeholders, and investors to bet their time, money, and reputations on them-and get emotionally invested to a degree far beyond just personal profit.

And it makes all the difference in the world.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

The difference between missionaries versus mercenaries and how missionaries unlock new levels of problem-solving and creativity most never unlock.Why startups, companies, creative expressions, and movements that change the world often rise out of the founder''s own personal journey.The untold story of Cirque du Soleil and how its founders (missionaries) created a billion-dollar business with more than 4,000 employees.How to avoid starting a business by looking for where someone else is creating value, instead of designing the future you want to create.Why the only people in the world who have recently been surprised by Tesla''s "sudden dominance" have been mercenaries.How to adopt a missionary mindset and develop a business (startup, small business, enterprise) because of what you believe it can do for others.

Short, sweet, and packed with incredibly valuable insights, this niche marketing playbook will teach any solopreneur, entrepreneur, or small business owner how to become a missionary who can tap into the ultimate renewable power source: human energy.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

The COVID-19 pandemic has opened the door for radical innovation-specifically in the work-from-home category. But the opportunities "at home" go far beyond just work.

• Home is a schoolhouse.

• Home is a gym.

• Home is a restaurant.

• Home is a television or podcast studio.

• Home is a therapy room.

• And so on.

Through a category lens, anything-from-home has the opportunity to be transformed over the next decade. And many entrepreneurs and companies are already leveraging this tailwind in legendary ways.

But there is one category that has been completely ignored.

And it''s one of the categories entrepreneurs and small business owners need to redesign the most.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

The reason dying-from-home is such a radical and under-discussed category design.What "completing" is, why it''s a transformative event, and how it''s the ultimate expression of love.Why outsourcing end-of-life experiences to the healthcare system is not a great category design for dying.The astronomical spending differences between the birth category and the death category.How the American church can use category design to "redesign death" and become relevant once again.

Short, sweet, and full of incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" will provoke hard questions around death and explain how the industry can be redesigned around love.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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In the summer of 2021, Netflix announced its plans to offer gaming products on its streaming platform.

The first games launched on Android in early November 2021 and are included alongside the streaming service''s movies and TV offers, bundled within the same monthly price. But this category adjacency strategy (growing into adjacent markets) isn''t Netflix''s golden opportunity. Growing into adjacent markets makes the most sense when it allows a company to cross-sell or create an entirely new kind of revenue-generating business.

Neither is true in this case. Instead, Netflix is signaling it might be about to make the single greatest category design mistake in the book.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Why Netflix may be making the same category mistake as Red Bull and Microsoft.Why giving away gaming for free is putting out all the wrong signals to customers.How Google and Square effectively redesigned categories and impaired competition.How Netflix can create the next giant film category with digitally-savvy independent talent.How content creators like MrBeast and Charli D''Amelio can help Netflix secure its golden opportunity.

A quick read that''s jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" reveals Netlfix''s current blindspot and tells what it can do to compete with Amazon, YouTube, and the next generation of content creators.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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When you hear the word "Facebook," what comes to mind?

Is it a fun blue logo?

Is it bubbly emojis and Like buttons that bounce when you tap them?

Or is it...

Facebook''s track record on free speech?Lying about their record on hate speech?Racially insensitive comments on overly sensational news articles going viral?

Facebook is like the friend we all had in junior high and high school that you liked and enjoyed being around, even shared things with-but deep down you wondered if this person was gossiping about you behind your back.

You are wary about this person, but also can''t resist hearing the gossip about other people''s lives.

Now what do you do?

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

How Facebook prioritizes itself over its users, and why the information we hand over doesn''t justify the return.Why Google is the most trusted brand in the world, and why Facebook lacks trust.How The Facebook Files, an investigative journalism series by the Wall Street Journal, highlights flaws with the platform.What can happen when companies choose profits over safety, and why Meta can''t shake Facebook''s reputation.Why the CEOs, entrepreneurs, and small business owners doing the Category Design matter just as much as the Category Design.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" discusses how Meta''s vision for a fully immersive future will flop if it doesn''t give to people, help people, and protect people.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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Most people don''t know that the man who built Zoom into the world''s most-used video conferencing platform, Eric Yuan, is a twinkly-eyed, happiness-obsessed, Asian American immigrant.

