Category Pirates

Most people think networking is about coffee chats and business cards. Pablo Gonzalez turned it into a $40 million outcome. In 2020, he helped a real estate company build a community that became the single biggest source of their client acquisition. In one year, the channel generated $40M in revenue. But here’s the twist: Pablo didn’t know if he could do it again. It wasn’t enough to win once—he n...

Marketers think their job is to get attention. So they burn millions on “brand campaigns.” They measure impressions. They brag about reach. They smear peanut butter across every channel and call it strategy. And then they wonder why nobody remembers them 48 hours later. (Like the Sydney Sweeney ad the internet already forgot) Attention isn’t the goal. A cultural movement is. And nobody knows that...

The world is hooked on short-form dopamine. They want quick hits of attention, likes, and external validation. But short-form dopamine fizzles out like fireworks: bright for a second, gone the next. Real creators trade quick highs for slow-burning joy that compounds over decades. They build lives around slow dopamine—the deep, sustaining joy that comes from making something meaningful. They lose t...

When survival’s on the line, you stop chasing “perfect.” You stop worrying about looking polished. You stop giving a damn about what anyone else thinks. In June 2023, Nick Bennett lost his marketing director job. He had a nine-month-old at home, and a choice: play the traditional game (résumés, recruiters, 2,000-applicant job postings) or be different. He chose different. Survival mode has a way o...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.categorypirates.news/subscribe Funnels are dead. Flywheels are the future. But most teams who try to build one stall out before it spins. Why? Because they treat it like a solo act—when in reality, the fastest flywheels are built by duos. A Native Analog. A Native Digital. And...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.categorypirates.news/subscribe Every legendary category starts by naming the problem only they can see. Then they plant a flag with a manifesto. A Category Manifesto is your movement’s founding document. Not copywriting. Not a positioning statement. It’s the emotional and strat...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.categorypirates.news/subscribe Your audience wants you on call 24/7. Your calendar says no. That’s the real growth ceiling—not a lack of ideas, not even a lack of content. It’s access to you. We broke that ceiling by building a digital co-founder trained on our POV, frameworks,...

Joe Pine didn’t start out trying to write a bestselling book. He didn’t have a “personal brand.” Or a big audience. Or even a plan. What he had was a question he couldn’t shake—and a belief that his ideas could lead to something more. While working at IBM, he kept circling the same question: What if businesses could create value beyond products and services? When IBM sent him to MIT for a graduate...

Most people wouldn’t bring up pricing strategy when meeting Don Henley backstage. Or interrupt NFL players at a party to explain “ good, better, best ” pricing tiers. Rafi Mohammed has done both. Because pricing isn’t just his job—it’s his mission. But he didn’t plan to become the world’s leading expert on pricing. When he got handed a severance, he made a decision most people don’t. He bet on his...

Holley Miller was supposed to be in the room. Executive meetings. Strategy sessions. Growth planning. She wasn’t there to take notes—she was there to lead. But when a senior leader looked at her and said, “Hun, can you grab me a cup of coffee?”—it wasn’t just a bad moment. It was the realization that no matter how hard she worked, she’d never fully be valued in a system she didn’t design. So when...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.categorypirates.news/subscribe Vibe Creating is a radically different way of working with AI. Not to outsource your creativity, but to amplify your humanity. This mini-book breaks down how to collaborate with AI as if it were a co-founder. Not a vending machine. Not a Google re...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.categorypirates.news/subscribe AI isn’t here to take your job. It’s here to scale your Superpower—if you know how to build with it. The Pirate’s Guide to AI isn’t a “how-to” manual. It’s a strategic reframe. A new lens on AI—not as a bolt-on or productivity tool, but as a Creat...

It’s easy to feel stuck when your career is built around a job title—instead of a decision about who you want to become. You wait to feel qualified. You wait for clients to show up. You wait for your business to grow. Iron Mike Steadman didn’t wait. He chose who he wanted to become before the world saw it: marine officer, national boxing champ, podcaster. Today, he’s the go-to category designer fo...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.categorypirates.news/subscribe The Art of the Quit is a blueprint for walking away—not as a failure, but as a founding act of the career you’re meant to design. It’s about leaving behind a job, a title, or a system that no longer fits and building a life where you get paid to b...

Danny Bauer was doing everything “right” in his career—he was a respected principal and award-winning educator, climbing the ladder. Then one day, his boss called him into a room and said: “I have deep concerns about your leadership.” Danny could have played it safe and followed the rules to keep his job. Instead, he quit. And in doing so, he unlocked something most people never do: A career that...

It’s in the problems people already come to you to solve—even if you don’t see them yet. Yesterday, we hosted the Discover Your Superpower workshop and invited you all to join the conversation. What followed was an unfiltered breakdown of how to figure out what makes you different—so you can design a career around it. This is for anyone who: Feels like they’ve outgrown their current role (but don’...

You think you know the story of DUDE Wipes . A few clever bros. A funny name. A Shark Tank cameo. Some viral toilet humor. But that’s just the trailer. The real story? DUDE Wipes didn’t just launch a better product. They created a new category —by Languaging a taboo, reframing the problem, and building Creator Capital. That’s why they don’t just sell wipes. They own the conversation. When you own...

Carylyne Chan started her career at age 14—not from comfort, but from necessity. She didn’t wait for stability. She created it . While others chased credentials and climbed ladders, Carylyne launched startups, scaled brands, and created capital across AI, blockchain, and consumer brands. She’s not just a founder, advisor, and investor who bet on herself. She’s the person others call when they’re f...

Most people build their careers to look impressive on LinkedIn. Mike Maples, Jr. built his to stand alone—no competition, no comparison. “Too many people define success relative to the criteria that others set for them. So they try to compare themselves with others, and they try to compete with others. And they don't realize that the way to be the best competitor is to turn inward and to have self...

In this Jam Session, we break down the signals that show why 2025 could become a lost year for many businesses—and why this is exactly when new categories are born. If you’ve ever had the itch to create something of your own, this is your signal to start. Because these moments (when the system stutters, when everyone else is waiting it out) are when Category Designers build what comes next. They l...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.categorypirates.news/subscribe This audiobook isn’t about incremental improvement—it’s about radical reinvention. The Knowledge Worker era is over. This is the most significant category shift since the Internet. AI isn’t knocking politely. It’s kicking in the door of your caree...

In this week’s Pirate Jam Session, we dive into a side of building your Financial Runway that not many talk about—what it really takes to walk away from a steady paycheck and design a life (and career) you want. This isn’t about spreadsheets and savings accounts. It’s about fear. Doubt. Courage. And what happens when you acknowledge your feelings. In this jam session, you’ll hear: Why Pirate Eddie...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.categorypirates.news Arrrrr! 🏴‍☠️ Welcome to a 🔒 subscriber-only edition 🔒 of Category Pirates. Each week, we share radically different ideas to help you design new and different categories. Paid subscribers can access the entire archive of 99+ mini-books and audiobooks . If you’re not a paid subscriber, consider hopping aboard!...

In this Jam Session, we break down why consumer sentiment is dropping, how spending patterns are shifting, and what this means for your category strategy. Here’s what we unpack: Why the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index just dropped for the third straight month What it means when spending slows and savings spike—at the exact same time And why companies who mistake this for a tempor...

You’ll hear why the financial system benefits from keeping you trapped in the wrong mindset, optimizing for escape instead of agency. You’ll understand why don’t need to retire — you just need to reframe your work. And you’ll discover why the happiest, most fulfilled people don’t retire. They just design work that works for them . We break down all of this and explain why: Retirement is not the go...