a16z Podcast: Creating a Category, from Pricing to Positioning

The a16z Show

a16z

Culture, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Software Eating The World, Disruption, Business, Technology, Science

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2018

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

with Martin Casado (@martin_casado), Michel Feaster (@michelfeaster) and Sonal Chokshi (@smc90) The purpose of category creation, argue the guests in this episode of the podcast, isn't just about making a dent in the way companies work and changing ...

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The content here is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal business, tax, or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any A16Z fund.
0:14.2	For more details, please see A16Z.com slash disclosures.
0:18.7	Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Sixth and Z podcast.
0:21.5	I'm Sonal.
0:22.7	Today we're talking all about category creation, which a lot of new startups selling
0:26.4	new innovations, especially to big companies, have to do.
0:30.0	Joining us to have this conversation, we have general partner Martin Casado, who helped
0:33.7	create the category of software-defined networking through Nysera and then at VMware, and also recently wrote a post on going to market when no market exists. We also have Michelle
0:42.4	Feaster, CEO and co-finder of UserMind, which provides integration software to help companies
0:47.7	connect their internal systems together so that customer experience is seamless. And before
0:52.5	Usermine, Michelle was VP or products at APTO, where
0:55.0	she defined the category and the discipline of technology business management. So our discussion
0:59.9	today covers everything from pricing to positioning to other product marketing and what category
1:04.6	creation means for entrepreneurs to broader trends in how IT is changing. But we begin by defining
1:10.6	what we mean by category creation and why it matters.
1:14.5	Category creation is about creating a net new problem and a net new solution to that problem.
1:20.6	And the reason it's important is that if I go and I build a better monitoring tool,
1:24.2	the price point of monitoring tools is already set.
1:26.5	Whereas if I create a category, I can set the annual contract value. In the price point, monitoring tools is already set. Whereas if I create a category,
1:27.8	I can set the annual contract value. In the price point, I can set my own market size and I can
1:32.8	literally move money from one pot of gold to the other. That is so crazy counterintuitive to me,
1:38.2	because I would never think that the whole point of creating a market is actually set the price point.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from a16z, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of a16z and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.