In 1997, Eric came to Silicon Valley from China despite having his visa rejected eight times.He joined a startup called WebEx as an engineer, which at the time had just a dozen employees. WebEx was one of the first companies to introduce the world to video conferencing technology.10 years later (2007), WebEx was acquired by Cisco for $3.2 billion, where Eric became Cisco''s Corporate VP of Engineering. He was responsible for more than 750 engineers.

By every definition, Eric had reached what most people would consider the "pinnacle of success." But the truth is, he wasn''t happy.

A few years later, Eric pitched the idea of Zoom to his team of executives.

Immediately, he was met with hesitation.

Well, as the story goes, Eric left WebEx to build Zoom in 2011.

Was this just another classic example of an entrepreneur leaving a large company to pursue his or her dream? Maybe. But one has to wonder to what extent Eric''s experience is yet another data point in a longstanding pattern of talent mismanagement in corporate America rooted in bias, and an undervaluing of Asian American workers.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Asianisms that exist in corporate America, and how major corporations are screwing over Asian people-and in doing so, screwing themselves.Why talented Asian Americans are choosing entrepreneurship and founding high-growth companies like Nvidia, Gusto, and Doordash.How Category Design can help you switch from "operating from a binary bias" to "operating with a spectrum mindset."A framework for Asian Americans to know their ''walkaway position'' for business negotiations.Why Category Design can spark social change and stop people from jumping to judgment.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" shares why talented Asian Americans are leaving white corporate America and creating more value elsewhere.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

If your career starts at 25, and the average retirement age is 65, and each role (each "swing") is roughly a 5-year journey, that''s 8 trips to the plate and then you''re done.

Whatever you accomplish for yourself in those 8 trips-whether it be playing a meaningful role in a company, building your own, mentoring others, making a meaningful contribution to society, achieving your own definition of financial freedom, etc.-defines the totality of your career.

For some people, it''s one swing: the job they got out of college became their job for life (either they got comfortable, fulfilled a dream, or were afraid of the next transition,). For others, it''s 16 trips to the plate or more: new opportunities present themselves and are jumped on with ferocity, and roles are changed every 2.5 years.

But one aspect of career progression that doesn''t get talked enough about is the importance of both recognizing and capitalizing on exponential, serendipitous moments.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

How "happy accidents" are really serendipitous, exponential moments-and they are always happening, all around us.Why Spanx founder Sara Blakely credits conscious manifesting for coming up with her business idea.How to spot exponential moments and create situations where the magic of "happy accidents" is likely to happen over and over again.Why communities like TikTok, YouTube, Quora, and Medium can accelerate your own trajectory and transformation in life.How to "put yourself out there" and increase your chances of success by building your own exponential moment machine.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" will challenge you to think: what if things could turn out better than you had ever imagined for yourself?

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

In a time where income inequality has never been higher, Tesla''s mid 2019 to 2020 stock performance may represent the single greatest transfer of wealth from Wall Street to Main Street.

This begs two questions:

How was it that "Wall Street experts" were so wrong about Tesla?And how is it that so many "Main Street" investors were so right?

The truth is, it''s very difficult for Wall Street to value Category Creators, who by definition blur the lines of current categories while pursuing strategies and business models that are so radically different it can confound "experts" in legacy categories.

The Tesla short example shows the single greatest opportunity for wealth creation for a Main Street investor is in a category creation situation where they are an expert.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Why Elon Musk puts superconsumers, like James Stephenson and Galileo Russell, ahead of the Wall Street professionals on Tesla earnings calls. Why you don''t have to be an analyst at Goldman Sachs to be acknowledged as a thought leader in your niche.The benefit of investing in companies you have an information advantage on.Which investors are the most emotionally engaged and the most insightful.What Tesla and Netflix have in common, and why Wall Street investors undervalue companies innovating Category Design.

Packing incredibly valuable insights into a quick read, this "mini-book" will reveal what Main Street investors intuitively know-and what Wall Street investors fail to grasp.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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Human beings are not brands.

