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.
😎

Chimpy

Advising Chimpy’s Head of Marketing on building and operationalizing a B2B content strategy. We defined customer personas, content pillars and formats, and quarterly campaign structures to generate demand with retail partners and align marketing with sales.

B2B Content Strategy Advisor

The Workflow

The Workflow is a bi-weekly newsletter by Sara Lattanzio & Diandra Escobar that breaks down one expert-tested AI and automation workflow in every issue. We show you exactly how it’s built, what works, and what doesn’t, so you walk away with fresh ideas you can actually implement. No “replace your marketing team with 40 agents.” No “10 AI tools that will change your life.” Just proven, actionable strategies for marketing, growth, and GTM — powered by AI.

📩 Subscribe to get battle-tested AI & automation recipes that ship results, not just vibes.
https://www.theworkflow.digital/subscribe

Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder

Want to work with someone who’s been living and breathing B2B marketing in all its shapes and forms for the past decade? Here’s how we could make it happen:

1️⃣ Fractional Head of Marketing / Advisor
I work with B2B SaaS and service companies as a fractional Head of Marketing or advisor helping them sharpen positioning, design content-led GTM strategies, and build high-performing marketing engines. From startups to corporates, I bring over a decade of experience driving measurable growth.

2️⃣ LinkedIn Thought Leadership & Brand Partnerships
With 50,000+ engaged followers on LinkedIn and my newsletter The Workflow, I collaborate with MarTech and AI brands targeting GTM teams through authentic partnerships. This includes sponsored LinkedIn posts, newsletter features, and brand collaborations designed to connect with decision-makers in marketing and sales. Past partnerships include Semrush, Wix, Tofu, Bynder, Goldcast, Air, and many more.

3️⃣ Speaking Engagements & Workshops
I speak at conferences (e.g. Semrush's Spotlight conference), guest on podcasts (e.g. Exit Five, CXL, Everyone hates marketers), and lead workshops on B2B content strategy and growth, B2B marketing leadership, and personal branding. I love bringing fresh, actionable perspectives to teams and audiences translating complex marketing challenges into clear, practical strategies.

📩 Interested in discussing rates or a potential project?
Reach me at lattanzio.sara@gmail.com or send me a DM here on LinkedIn.

B2B Marketing Advisor & Fractional Leader | Content Strategist & Creator

Semrush

Creating content about different tools and features of the Semrush platform, including educational walkthroughs and product marketing content.
In addition, I beta-test new features, provide feedback, and support product launches for an outstanding brand that's shaping the future of content marketing.

Brand Ambassador | Advisor

Tofu

Creating educational and product marketing content across countless product use cases for TOFU, a new all-in-one, AI-driven marketing platform that enables marketers to launch campaigns 8X faster.

Bold claim, but it's definitely true. Among many other features like content creation and repurposing, TOFU's personalization-at-scale capabilities for both sales and marketing teams are second to none.

Stryber

On a mission to build a top-tier marketing function from the ground up at Stryber, a professional services company that helps established businesses identify, validate, and execute new growth opportunities.

⦿ In charge of all strategic and operational marketing initiatives to drive company growth
⦿ Leading a high-performing in-house and fractional marketing team
⦿ Member of the executive leadership team, contributing to overall business strategy and growth
⦿ Successfully repositioned the company in collaboration with the CEO
⦿ Driving content strategy, lead generation, and demand generation programs across EU and UAE markets with an ABM go-to-market approach
⦿ Achieved 3x increase in website traffic, 4x growth in LinkedIn organic reach, and consistent delivery of qualified, marketing-sourced leads
⦿ Implemented AI-powered marketing and content tools to streamline workflows and improve efficiency

Head of Marketing | Member of Executive Board

Wix Studio

As part of their expert product advisory board I support the Wix Studio team on product development and GTM strategy.

Advisory Board Member

Goldcast

I test new product features and create engaging educational and product marketing content for Goldcast — a video platform that helps B2B marketing teams easily produce, repurpose, and distribute video content. Finally a tool that makes it possible for even small teams to scale video content in an era where, without it, you basically don’t exist.

Bold claim, but it's definitely true. Among many other features like content creation and repurposing, TOFU's personalization-at-scale capabilities for both sales and marketing teams are second to none.

Brand Ambassador

Brand24

Creating content for this powerful social media monitoring and analytics tool which helps businesses strengthen their online presence, manage their reputation, and track the competition. 
With Brand24, users can monitor brand mentions, track hashtags, and analyze real-time sentiment across social media, news sites, blogs, and forums.

Creating content for this new challenger brand that invented the concept of "Creative Ops." 
The Air platform automates the mindless tasks that creatives and marketers do daily to manage content and unlocks creativity through image recognition, automated versioning, and approval workflows.

B2B marketer with a content DNA | Sr. Marketing manager @Adnovum | Content creator at 💖

I’ve spent the last 10+ years living and breathing B2B marketing across startups and corporates—shaping narratives, driving demand, and building marketing engines that scale. Along the way, I’ve been named a LinkedIn Top Voice, recognized as one of Switzerland’s top 20 LinkedIn influencers, and built a community of 50,000+ B2B marketers and founders who follow my practical takes on content, growth, and leadership.

Some highlights from my career so far:

✅ Content-led growth: 3× increase in website traffic, 4× growth in social reach in just 7 months
✅ Online events: Launched LinkedIn Live at scale, generating 300+ qualified leads in a single event
✅ Social media impact: a single LinkedIn post drove 13 demo requests
✅ Thought leadership: grew LinkedIn audience to 50K, Top Voice recognition among global CEOs and entrepreneurs
✅ Influencer collaboration: secured 4 top-tier media placements + an event keynote through one campaign
✅ SEO execution: doubled daily organic traffic in 6 months and generated a six-figure pipeline for cybersecurity solutions
✅ Leadership: built and scaled two marketing departments, coached teams, and supported C-suite executives on positioning, branding, and communication

After four consecutive marketing and leadership roles, I’m now focused on my newsletter, The Workflow, select brand partnerships with MarTech and AI companies, and consulting B2B firms on organic growth, positioning strategy, and demand generation.

I’m also open to fractional Head of Marketing roles and to the right full-time opportunity where I can bring my experience in content-led GTM and growth to make an impact.

📩 Want to work together? Reach me at lattanzio.sara@gmail.com
 or send me a DM here on LinkedIn.

taplio

The Battle

Christopher Lochhead🏴‍☠️

Sara Stella Lattanzio

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taplio

The Battle

Christopher Lochhead🏴‍☠️

Sara Stella Lattanzio

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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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