Best Sangram Vajre Podcasts (2024)

1
Voyage in Carving Out a Learning and Skill Development Category w/ Hywel Carver 57:11

5M ago57:11

57:11

In this podcast episode, Hywel Carver, CEO of Skiller Whale, shares his company's category design journey after attending a workshop by Category Design Advisors, sponsored by Concept Ventures. He discusses the challenges they faced in defining their offering and how the workshop, along with the book "Play Bigger," helped them create a new category …

1
Designing a Category In an Old School Industry w/ Frederik Hendriksen 48:28

5M ago48:28

48:28

Commercial real estate isn’t usually a place that is associated with technological innovation, neither is the HVAC industry, but that makes it ripe for category design. Meet Frederik Hendriksen, the founder of Rensair. Explore their groundbreaking smart ventilation system, seamlessly integrating hardware and software to optimize energy efficiency a…

1
How to Right-Size the Problem You’re Solving w/ Lauren Pufpaf 44:30

6M ago44:30

44:30

In this episode, John Rougeux interviews Lauren Pufpaf, the President, COO, and co-founder of Feed Media Group. Lauren’s company was founded on the insight that apps need the right music experience to fully engage users. But as the company grew, they learned that they weren’t going after a big enough problem. Listen in to learn how Lauren and her t…

1
Keeping Your Point Of View Unique In A Wave Of Competition w/ Brian Schiff 54:38

6M ago54:38

54:38

A.I. has created a massive shift in context, and with that comes massive opportunities for category designers, but it also means a flood of competitors into the same space. Brian Schiff had capitalized on this shift, focusing on leveraging A.I. to take customer support from a cost center to a profit center, and is now using category design to avoid…

1
Al Ramadan of Play Bigger – Category Design Beyond Tech Startups – Changing the World 1:03:35

6M ago1:03:35

1:03:35

Al Ramadan is the CEO of Play Bigger, LLC and one of the co-authors of “Play Bigger,” and a dedicated board member of Save The Waves Coalition. In this replay of our live AMA event, we’ll dive deep into the art of category design. Discover how shifts in context—ranging from environmental changes to global events like pandemics, wars, or financial c…

1
How Category Design Reveals Buyer Problems w/ Rebecca Kirstein Resch 51:41

6M ago51:41

51:41

In this episode, we interview Rebecca Kirstein Resch, the founder and CEO at inqli. Rebecca’s company is dedicated to helping workplace teams tap into the power of ‘tacit knowledge.’ She’s been using category design as a framework for uncovering new problems and now has a clear story about why a new type of solution called ‘social knowledge sharing…

1
Why Vertical SaaS is Fertile Ground for Category Design w/ Nick Tippmann 47:09

7M ago47:09

47:09

In this episode, Nick Tippmann, former CMO of medtech company Greenlight Guru, joins Pablo, Damp, and John to break down his journey as a marketer turned investor. Nick shares why vertical SaaS companies should think like category designers and how he evaluates the category potential of early-stage startups. We discuss: How Greenlight Guru tipped f…

1
How a Gartner Analyst Looks at Categories 51:27

7M ago51:27

51:27

In this episode, we’re joined by Dan Gottlieb, a Senior Director Analyst at Gartner. Dan shares his take on how analysts like him define categories and when to establish a new one. He also unpacks how startups can stand out in crowded categories by defining their “critical capabilities” and shares how and when startups should educate analysts like …

1
Sangram Vajre’s Events and Community Playbook 1:03:24

7M ago1:03:24

1:03:24

Sangram Vajre is one of the best-known category designers in B2B SaaS, with community and events being critical parts of his playbook. Not only did Sangram bring the account-based marketing category to life during his time at Terminus, but he's also used the same playbook to launch a successful paid community (Peak), and now a service business (GTM…

1
Do You Need Category Design (Or Is It A Choice)? w/ Brad Luttrell 54:33

8M ago54:33

54:33

In this episode, Brad Luttrell joins us to talk through how he discovered category design a year and a half ago, why it was the strategy Holler Commerce needed to adopt, and what he has done to design social commerce as a service category ever since. He speaks with our co-founder, John Rougeux and Damp, about: Whether category design is a choice or…