Listen closely...

Oprah Winfrey is not a brand. Oprah is a Black woman who was born into poverty in Mississippi to a single teenage mother who used her challenging and troubling childhood to inspire her to create a new category of television talk show that evangelized a more intimate, emotional, and confessional form of media. She did something different.

Muhammad Ali is not a brand, he''s one of the greatest boxers and human rights activists to ever live.

Bill Gates is not a brand. He''s one of the greatest entrepreneurs in history.

None of these people became historical figures because they were known for being known. They mastered their craft, did something unique and different, provided immense value to the world, and then they became known as a byproduct of their work and their commitment to sharing their insights, perspectives, and talents with other people.

The unfortunate reality is that the term "personal branding" gets people''s heads confused.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Why personal Category Design is the single point of failure for careers, creators, professionals of all sorts, and artists.The one thing that is going to determine your ability to land a life-changing opportunity-and it is not your title.How to earn a reputation by the category, the customers, and the ecosystem around you.How musicians like Dave Grohl, Bob Dylan, and Jay-Z carved out their own personal Category Design.The steps to becoming known for a new and differentiated niche you own.

Jam-packed with valuable insights and actionable steps, this "mini-book" will share what can you be legendary at that creates significant value for others.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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How are you investing your life?

Some of the most-asked questions in business are career-related:

"How do I decide when to leave my current company?""How do I pick which company I should join?""How do I get a bigger job?"

Where you choose to work and how you invest your life is what makes the difference between achieving financial freedom, the joy of building something legendary, and having agency over your life-or spending 30 years of your life working for the next Xerox, counting down the days until you retire (and hopefully you have enough money socked away in your 401k).

So, how do you know whether you are investing your life in a career that has a real shot at producing a legendary outcome for the world, you, and your family?

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

How to make the most of your career and "spot" Category Leaders, like Tesla and Patagonia, early.Why companies in the Brand Cult and Product Cult don''t move the world FROM the way it is TO the way you want it to be.The two biggest mistakes people make when evaluating whether to join or stay at a company.How to determine your walkway position for a life of financial freedom, personal agency, and "purpose."Tips to question whether a work environment will be conducive to the outcomes you strive to generate in your life.

Jam-packed with valuable insights and actionable takeaways, this "mini-book" shares how to design a legendary career by taking ownership over your life, your career, and your value.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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In the late 2000s, the United States ran one of the largest discounting (via couponing) experiments in entrepreneurial history.

A small startup based in Chicago came up with a radically different idea to help small businesses generate buzz, awareness, and customer acquisition. Instead of encouraging them to run ads on Facebook, or helping these small "e" entrepreneurs launch creative discounting campaigns, this startup turned the age-old marketing tactic of couponing, digital.

These digital coupons were called Groupons.

10 years later, Groupon has become a thing of the past with a market cap of less than $1 billion.

What happened?

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Why Groupon went from being one of the most valuable startups in the world to being seen as an outdated, irrelevant marketing channel.What Patagonia, Apple, and Tesla can teach entrepreneurs and small business owners about flash discounts.How discounts force businesses into a "race to the bottom" in a way that actually hurts their year-long economics.How to make your Black Friday marketing efforts about radical gratitude and giving.Four simple ways to promote different offers to customers and stand out among the sea of copycats.Smart ways to run a discount for potential Superconsumers to introduce to your product or service.

This mini-book is short and sweet, yet filled with incredibly valuable insights on how to create brand affinity that further establishes your business as the category leader.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

Everything is the way it is because someone changed the way it was.

For example, in the early 1900s, women and men were not paid the same amount of money for the same amount of labor.

Because it was the law.

That is, until 1972 (in Canada) and 1963 (in the United States), when a new POV emerged.

Equal Pay For Equal Work.

Five small, strategically placed words didn''t just change the way people thought about work or the way people thought about the role women played in society.

THEY CHANGED THE LAWS for Canada, then the United States, and then most of the western world.

