The Category Creation Formula
Discover, Design, and Win New Market Categories
Published on 12. March 2026
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-06-348377-4 (ISBN)
Description
Innovative concepts, tools, and playbooks for discovering, defining, and taking charge of new market categories, by two of the leaders of the category design movement.
The most exciting-and often most valuable-companies create, develop and win new categories of products or services. Examples range from the Zamboni company a century ago to OpenAI today. It also includes startups that you may not have heard of yet, but will as their categories take off.
Category creation and development should be the goal of any company that wants to make a difference. And the way to achieve that is through the discipline of strategic category design.
Kevin Maney helped introduce category design in the bestseller Play Bigger. Now, he and Mike Damphousse-an experienced CEO, investor, and marketing executive-share the secrets that they've learned over the past decade, plus new concepts and tools that help companies see and frame new categories. Their advisory firm has worked on strategic category design projects with more than fifty companies and guided workshops for hundreds more at incubators and VC portfolio gatherings.
The Category Creation Formula reveals the processes they rely on and the truths about categories that they've uncovered, clearly laid out so any entrepreneur or leadership team can benefit from them, too.
The most exciting-and often most valuable-companies create, develop and win new categories of products or services. Examples range from the Zamboni company a century ago to OpenAI today. It also includes startups that you may not have heard of yet, but will as their categories take off.
Category creation and development should be the goal of any company that wants to make a difference. And the way to achieve that is through the discipline of strategic category design.
Kevin Maney helped introduce category design in the bestseller Play Bigger. Now, he and Mike Damphousse-an experienced CEO, investor, and marketing executive-share the secrets that they've learned over the past decade, plus new concepts and tools that help companies see and frame new categories. Their advisory firm has worked on strategic category design projects with more than fifty companies and guided workshops for hundreds more at incubators and VC portfolio gatherings.
The Category Creation Formula reveals the processes they rely on and the truths about categories that they've uncovered, clearly laid out so any entrepreneur or leadership team can benefit from them, too.
Reviews / Votes
"If you want to stand out in the amazing AI era, then 'category design' may be the most valuable new skill you will want to have. It's all in Kevin Maney and Mike Damphousse's new book, The Category Creation Formula." - John Sculley, chairman, RxAdvance and former Apple CEO"Kevin Maney and Mike Damphousse have written a concise and enlightening 'how to' guide on new category creation. This new formula helps creatives and entrepreneurs reimagine and reshape the old and push it out to make it new." - Ted Leonsis, vice chairman emeritus, AOL;founder and CEO, Monumental Sports
"The difference between breakout success and mediocrity often lies in how a company defines-and dominates-its category. The Category Creation Formula distills decades of front-line experience guiding founders through the messy, high-stakes process of category design." - Mark Roberge, co-founder at Stage 2 Capital, professor at Harvard Business School, founding Chief Revenue Officer, HubSpot.
"Kevin and Mike have codified what the best founders do instinctively. The Category Creation Formula is a sharp diagnostic tool for identifying real market opportunities. It explains why great companies often succeed not because they're first, but because they time and execute category creation perfectly. In an era of unprecedented technological change, when AI is reshaping every industry, strategic category design is a requirement. This is the playbook for founders who want to define markets, rather than compete in them." - Hemant Taneja, CEO, General Catalyst
"If you want to stop just competing and actually dominate your market, you need this book. It's the ultimate guidebook for focusing on huge market breakthroughs instead of wasting time on small feature updates. I know this works because I created the Access Infrastructure category for secure remote access and collaboration. The Category Creation Formula totally nails the strategy for defining your market's playing field and setting the rules for everyone else. If you believe you have a game-changing product, The Category Creation Formula is a required read for every ambitious founder, CEO and product leader." - Mark Templeton, CEO of Citrix (retired) and multiple-startup board member
"Kevin has long helped entrepreneurs think more clearly about how to define and build meaningful companies. This latest work, with Mike Damphousse, brings uncommon clarity to what it means to create not just a product, but a place in the world for it." - Zach Reitano, CEO and co-founder, Ro
"Kevin Maney does it once again, this time teaming up with Mike Damphousse to create a thoughtful, fun to read and enormously helpful book that captures how innovators can see and frame new opportunities amid great technological change. If you're not yet using Strategic Category Design, this is your playbook." - Don Tapscott, entrepreneur and bestselling author
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
340 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-348377-4 (9780063483774)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Kevin Maney | Mike Damphousse
The Category Creation Formula
Discover, Design, and Win New Market Categories
E-Book
02/2026
HarperCollins
€17.89
Available for download
Persons
Kevin Maney is a bestselling author, award-winning commentator and a founding partner of Category Design Advisors. He co-authored Play Bigger, which has influenced company strategy throughout the technology ecosystem. His past books include the national bestseller The Transformation Principles and the New York Times bestseller The Two-Second Advantage and The Maverick and His Machine. He has written for USA Today, Newsweek, Fortune, The Atlantic, and Wired, and often appears on radio and television. He lives in New York.
Mike Damphousse brings an experienced, pragmatic aspect to strategic category design from three decades as a company founder, CEO, CMO, startup advisor and a limited partner with Stage 2 Capital. He was most recently founder and CEO/CMO of Green Leads, which was acquired by Next 15. He has served on several boards of both commercial and non-profit ventures, and speaks regularly at conferences such as Dreamforce and Inbound. Mike holds a BS in Computer Science from Merrimack College and has three daughters, two granddaughters, and a grandson. He lives on the water in both New Hampshire and Florida with his wife and business partner, Linda.
Mike Damphousse brings an experienced, pragmatic aspect to strategic category design from three decades as a company founder, CEO, CMO, startup advisor and a limited partner with Stage 2 Capital. He was most recently founder and CEO/CMO of Green Leads, which was acquired by Next 15. He has served on several boards of both commercial and non-profit ventures, and speaks regularly at conferences such as Dreamforce and Inbound. Mike holds a BS in Computer Science from Merrimack College and has three daughters, two granddaughters, and a grandson. He lives on the water in both New Hampshire and Florida with his wife and business partner, Linda.