This is a big moment for us.
The band is back—Al and Christopher from Play Bigger, joined by Jason and Mary from inside the client room, the war room, and the burning-of-the-boats ceremonies.
Together, we’ve written a new book. It’s the prequel to Play Bigger called - The Existing Market Trap: Escaping The 13 Deadly Sins That Destroy Companies, Careers and Portfolios
It was inspired by something we missed the first time around: We never clearly named the problem Category Design solves. Until now…
The Existing Market Trap (EMT) gives name to the fact most companies don’t fail because they build bad products. They fail because they don’t build belief.
They launch something new—and the market compares it to something old.
They follow the classic playbook—and end up in a game they didn’t design.
They’re misunderstood, miscategorized, and eventually… they stall.
The EMT is real. It’s everywhere. And it’s killing more innovation than bad code ever did.
This new book details why—and shows you how to overcome it.
It's short, sharp, and specifically designed for founders creating new markets in real-time.
It's published by Category Pirates and available now on Amazon.
What You Can Expect To Discover
- A clear breakdown of the EMT and how it shows up as The 13 Deadly Sins quietly sabotaging great companies. From The Engineer’s Dilemma to Existential Decline, we've identified repeatable failure patterns quietly undermining even the most promising companies. These sins are everywhere—perpetuated inside many organizations right now.
- A system for overcoming these sins, escaping the trap and building belief - the most powerful thing you can ship.
- Real-world escape stories from Qualtrics, Docusign and ClearMetal
- What it all means for your company, career, and portfolio