Whether you are willing a new sector into existence or trying to change laws of government to spearhead social change, Category Design is the art of changing people''s minds.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Why executives, entrepreneurs, employees, and investors who are standing on the sidelines in the face of a major injustice or evil is not "being neutral."How to think up a new and radically different POV-and then educate the world on the benefits of adopting that POV. What Global Warming and The Patriot Act teach about the power of languaging when establishing a unique POV.Where to find the Superconsumers most likely to hop aboard your pirate ship and fly the flag of your mission. Why Lightning Strike Marketing efforts, like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and Black Lives Matter, spark effective social change.

Short, engaging, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" outlines how to change the world through Category Design.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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Most people believe Category Design is who-ha, malarkey, and/or B.S.

And you can''t blame them, really. There are over 50,000 marketing books, 30,000 business strategy books, and 20,000 entrepreneurship books on Amazon.

Most of them say similar things, and most of these teachings share the same contextual scaffolding: that the path to success is about competing in an existing market category; that your goal as an entrepreneur, executive, investor, or middle-market manager is to build a better product, build a better brand, or execute sales better than the competition.

The bummer is, business doesn''t really work this way. New products do not take over old markets. Instead, new categories displace old categories. And the two are not the same.

But the competitor/product lens is so deeply ingrained in the average business person''s brain, it would never occur to them to think about or challenge this premise-nevermind reject it.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

The 8 reasons why business leaders and executives think Category Design doesn''t work.How companies like Netflix, Amazon, Uber, and Chipotle prove the vast majority of people spend their money on Category Creators.Lessons on inventing a new category from Steve Jobs, Apple, and the iPad launch.Why capitalizing on trends was the downfall of companies such as Yoplait, Blockbuster, Levi''s.The one thing that creates a strong, valuable community of Superconsumers.

Packed with incredibly valuable insights on the biggest myths in Category Design, this "mini-book" is a valuable tool for entrepreneurs, innovators, and small business owners who want to change the rules of the game completely.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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Many years ago, Kraft ran an internal survey.

The survey asked the company''s top 100 executives which Kraft products they ate. "Which products do you buy a lot of? Which of these products do you love?"

Turns out, only 3 of the top 100 executives were Superconsumers of their own company''s products.

One executive said, "I''d never feed my family this stuff."

There''s an expression in business: "Eating your own dog food." Whether you "eat your own dog food" is a massive signal to customers, business partners, prospective hires, and investors.

The simplest way to tell when a company is creating a new category is to look at whether the founder(s) eat their own dog food.

Or, said differently: does the founder live their POV?

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

How interviews with Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, and other tech CEOs reveal the issues with not "eating your own dog food."Examples of living your category POV from leaders like Brian Chesky, Joe De Sena, Jack O''Neill, and Brittany Fuisz.How to live, breathe, and sleep your product or service to send a signal of confidence about your business.Tips to create a category that makes you feel the most fulfilled and like you''re spending your life doing something that matters.How to tell others about the problem you''re determined to solve (and the solution you are bringing to the table), and SHOW them how you "eat your own dog food" too.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" how to develop your own unique category POV and live that POV out in the world.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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Right now, we''re experiencing a fundamental change in how humans experience life.

There are two types of people on planet earth today:

The first are Native Analogs. These are Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers born anywhere from the 1940s all the way up to the early ''80s. Today, they range between the ages of 40 and 75+, and make up approximately 136.8 million Americans.

The second are Native Digitals. These are Millennials and Gen-Zers born between the early 1980s to as recently as the 2010s. These demographics are around 35 years of age on the high end today, down to as young as 6 years old, and make up approximately 140.1 million Americans.

The fundamental difference between the two, however, is not age (which is what the "Millennial vs Baby Boomer" debate is often reduced to), but a definition of reality.

The aim of this mini-book is to help educators and parents understand just how powerful of a shift this is-why a Native Analog teaching system is failing Native Digital students, and how the legacy education category is three generations away from being rendered obsolete.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Why there is a Grand Canyon-sized chasm between what Native Analog educators know and what Native Digitals want and need to learn.The problem with being three generations away from Native Digitals having the power to design legacy education curriculums.What the Netflix movie ''Don''t Look Up'' highlights about people trying to make sense of the cataclysmic digital shifts happening in plain sight.How the atomization of education will increasingly cause students to seek out teachers who have done the thing they themselves want to do.How Native Analog educators can best facilitate Native Digital learning, and what tech companies are already doing to equip learners with the expertise and skills they need to thrive.

