Category First

Category First

Host Josh Lowman, and guests, share mini-masterclasses in category creation, strategy and brand design. Join us for Listener Q&A episodes and occasional interviews with category creators at companies like Gong, Squarespace, Zapier and more.

Recent Episodes

47
Aug. 7, 2026

Eric Wittman | VSCO

Subscribe to my newsletter → https://ownyourcategory.substack.com ____ VSCO CEO Eric Wittman shares how they finally found their story. And why having great products isn't enough if you can't say what they're for. In this episode of Own Your Category, Eric Wittman, CEO of VSCO, joined Josh to break down how a platform built for photographers spent years with the right product vision - and the wrong words to describe it. Until now. We covered: Why "where photographers turn pro" unlocked ever
Jan. 16, 2024

Workshop: How to Fix Your Positioning

Josh hosted a live workshop to help folks get their positioning back on track. Topics included: The Three Hard Positioning Problems everybody faces. The best tool to fix each one. And why everything will fall into place when you master these tools. Josh has written the positioning for over 100 companies including Uber, Qualtrics and Gainsight. And he’s the founder of Gold Front, the category design studio. Now let’s fix your positioning.
45
Jan. 2, 2024

The Gold Front Category Design Canvas

Josh shares the Gold Front Category Design Canvas, a tool that helps you ask and answer the essential questions for crafting great category strategy. Plus, there’s a Mario-themed mnemonic that makes the canvas easy to remember. This is the actual tool we use to help tech companies design new categories. Did we mention it’s Mario-themed?
44
Dec. 19, 2023

Live Strategy: Anna Furmanov

Join Josh and Anna Furmanov for live strategy work. Anna is the founder of Furmanov Marketing, who’s been called the “Marie Kondo of startup marketing”. Josh and Anna talk about: Gold Front’s category strategy. The unique problem Anna’s business solves. Giving the problem a name CEOs will connect with. And how to get more specific with language. A good show! Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com
43
Dec. 5, 2023

WTF is Category Design?

We are back! Josh explains category design. Topics include: Why category design sometimes gets people so angry. Strategy is just thinking before you act. And category as a force multiplier for strategy. Submit questions and subscribe to our newsletter here: categoryfirst.substack.com
42
Aug. 1, 2023

Q&A: 5 Principles Every Category Creator Must Follow

Josh shares 5 foundational principles that category creators can use to stay focused on the work that really matters. It’s easy to lose your way when creating new categories, use these tools and insights to keep yourself, and your category, on track for success. They are: Is thinking happening? Are you creating something in the mind of the customer? Is it different? Is it interesting? Is it true? Did you know there's a newsletter too? Check it out at: categoryfirst.substack.com