Personal Category Design: How to Own Your Niche and Create Demand

Why This Matters

Many professionals and entrepreneurs fall into the trap of either focusing too much on their career, a personal brand or their product, without realizing the true value comes from owning a unique space in the market based on your unique Point-of-View (PoV).

Personal Category Design is about positioning yourself at the intersection of skill, demand, and perception—creating a niche that you define and dominate. One you won’t leave behind when changing jobs, pivoting or starting new initiatives.

Personal Category Design is how you obtain radical agency in your life. It’s the process of building leverage that finally lets you live life on your terms.

The Core Idea or Framework

Personal Category Design is not just about being good at something; it’s about framing a problem, naming a unique approach, and claiming authority in a space.

Instead of just acquiring a skill, the goal is to attach that skill to a new and different opportunity that others recognize as valuable. This shifts the focus from competing in existing categories to creating entirely new ones.

For example programming is a skill but when I combine that skill with my deep domain expertise in electrical engineering, circuit design and communications systems I’m able to to work for the lead developer of SerDes IP world wide.

We’re the category King in wired communications and our IP enables the revenue streams of three other divisions at Broadcom who are also Category Kings.

Since the bulk of my pay is equity in the company I’ve tied my unique value proposition to a rocket ship.

Breaking It Down – The Playbook in Action

Step 1: Frame the Problem Differently

Look beyond existing categories. What is the new challenge that is not being solved?
How can you redefine an old problem to create a new opportunity?

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Step 2: Name & Claim Your Niche

What do you do that is unique? Who do you do it for?
What’s the “job to be done” that no one else is solving in the same way?

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Step 3: Position for Perceived Value

Create a Value Perception Gap—where what you offer is seen as irreplaceable.
Highlight why your approach is not just better but different from everything else available.

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Step 4: Play the Category Strategy Game

Tie your compensation to value creation (e.g., revenue shares, stock, or investments).
Focus on long-term positioning rather than short-term wins.

“Your personal brand might get you noticed, but Personal Category Design makes you unforgettable. It's not about being better—it's about being different, irreplaceable, and in your own league.”

Tools, Workflows, and Technical Implementation

Build your Point-of-View from the skills, knowledge, interests and insights that make unique over anyone else.

List all your skills (Skills)
List all your domain expertise (Knowledge)
List all the topics you’ve consumed in books, articles, podcast in the last two years. (Unique Insights and Interests)
Build up an affinity diagram with all of these.
The intersection of your 2nd or 3rd level groups reveal your 3 super powers and make up your Point-of-View.

When you position yourself in this way no one can compete with you. The types of jobs you’ll want to apply for become narrower but also help you capture the most value.

When working as a freelancer or consultant the same is true. The number of clients you can work for becomes narrow but if you can find those clients you'll deliver them maximum value and profits in return.

Real-World Applications and Impact

Many successful entrepreneurs have built category-defining businesses by leveraging this strategy:

Example 1: A freelancer who shifted from generic design services to "Conversion-Focused Landing Pages for SaaS Startups."

Example 2: A consultant who transitioned from general business coaching to "Helping First-Time Founders Build Revenue-Generating AI Products."

By focusing on category creation rather than competition, you become the go-to experts in youir spaces.

Challenges and Nuances – What to Watch Out For

The Commodity Trap: If you position yourself as just another electrical engineer, coder, freelancer or coach, you compete on price rather than value.
Misalignment with Market Needs: If your niche is too specific or too ahead of its time, adoption will be slow.
Failure to Own the Narrative: Without a compelling story, even a well-positioned category won’t gain traction.

Closing Thoughts and How to Take Action

Start by defining your niche and framing the problem differently.
Test your positioning with a small audience and refine based on feedback.
Align with an industry trend or movement for increased adoption.

References

Related Embeddings:

Category Design Playbook

Impact in my Career:

External: