Founding a new category vs moving into one you've created - We've you've been in business 2-5+ years - how do you go about performing a category switch? (Complete rebrand, new site, email outreach, etc.)

I would orchestrate it as a compelling event to re-invent yourself. You can choose to which extent you would take that – rebranding the company, new logo, etc. – but ultimately you need to let the world know that something new is happening.

At Gainsight (or Jbara Software as we were called at the time), we did the following:

• Rebranded the company
• Brand new website
• Press release / media outreach under embargo
• Email to our entire database
• Announced our Series A financing (compelling event), industry conference, etc.

It made all the difference as we did everything we can to align the new, Gainsight, brand with the movement and community we were building.

Assuming the right answer for you is to indeed switch categories (and I’d really make sure to get this answer right), I’d recommend by laying out your point of view on the market problem, why it needs to be solved, and your positioning (ability to solve that problem in a unique way).

I’d also be careful to consider what it means for you in the original category. Is it the case that the “category” is evolving given changes in the market and user behavior? Or is it something new entirely.

I’d imagine that you’re not abandoning the old category entirely so you need to connect the dots for customers and clearly articulate your presence in the old and new categories simultaneously (perhaps you have different products or solutions for each category).

In category creation it is critical to tell the story that matters....figure out the story and the category follows. Make the category the magic in your customer's hero's journey. Many say define the category then build the story, I say the opposite, tell the story and the category will emerge from it...

https://kenrutsky.com/breakthrough-marketing/forget-the-silver-bullet-to-breakthrough-and-win-tell-your-golden-story/