Time to spring into something bigger!

Today we’re talking about:

• Six mechanisms that drive scale & underpin category creation
• Docusign President, Robert Chatwani's views on Market Making & Category Creation
• Highlights from Zenith 2025

Let’s go!

Hang around Play Bigger long enough, and you'll hear this stat: 76% of market value goes to the market leader. That’s peer-reviewed research we published in Harvard Business Review—and it’s still true today. But why does this happen?

And how does Category Design drive the kind of scale that leads to market domination?

Here are six mechanisms that drive scale and underpin category creation from a recent article we published.

1. Category Design is a "System Two" On Ramp

If you show up looking similar to something people already know, you'll instantly become just another commodity—easy to ignore or compare. But when you define a completely new category addressing an unsolved problem, customers pause and engage deeply to understand you. That cognitive shift—from quick System One thinking to deliberate System Two thinking—is the difference between being an interchangeable product or an essential line-item in their budget.

2. Category Development > Line Extension

Category Design isn't just marketing strategy; it's a strategic north star guiding product innovation and company growth. It protects companies from what we call the "bag of doorknobs" problem—building unrelated products because of random customer requests. Instead, category creation ensures coherent, compounding innovation that feeds exponential growth rather than incremental, ad-hoc gains.

3. The Power of Shared Beliefs

Companies scale because of people—specifically, people who believe deeply in a shared vision and mission for their work. Defining a new category creates clarity and purpose, motivating your team far beyond financial incentives. Talented people stay at companies that innovate, not just iterate.

4. The 10X Potential Investors Need

Good ideas rarely exist in isolation; someone else is always working on something similar. Investors know this because they're exposed to it all the time. Make their jobs easier by painting a picture not of features, benefits or production costs, but of customer problems, the value of solving them and the market you can create as a result. Category leaders don't just capture initial market share; they show how they benefit from all the fast followers. That’s a powerful pitch investors want to back.

5. Compounding First Mover Advantage

“It’s better to be first than it is to be better” - Al Ries & Jack Trout

Category creators define the rules with intention, setting the stage for a dominant market position long before competitors can even react. Establishing early leadership transforms new entrants from threats into validation—helping to accelerate growth and at the same time, compound market share.

6. A Roadmap for Continuous Category Creation

Categories have lifecycles and category leaders recognize the various phases. They don't just sit back—they continually define what’s next as their category matures. From Apple’s continuous category creation machine, to our work with companies like DocuSign (from eSignature to Intelligent Agreement Management) and Cloudflare (from network security to the Connectivity Cloud), successful category creators adapt, continuously redefining or expanding their markets.

Bottom Line:

Scaling sustainably requires more than great products. It demands new market creation. The six mechanisms we've shared illustrate why category creators achieve outsized, lasting market dominance—delivering enduring value for founders, investors, and customers alike.

Robert Chatwani Talks Market Making & Category Creation 

Last year we began working with Docusign when the exec team made the bold decision to evolve from the category of eSignature (which they dominated for 2 decades) to Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM). They realized eSignature had reached the end of its category lifecycle and growth wouldn’t come as a result of a messaging refresh. They needed to expand their market potential. A year after the lightning strike to launch their new category, 18% of their revenue now comes from IAM.

Docusign’s President of Growth, Robert Chatwani spoke at Athena Alliance Summit at Nasdaq this month, addressing a room packed with remarkable female leaders on the topic of market making and category creation. He shared his thoughts on new founding moments, and the transformation taking place at Docusign. He challenged the crowd with 3 essential questions to reflect on when working to reinvent your company:

Are you solving a problem people don't yet know they have?

Shaping a new market isn't about incremental improvement. The most successful market makers identify and address problems customers themselves haven't fully articulated yet.

Is your category story bigger than your product? 

True creators craft narratives focused on transformation. Your messaging should inspire change at an industry level, not just promote your solution. Test your narrative by removing your company and product names - if it still resonates, you're on the right track. Success comes when the industry adopts your terminology, signaling your thought leadership. Expect your competitors to follow.

Are you mobilizing an ecosystem or just building a customer base? 

Market makers don't just sell products - they create movements. Create platforms, standards, and communities in order to become the reference brand that defines the space.

Zenith 2025 Recap: Escaping the Existing Market Trap