No one cares

And one question that decides the fate of your company.

Enough about me.

Today I’m going to teach the most important principle in category design.

It’s dead simple and crazy powerful.

To understand it, first you must understand the problem.

Take my shop, Gold Front. I’ve got a lot riding on its success - just like you and your venture.

If my company succeeds:

- I get to keep working with people I love.
- I don’t have to get a corporate job.
- Moeka and I can finally book our dream vacation.

If it were up to me, every person I meet would care deeply about Gold Front and want to hire us.

But the reality is, of course, no one cares. Not at first.

Because nobody wants to be sold or marketed to.

So how do we bridge the gap? 

It’s a principle I call The Kind Rule. 

The Kind Rule helps you change the dynamic: 

FROM
You “I want to sell you something.”
Them “I want run away.”

TO
You “I want to sell you something.”
Them “I want to know more.”

Here’s the principle.

The Kind Rule:
Never differentiate on qualities when you can differentiate on kind.

In other words, talk about the kind of thing you offer in an interesting way, not the qualities of the kind of thing you offer.

Qualities kill your pitch.
Kind of thing changes the conversation.

Why does this work so well? We’ve all been conditioned to differentiate on qualities, not on kind.

Which means your competitors largely will not do this - and they will lose out.

Here are some examples.

“Gold Front is an agency that helps startups lead their category through strategy and design.”
 —> “I want to run away.”

“Gold Front is a category design studio.” 
—> “Huh. Tell me more...”

“IGC is a VC fund that does deep research on what technologies acquiring companies will need in the future so we can make better investments.”
—> “I want to run away.”

“IGC is a reverse VC fund.”
—> “Huh. Tell me more…”

“Tesla makes electric cars that have a large screen, go fast and feature minimal interior design.”
—> “I want to run away.”

“Tesla is reinventing the electric car category.” 
—> “Huh. Tell me more…”

Okay. I know this is a very small moment to win. But it’s absolutely the most important moment in the life of every business.

Are you leaning in to sell to them? Or are they leaning in to be sold to?

The answer decides the fate of your company.

So please. Never talk about how your company/product/service is a normal thing in the world with special qualities.

Talk about how your company/product/service is a new kind of thing in the world. And then be silent.

Let them make the next move.

If they say, “Huh, what’s that?” You’ve successfully changed the dynamic. 

They are asking you to sell to them.

Exact same information. Framed differently.

(Then again, once you start to frame it differently, I think you’ll find it then compels you to actually differentiate in ways that pay off your boast. But that’s another post.)

Okay? Okay.

Maybe give it a try.

PS: 
Yes, The Kind Rule works for companies (like Gold Front) and products (like ChatGPT) and services (like UberEats). 

And yes it works for every size company from sandwich carts to Apple.

I get those questions a lot.