Stop Competing. Start Creating: Why AgTech Needs Category Design

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." – Peter Drucker

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The Category Design Imperative in Agriculture

Most go-to-market strategy advice agtech startups receive is terrible. Not because the people giving it aren’t smart—but because it’s based on a fundamental fallacy.

Most companies believe that when people see the widget they’ve built, they’ll immediately understand how cool it is technically and how valuable it is financially.

But they don’t.

Customers don’t get why you’ve built this thing. They don’t get why they should care. And they really don’t know why they need to give you money for it...until you give them a new framework with which to see their problem.

Most of the go-to-market brain trust will push you down the road of competitive analysis, market research, and other tactics designed for mature markets.

But what did the market research say about tractors in 1870? Or what was the competitive analysis on Roundup Ready soybeans in the late ’80s? What was the market saying about auto-steer in the ’90s?

The problem with traditional go-to-market approaches is that they assume you are:

• Competing for market share.
• In an existing category.
• With a "better" or incrementally improved product.

They can't help you build a concept that no one’s ever heard of before. They can’t work with you when the customer doesn't have a line item for your product or service. They can't help you redefine the problem in the customer’s mind.

And here’s the data that should make you rethink your strategy: In technology categories, the category king normally takes about 76% of the market capitalization. No one remembers the also-ran. They only remember the first.

If your go-to-market is not built to design a new category of your own, then you’ll be letting someone else define the problem, prescribe the solution, and set the value for the outcome you deliver.

A bad plan for success.

The Problem: Playing the Wrong Game

In business, we often witness three prevailing approaches to going to market: brand-led, product-led, and customer-led strategies. While these have their merits, they fall short of creating exponential outcomes.

They focus on capturing demand rather than creating it. And if you’re just capturing demand, you’re in a race to the bottom, stuck in an endless cycle of incremental improvements and margin erosion.

Instead, you need to move the thinking in the industry from where it is today to where you want it to be.

The Opportunity: Seeing What Others Miss

Imagine two shoe salesmen sent to a remote African village. One salesman sees a lack of shoe-wearing individuals and concludes there’s no market opportunity. The other sees the same situation as an enormous opportunity—because nobody wears shoes yet.

This is the mindset shift that defines category design.

Instead of focusing on existing demand, category designers seek out untapped market potential. They recognize problems that customers haven’t fully articulated yet—and then they define, design, and dominate the space around solving that problem.

Problem-Led Companies Win

The company that defines the problem and crafts the solution is best positioned to capture the majority of the market share. Why? Because they shape the conversation, set the rules of engagement, and own the narrative.

How Do You Do This?

To embark on a category design journey, you need a solid framework. Start by evaluating your vision and mission. Understand who your target audience is and what problem you're solving for them. Consider the potential ecosystem of competitors and collaborators in your space.

Here’s where you can begin:

1. Frame the problem. Define what’s missing in the industry and make it painfully clear to your audience.
2. Name the problem. Give it a handle that sticks in people’s minds.
3. Claim the solution. Make it clear that you—and only you—are the one who can solve it.

Your pricing, your promotion, your product placement—all of it should reinforce this framing.

The Power of Evangelism

As a leader, your number one job is not just to manage teams or optimize operations—it’s to be the evangelist for your category.

You must cast a vision that resonates deeply with your customers and your team. You must relentlessly define the problem and position your solution as the transformative force in the industry.

If you don’t shape the market, someone else will.

A New Lens for Business

Category design represents a fundamental shift in how businesses think about growth. By reimagining the market, you can create new opportunities and shape the future of your industry.

Stop robbing your future valuation in the name of scaling user distribution. Upselling later is harder than it looks today.

Stop softening your differentiation by selling through an existing distribution network. The channel won’t save you unless there is market pull for your product downstream.

Stop hiring salespeople and expecting them to "just sell." Early sales depend on organizational learning and renaissance team members who are willing to take the time to educate the customer.

There is nothing more important to the future value of your company than the way you build your go-to-market today.

Start investing in your story as if it matters. Start designing your category.

Make something different. Make people care. Make fans, not followers.