1
How Category Memetics Can Help A New Category Stick w/ Ken Rutsky 53:18

7M ago53:18

53:18

In this episode, Ken Rutsky joins us to explore a concept he calls ‘category memetics.’ It’s the idea that new categories can act like memes – they can enter the mind, replicate, and rapidly spread to others. Ken shares his insights on how to create a successful category meme and unpacks some of the research he uncovered that led to these insights.…

1
3 Tools for Category Concepts w/ Josh Lowman 1:04:40

8M ago1:04:40

1:04:40

It takes a lot of time and commitment to write a great strategic narrative, but if you can use battle tested frameworks, they will save you time, money and even heartbreak. Strategy and brand design expert Josh Lowman walks us through the three tools he uses to quickly pitch and vet new category ideas, and engages with our community in our monthly …

1
Getting Analysts To Buy Into Your Category Design w/ Scott Albro 53:23

8M ago53:23

53:23

Scott Albro, co-founder and CEO of Goldie shares his insights on why analyst buy-in is crucial for category success, strategies for effectively communicating your category vision, and real-world examples from his time at TOPO. For those unfamiliar, TOPO, Inc. was a research and advisory firm that provided insights and consulting services to high-gr…

1
How to Condition The Market w/ David West, CEO of Proscia 51:21

8M ago51:21

51:21

Innovative companies must convince buyers and analysts why their solutions differ from the status quo, and why that difference matters. But sometimes, developing the right narrative can be a challenge. This is where a well-crafted point of view (POV) can help. In this episode, we’re joined by David West, co-founder and CEO of Proscia. After attendi…

1
"When Should You Design a Category?" w/ Jonathan Gandolf 44:54

8M ago44:54

44:54

Category design principles can be applied in different ways, for different outcomes. And while sometimes it’s clear that your business needs to act like a category designer, other times the answer is less straightforward. In this episode, we’re joined by Jonathan Gandolf, founder and CEO of The Juice. Jonathan was introduced to category design earl…

1
How Community & Category Design Go Hand in Hand w/ Jared Robin, Founder of RevGenius 55:16

9M ago55:16

55:16

In this episode, Jared Robin, founder of RevGenius, shares his take on how category design and community can mutually reinforce each other. In 2020, Jared took a small LinkedIn group and turned it into a community that now has over 40,000 members. In our conversation, you’ll hear all about Jared’s journey and how he plans to build community going f…

1
Minimal Viable Category Design w/ Pietro Bezza 46:13

9M ago46:13

46:13

In this episode, we’re joined by Pietro Bezza, co-founder and managing partner at Connect Ventures. Pietro shares a framework he calls “minimal viable category design,” which focuses on helping early stage startups have the right conversations about the problem they’re solving and their plans for evangelizing it. Listen now to find out: The challen…

1
After 7 Years, Why Did Category Design Advisors Rewrite Their Own Point of View? 52:28

9M ago52:28

52:28

After Kevin Maney co-authored the book Play Bigger in 2016, he and Mike Damphousse founded Category Design Advisors to guide CEOs in implementing category design. That was seven years ago. Now, after over 40 client engagements and joined by John Rougeux, the team decided it was time to rework its own category Point of View. In this recording of a l…

1
Designing A Category As A Bootstrapped Service Agency w/ James Carbary 38:39

9M ago38:39

38:39

In this podcast episode, James Carbary, founder of Sweet Fish Media, discusses how he went from running a blog writing agency to becoming the category king of B2B podcasting, thanks to category design. He debunks the myth that category design is only for VC-backed companies or those with large budgets and shares his pivot into designing a new categ…

1
Taking Advantage of a Context Shift Through Category Design w/ Doug Camplejohn 41:20

10M ago41:20

41:20

In 2020, Doug Camplejohn was working at Salesforce when a global pandemic suddenly changed the world. He soon realized that there might be an opportunity to address the new ways in which people found themselves working. That’s when he decided to start Airspeed, a family of apps that helps employees feel connected and celebrated. Through the lens of…