Jam-packed with incredibly valuable and actionable insights, this short "mini-book" shares the shortcomings of Native Analog education and how to prep students to be a leader in the Native Digital transition.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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Silicon Valley says, "The best product always wins." But does it?

The goal of every entrepreneur, then, is to build the best product. How? Put the incumbent of the industry you want to "disrupt" in your sights, funnel tens (or hundreds) of millions of dollars into your scope, and build a "monster" product. Wipe them off the face of the earth. Show their customers how much better you are than them.

And when you''re done? Hire a new CEO, bump yourself up to Chairman, and go on a speaking tour spreading the good word: "The best product always wins."

There''s just one problem.

The best product does not always win.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

What entrepreneurs, founders, executives, investors, and artists get wrong when they believe "the best product wins."The three most repeated "product" myths in the business world and how they can prevent pioneering a new industry.Why it''s often the DIFFERENT product that wins and how the FANS (aka the category) make it successful.The product strategy that helped Dropbox grow from 100,000 users to four million users In 15 months.Why no legendary company has ever created a product that fits into an existing category.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" busts common product myths and shows how to MAKE a place in the world for your product.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

Some writers don''t want to think about the money side.

The question of how to monetize as a writer, creator, and thought leader is a bit loaded-because it requires you to address a deeper question, first.

Two questions, actually...

Question #1: What does the party cost?Question #2: And who is the party for?

"What does the party cost?" is your "burn rate"-the amount of money it costs to sustain your lifestyle of happy living.

"Who is the party for?" is a deeper, more complicated question-and usually the root issue that keeps so many people from pursuing their passions.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Why most people make financial decisions based on what they want other people to think about them-as opposed to what they truly want for themselves.How to determine your "ultimate goal" as a writer or creator (hint: it''s not how to make money).Why Ryan Holiday and Malcolm Gladwell are both legendary writers, but one is better than the other at Category Design.How to monetize content, whether you write a book, create a course, put together a keynote speech, or hold monthly mastermind sessions.Tips to monetize your audience at each level of the Category Design pyramid, depending on how you build your audience and who''s in it.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" shares how you get people to talk about you and your work, solidify your Category Design position, and build a legendary career that "pays for your party" for the rest of your life.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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Actual "thinking" is not reflexive. It''s reflective.

Almost all thinking is reflexive (having an unconscious "reflex" in response) versus "reflective" (taking a moment to consciously reflect on how the past may have created a preexisting mental model keeping you from considering a new and different future).

But reflexive thinking causes a scarcity of fresh thinking in the world.

In order to build the skill of coming up with fresh, new ideas, we have to first define what it means to "think."

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

How Sequoia Capital''s mental awareness to ask a "thinking" question led to investing in Airbnb-and earning more than $12 billion.Strategic ways to move up and out of Obvious, incremental instruction and into exponential Non-Obvious thinking.Why languaging your thinking is the secret to being seen as a brilliant thinker and writer.The 5 archetypes of highly effective creators, writers, and entrepreneurs who create Non-Obvious ideas.Tips to become legendary by knowing the people you''re creating for, what their expectations are, and why it matters to them.

Packed with incredibly valuable insights, this short "mini-book" shows how to spot, create, or unlock Non-Obvious problems and solutions to come up with the most valuable ideas.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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We are in a recession.

(Not officially, but it is not looking good.)

Stocks are down. Startup valuations have plummeted. Bitcoin and Ethereum have lost more than 50% of their total value since their respective highs back in November 2021.

But where there is chaos, there is opportunity.

Google and Amazon both came out of the dot-com bubble in the 90s. And Uber, Spotify, Airbnb, Square, and dozens of other next-gen technology companies were founded between 2006 and 2009, right in the middle of the greatest financial crisis to ever threaten America.

Recessions are pressure-cookers that rid the system of businesses failing to live up to the value they are promising society.

This is why savvy leaders market the category in downturns.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Why the Company Downturn Cycle Of Doom causes companies to fight for demand, rather than create demand.How to become the most in-demand product, service, or business by offering what is suddenly urgent, important, and most useful in the world.The five steps of the Money-Making Recession Strategy to elevate the value of what you do at the level category level.Which of your consumers as a small business or startup are the most recession-proof part of the economy.What Microsoft and Apple can teach about building Intellectual Capital that creates incredible opportunities and abundance for all.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" explains how to leverage Category Design to use your time, energy, and resources to create net-new demand by solving tomorrow''s problems, today.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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The pinnacle of sharing your insights with the world is writing a book, whether you are a writer, a creator, an entrepreneur, or an executive.

If you want to make a difference in the world and you want the best possible shot at producing a best-selling book, this mini-book will give you a framework. Learn how to turn your insights, perspectives, and stories into an asset that not only gives you the title of "author," but changes the way people think AND pays you dividends long into the future.

How did our team at Category Pirates come up with this framework?

By analyzing the top 444 best-selling business books in the last two decades.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

What makes some writers stand the test of time, and others hit the New York Times best-seller list before fizzling out months later.Why certain book ideas scale and others do not, and how to apply insights from the most extensive research done on this topic.The 7 categories your next book needs to fall in if you want to be a success, including the longevity of sales for each category.How to tell if the book you want to write is Idea-Centric or Author-Centric, and the first 3 steps to get started.The title and subtitle formula that makes sure your book attracts the right readers and repels the wrong ones.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" shares how to increase your chances of writing a best-seller and presenting an idea that "scales" to millions of readers.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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The entire field of "analysis" (of any kind: habitual, financial, data usage, etc.) is backward-looking. You are analyzing data from the past.

The thing is, no one really wants to challenge the past. Not even the smartest people in the most technical of fields where you would think subjectivity didn''t have much room.

And this approach works great if your goal is to incrementally optimize an existing business.

But if you want to reveal exponential opportunities to create a different future, you need Category Science-the counterintuitive art of rejecting what''s "normal."

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

How to use Category Science to discover and extract weird, unusual, easily ignored data points that reveal exponential opportunities.Case studies from Staples, OfficeMax, Tesla, and more that show the weirder the data, the bigger the wealth creation potential.How to approach data from a forward-looking lens to discover insights that reveal how the future is going to be different from the past.12+ questions that can help you pinpoint who, within your massive data set of customers, are the ones you should spend the vast majority of your time, energy, resources, and attention serving.Ways to think like a Category Scientist to build a multibillion-dollar market cap Category King that creates net-new demand by leveraging Superconsumers.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" shares the fundamentals of Category Science and how training yourself to reject "what''s normal" can help you look like a genius in the long term.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

There isn''t a tech executive on planet earth who hasn''t seen the chart from the book Crossing The Chasm that separates early adopters from later-stage customer segments.

Author Geoffrey A. Moore describes (languages) the "chasm" innovative startups must cross to move their products out of the phase of early adoption and into the mainstream market.

He explains why companies that fail to cross this chasm, despite inventing wildly ambitious technologies, fail to achieve a level of adoption and profitability that establishes them as real companies.

The book does a great job of educating leaders on how to think about the problem. But it fails to ascend further up the ladder and become an actionable "How To" guide instructing entrepreneurs and executives on exactly how to solve this problem themselves.

Luckily, Category Science can help!

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

What "Category Science" is and how leaders can use it to successfully cross the chasm separating them from mainstream success.7 ways to use "weird" historical data to spot future exponential business growth opportunities.What happened when AT&T leveraged its Superconsumers and Category Science to create a radically differentiated mobile plan.How to spot local markets that are way behind in terms of category growth and markets that reveal early warning signs of a category''s future decline.10 questions to help you understand why the lens you use to look at data is more important than the data itself.

