453: The Discipline of Category Creation

Everyone wants to be in a category of one.  

But until analysts acknowledge it, customers search for it, and competitors show up, it’s not quite a category—more a call you made before the market did. Creating one means walking a line between leading the story and waiting for the market to catch up.

In this episode, Drew Neisser is joined by Bernd Leger of Cornerstone OnDemand, Charles Groome of Biz2Credit, and Jakki Geiger to share their insights into building a category from scratch.

In this episode:

• Bernd shares how Cornerstone moved beyond LMS into “workforce agility,” backed by acquisitions, analyst engagement, and full-team alignment. 

• Charles explains how Biz2Credit is carving out a new lane in FinTech by naming the problem and using familiar language to build demand. 

• Jakki outlines what separates true category creation from disruption, and why team-wide clarity is the hidden work that drives both. 

Plus: 

• Why a real customer problem should shape your category narrative 

• How to bring analysts in without losing control of the story 

• What it takes to bring your team along when the category doesn’t exist yet

Tune in to learn how category creation starts, builds, and earns its place in the market! 

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/

To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/