1
Founder Clarity Through Category Design for Fundraising, Product, and Culture w/ Lauren Dunford, CEO of Guidewheel 43:20

10M ago43:20

43:20

In this episode, Lauren discusses the importance of category design for startups. We delve into startup challenges that are addressed by category design. Lauren shares how they've used Guidewheel’s FactoryOps category point of view to attract the right people, investors and customers. We talk about the evolution of sustainability as a priority, the…

1
Nearbound and the Early Stages of Category Design w/ Jared Fuller and Isaac Morehouse 50:54

10M ago50:54

50:54

Jared Fuller and Isaac Morehouse were the dynamic duo behind our recent conversation about nearbound – a radically different approach to GTM that’s reshaping the partnership landscape. These two have always been staunch advocates of category design, and they’ve harnessed this discipline to create one of the fastest-growing B2B media brands of all t…

1
Getting Sales’ Buy In For Category Design w/ Dan Tyre 52:35

10M ago52:35

52:35

This week’s show is with Dan Tyre, a legendary executive at HubSpot. Hired as employee number six, Dan talks about the backstory of the inbound category, how to get sales to support your category design strategy, and the importance of company culture when designing a category. This episode was moderated by Pablo Gonzalez and Mike Damphousse. This e…

1
Category Design for Early-Stage Startups: AMA w/ Rachel Josepho and Waleed Cope 59:53

11M ago59:53

59:53

Fresh off a category design workshop in NYC, Rachel Josepho, Founder & CEO of Mindfull, and Waleed Cope, CEO of The Soap Box, joined us to share their journey as category designers leading early-stage startups. Listen in to unpack… How early stage startups can use category design chart their strategy Why category designers need to start with a high…

1
Is Your Startup Caught In Category Jail? 9:42

11M ago9:42

9:42

In this Category Short, John Rougeux explains why a concept called “category jail” needs to be on the radar of every startup. Category jail occurs when your novel solution is mentally miscategorized by buyers, causing your company to get unfairly written off as another “me-too” product. Listen now to learn: Why category jail can keep radically diff…

1
How to Validate Your Startup Idea Using Category Design w/ Rio Hodges 42:34

11M ago42:34

42:34

In this episode, we chat with Rio Hodges, Principal at Antler. Rio encounters hundreds of startups each year through his firm's accelerator programs, so his perspective is invaluable if you’re in the early chapters of this journey. We cover: The one crucial slide that many startups leave out of their pitch decks Why startups should obsess about the…

1
Done Properly, Category Design Creates Demand w/ Craig Rosenberg 46:32

11M ago46:32

46:32

Scale Venture Partners’ Craig Rosenberg joins us on the show to talk about how category design drives demand, how he mentors founders, and a handful of stories from the startup and VC trenches. Craig is the Chief Platform Officer at Scale and long-time friend and collaborator of our co-host, Damp. In this episode, we'll discuss: Category design sto…

1
AI Is Creating 3 Layers Of Category Design Opportunities w/ Manny Bernabe 52:41

12M ago52:41

52:41

Very rarely do we see such an explosion of innovation as we are seeing right now. The rise of AI reminds us very much of the early internet... just like the early dot-com era, AI will spawn a new generation of categories and subcategories. In this episode of Category Thinkers, we invited AI and machine learning expert Manny Bernabe to help us cover…

1
"Superconsumers" Book Club & AMA w/ Eddie Yoon 55:29

12M ago55:29

55:29

You spoke and we heard you — this community needs a book club! We kicked off the first ever Category Thinkers Book Club with Eddie Yoon's classic, Superconsumers. Listen to Eddie, the co-founders of Category Thinkers (Mike Damphousse, John Rougeux, Pablo Gonzalez), and members of the community discuss: Where Eddie came up with the insights that led…