Short, sweet, and packed with valuable insights, this "mini-book" shares examples and actionable tips on how to wholly reject existing premises in order to imagine (and ultimately create) a new and different future.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

There are two types of people on planet earth today.

Native Analogs: These are Baby Boomers and Gen Xers born anywhere from the 1940s all the way up to the early ''80s.Native Digitals: These are Millennials and Gen Zers born between the early 1980s to as recently as the 2010s.

The difference?

Native Analogs grew up in a time when technology was an addition, or better yet, a distraction from their real lives. Whereas Native Digitals grew up in a time when their "real" lives were a distraction from their (primary) digital lives.

This change of both identity and reality is one of the most profound shifts happening in the world.

And no one seems to be talking about it.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Why the most desirable forms of freedom and agency no longer require your physical presence in Analog America.How remote work, cryptocurrencies, automation, digital businesses, and access to capital create tailwinds for legendary Digital opportunity.How the shift from Laborer to Knowledge Worker to Intellectual Capitalist has slowly reshaped the American Dream over the last 50 years.The power of digital leverage-and why Digital Intellectual Capitalists out-earn everyone else by an astonishing amount.How to become an Intellectual Capitalist like Joanne Molinaro, "The Korean Vegan," and many other successful entrepreneurs, digital writers, executives, and startup founders.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" shares the new Digital American Dream and how to make your place in the world as an Intellectual Capitalist.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

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Category design is the strategy for dealing with the "winner take all" reality that has taken hold in business.

Only 19 percent of Fortune''s 100 fast-growing companies are category designers. And yet, they captured 51 percent (of the prior three years cumulative) of the revenue growth, and 80 percent (of the prior three years cumulative) of the market capitalization.

But how do you know when you''re looking at a category creator versus just another high-growth company fighting tooth and nail for market share in an existing category?

The Category Design Scorecard will tell you.

Our crew at Category Pirates created this scorecard after reviewing companies from the Fortune 100 Fastest-Growing Companies list and analyzing their 10Ks, Annual Reports, Investor Presentations, and Investor Relations websites.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

How to tell if a company can frame a powerful problem, articulate a compelling vision, and most importantly, communicate the core compromises, trade-offs, and problems inherent to the way the category is today.Whether or not a company has a compelling future-free of these fundamental problems, compromises, and trade-offs inherent to the category.How to score a company based on its ability to generate data about customer/consumer demand/preferences that creates a unique opportunity and advantage to anticipate the future of consumer demand and any category shifts.The 3 category buckets that all companies, entrepreneurs, and creators fall into, with examples from Tesla, Ford, Delta, Verizon, Spotify, and more.How to use the Category Design Scorecard to objectively tell you what type of company you are.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" will give you a good sense of how relevant your business will be 10 years from now.

To read this "mini-book," as well as our entire archive of writing on Category Design, subscribe to Category Pirates here:

categorypirates.substack.com

If you want to have any hope of remaining relevant in the working world, you need to understand the difference between Native Digitals and Native Analogs.

Native Digitals are a new category of human, and Native Analogs are the last of their kind to walk the earth. It''s why Boomers (Native Analogs) call Millennials & Gen-Zers (Native Digitals) "entitled, lazy, avocado-toast-brunching screen addicts." But this isn''t about young people being lazy and old people being "old."

This is a material change in the way humans conduct their lives.

If you are a CEO, founder, or creator using Native Analog business strategies and tactics to reach Native Digital customers, you''re done.

Which leads us to The Mentor Myth.

In this "mini-book" you will learn:

Why the false belief that we can only learn from those who are ahead of us, older than us, "higher" than us, richer than us, and so on is irrelevant today.The three biggest skills Native Digitals can teach, and the three biggest skills Native Analogs can teach.How to effectively leverage and monetize your unique skills, no matter your age, to create a category of consequence today that will matter in the future.How Native Analog executives, entrepreneurs, consultants, and creators can team up with Native Digitals to create Digital Intellectual Capital.Why knowing the ins and outs of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and more will only get you so far as a Native Digital.

Short, sweet, and jam-packed with incredibly valuable insights, this "mini-book" is a guide to staying relevant in today''s (and tomorrow''s) working environment.