Miami & Austin Are Wreaking Category Violence On Silicon Valley
Who will be the new category king "tech hub" region in the US?
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Dear Friend, Subscriber, and fellow Category Pirate,
Right now, we see category design happening in PLACES in the US.
Legendary places are legendary because they design and dominate a category.
Nashville: category queen city for songwriters.
Hollywood: category king city for entertainment.
New York: category queen city for finance & fashion.
London: category king city for international finance.
Bay Area: category queen city for technology & startups.
(We are using “queen” and “king” interchangeably.)
These are regions that became known for a niche they own—and did so intentionally. Nashville doesn’t market itself by saying, “Come to Nashville! Nashville, Nashville!” This would be the equivalent of marketing the brand first, which is a cardinal sin in category design we expounded upon in this letter.
Legendary places market the category of which they hold the leadership position.
When someone says “I’m going to visit the songwriting capital of the US,” they don’t need to say the city—you know they’re talking about Nashville. Or if they say, “I’m going out west to pursue my dream of becoming an actor,” you know they’re headed for LA. That’s because these cities have established themselves as queens and kings of specific categories—and successfully defended their positions from prying competitors.
But what happens when the category king of an industry, sector, or in this case, region of the United States, starts to neglect their precious category? More importantly, what happens when other cities witness this vulnerability and begin to attack?