1
What's Next For The Inbound Category w/ Kipp Bodnar, CMO of HubSpot 42:49

12M ago42:49

42:49

By Kipp Bodnar, Pablo Gonzalez, John Rougeux, Mike Damphousse

1
Reinventing a 25-Year-Old Company Through Category Design w/ Carl Daikeler, CEO of Beachbody 59:14

12M ago59:14

59:14

There's plenty of examples of founders, obsessed with a problem, applying category design to build their business and dominate their market. But realistically, most people that first encounter category design are not in the founding stages of their company. That's why talking to the CEO of a publicly traded company that decided to apply category de…

1
The Life Of A Founder In The Middle Of Category Design w/ Hannah Grady Williams 50:43

1y ago50:43

50:43

You can read the books, and listen to all the podcasts about Category Design, but nothing beats learning from the experience of someone currently in the trenches of designing a new category. That's why we wanted to pull the curtain back on what it feels like to be actively designing a category as a startup founder/CEO with Hannah Grady Williams, Fo…

1
How Category Design and Product Led Growth Shaped Slack's Go To Market Strategy w/ Bill Macaitis 52:49

1y ago52:49

52:49

Bill Macaitis is the former CMO then CRO of Slack, CMO of Zen Desk, and SVP of Marketing at SalesForce and in this conversation we dive deep into what made Slack the category king of team collaboration tools it has become. You'll notice that most of this story took place before Play Bigger was even written so this was intuitive category design by B…

1
What the WWE and Sports Entertainment Can Teach Us About Category Design w/ Raj "Rajnation" Nathan 56:17

1y ago56:17

56:17

Category Thinking is everywhere, and your ability to identify it in the wild will sharpen your skillset as a category designer. And in this episode of #CategoriesInTheWild, we'll examine WWE's development of the "sports entertainment" category. It's a perfect case study that every category designer should learn from. Join John Rougeux and Pablo Gon…

1
"Do We Have A Category?" w/ Josh Roenitz and Kim Bach from DailyHuman 40:00

1y ago40:00

40:00

When founders first start considering a category strategy, they spend a lot of time bouncing ideas back and forth to develop a point of view. That can feel great or it can feel like a battle, but it's impossible to know if it's productive until they share it with someone else to see if it resonates. But how should the conversation go? How do you kn…

1
How to Influence Buyers to Care About a New Category w/ Mark Kilens (CMO of Airmeet) 46:57

1y ago46:57

46:57

Mark Kilens has built a career as a marketing leader and category designer with HubSpot and Drift. Now, he's the CMO at Airmeet, the company behind Event-Led Growth. In this conversation, we break down what Mark's learned as a category designer, including: How to wrap your category in a familiar context to help buyers understand it. Mark's 3 step f…

1
What Apple Got Wrong With the Launch of the Vision Pro w/ Jordy Van de Locht 51:25

1y ago51:25

51:25

When Apple launched the Vision Pro, it wasn't just a product launch, it was the launch of a new category called "spatial computing." But did Apple get everything right? They did a lot of things well, but we think Apple had a couple misses, too. Join us as we deconstruct Apple's newest category launch and discuss what we might have done differently.…

1
The State Of Category Design And Who It's For In 2023 w/ Christopher Lochhead 1:07:56

1y ago1:07:56

1:07:56

One of the biggest reasons we knew the world needed the Category Thinkers Community (apart from our own desire to talk category strategy all day) is that there are many misconceptions about the discipline of category design, and who it's for. In fact, the term "category thinking", expands the tent on category design in a way that allows us to use i…

1
A Call To Action For Category Designers w/ Play Bigger Co-Authors Christopher Lochhead, Al Ramadan, and Kevin Maney 59:02

1y ago59:02

59:02

The discipline of category design was formally launched seven years ago with the book, Play Bigger. If you were paying attention, it predicted what was coming – that in the next six to ten years, category design would tip into the mainstream. That’s why on category design’s seventh birthday, we decided to reunite three co-authors of Play Bigger (Ch…

1
[Replay] Product-First Marketing: Product Experience Is Your Brand 1:02:32

1y ago1:02:32

1:02:32

Most marketers, if you asked for the number one thing you’d really want to understand in their field, will probably roll their eyes, look at you like you’re stupid and say something like: “Your buyer persona,” or even, “The market, duh.” And most marketers would be wrong… What you need to understand more than anything else is your product. In this …

1
The Category Thinkers Community Point Of View 5:40

1y ago5:40

5:40

This isn't just a podcast. It's the launch of a community. A different community dedicated to the understanding and application of category design. Naturally, we're kicking it off with our POV. If you are a category designer looking for a band of pirates to be a part of... If you are category curious and looking to become category capable... If you…

1
[Replay] From CMO to CEO: A Conversation with Jeff Perkins 50:02

2y ago50:02

50:02

With so many CMOs becoming the CEOs of their respective companies, it’s time to ask the question for those CMOs looking to follow the same steps: What are the actionable steps to get there? In this replay episode, we speak with Jeff Perkins, CEO at ParkMobile, about his journey from CMO to CEO and his big lessons that every marketer should know to …

1
GTM is a group effort with Muhammad Yasin 19:38

2y ago19:38

19:38

Who owns go-to-market has been our big question so far, but how about what makes up a solid go-to-market strategy? In this episode, Sangram sits down with Muhammad Yasin, marketing expert and host of the Agile Marketing Podcast, to dive into all the aspects of a successful GTM strategy. Muhammad discusses how marketing isn’t the only contributor to…

1
Kyle Lacy is certain marketing owns go to market 18:23

2y ago18:23

18:23

Ask a group of go to market leaders who owns go to market, and most will say the CEO. But this leader? He confidently says otherwise. In this episode, Sangram sits down with Kyle Lacy, SVP of Marketing at Seismic (formerly CMO of Lessonly, which was acquired by Seismic) to dive into his answer to the big GTM question. Kyle confidently says that mar…

1
Why Christopher Lochhead HATES the MOVE Book 26:30

2+ y ago26:30

26:30

Why in the world would I have someone on my podcast who hates my book?! Well, it’s because he isn’t wrong in his reasoning! Christopher Lochhead–author, entrepreneur, advisor, and VC partner–absolutely loves category creation, and he’s got dozens of stories to prove exactly why he’s such a champion of it. He’s sharing these stories (and his very ho…

1
Author's Cut: The "E" in MOVE 7:25

2+ y ago7:25

7:25

Where can we grow the most? It's the first question most GTM leaders ask themselves...but hold up! There's a reason this one comes last... In this week's Author's Cut episode, Bryan and Sangram dive into the last (but not least) letter of the MOVE framework: the "E" for Expansion. Listen in to learn how to know when it's time to expand, where you s…

1
Author's Cut: The "V" in MOVE 7:26

2+ y ago7:26

7:26

There are important processes that every go-to-market leader should have in place to know they’re on the right track. Do you know what they are? In this episode, co-authors Sangram and Bryan are breaking down the “V” in the “MOVE” framework–velocity–and how organization can use the enablement ramping to scale their business effectively, no matter w…

1
Author’s Cut: The “O” in MOVE 7:21

2+ y ago7:21

7:21

Every company wants to scale well. How can they guarantee that they’ll do it right? The answer: revenue operations. In this episode, Sangram and Bryan dive into the “O” of the MOVE framework–operations. They talk about exactly what your operations team, tactics, and strategy should look like at every stage of your business. Consider this episode yo…

1
Author’s Cut: The “M” in MOVE 5:30

2+ y ago5:30

5:30

TAM is out - TRM is in. In this episode of Author’s Cut, co-authors of the MOVE book Bryan Brown and Sangram Vajre talk about the “M” in the MOVE framework - Market. Bryan and Sangram explain why they think “Total Addressable Market” may not be the best baseline for your marketing strategy...it’s actually “Total Relevant Market”. Here’s how you fin…

1
The Product-led Growth Playbook 25:42

2+ y ago25:42

25:42

When you’re building a company around your product, there are a few crucial mistakes you need to avoid. The perfect person to walk us through the playbook for product-led growth is my friend Scott Voigt, Founder & CEO at FullStory. In this episode, he shares the story behind FullStory, why he chose to grow his company alongside his product, and how…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Sangram Vajre Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide