For some lucky souls, the universe lays out a space for them, a place where they can fit into society. There are, however, others who do not conform to the traditional spaces and roles. They are square pegs in a round hole world. How can these individuals defy the conventional narrative and resist the constraints of societal norms? In this episode of the Knucklehead podcast, Stephen talks with Christopher Lochhead. A dyslexic paperboy from Montreal who got thrown out of school at 18, Christopher talks about how ...
For some lucky souls, the universe lays out a space for them, a place where they can fit into society. There are, however, others who do not conform to the traditional spaces and roles. They are square pegs in a round hole world. How can these individuals defy the conventional narrative and resist the constraints of societal norms?
In this episode of the Knucklehead podcast, Stephen talks with Christopher Lochhead. A dyslexic paperboy from Montreal who got thrown out of school at 18, Christopher talks about how he created his own place in this world. With few other options, he became an entrepreneur, then three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO (Mercury Interactive, Scient, Vantive), and an investor/advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups.
Also best known as a "godfather" of Category Design, Christopher shares how he developed his content distribution strategy, why today is the greatest time in the history of human beings to be a creator and an entrepreneur, and how success is about failing in the right direction.
Christopher is a 14-time #1 bestselling Amazon author, #1 charting Apple business podcaster, top 5 business newsletter creator, and former 3X public tech company CMO. He co-authored the first two books on the management discipline Category Design, Play Bigger, and Niche Down. He also co-creates mini-books on Category Design, Category Pirates, and the Category Pirates Series of Amazon books. Recently, he co-authored #1 bestsellers "The 22 Laws of Category Design" and "Snow Leopard: How Legendary Writers Create A Category Of One".
Enjoy!
In This Episode
01:30 - Christopher's strategy for delivering content.
05:10 - How Christopher developed his content distribution strategy.
11:17 - Knowledge workers versus creator capitalists.
15:22 - Christopher's newest category.
20:02 - One of the biggest fallacies in marketing.
22:14 - How Christopher's screw-ups led him to where he is today.
28:55 - What The 22 Laws of Category Design is all about.
33:22 - Christopher's final piece of advice.
Favorite Quotes
00:00 - "I'm in giant intergalactic failure in every dimension. I don't even have a GED. I got thrown out of school at 18. I found out at 21 that I have five different learning differences — dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD, and a couple of others. And so at 18 years old, with very few choices because nobody would hire me to do anything, I started a company." - Christopher Lochhead
06:07 - "We're living in a new native digital world. Nobody really knows how to pioneer this world. And so we think that what's there to do is to go and play." - Christopher Lochhead
12:23 - "As the availability of all of humanity's knowledge becomes accessible and closer and closer to free over time, people who get paid to apply existing knowledge are gonna become less and less." - Christopher Lochhead
23:06 - "There are people for whom there is a place in this world. And there are some of us for whom there is no place, and we do not fit. And so rather than find a place, I have to make my place." - Christopher Lochhead
24:07 - "For me, entrepreneurship was not a way up in the world as much as it was a way out of a life of struggle and poverty." - Christopher Lochhead
26:09 - "If you experiment and create and push and pull and fail, lose a ton of money and get laughed at and be incredibly shamed and embarrassed by things and et cetera, that's innovation. Success is about failing in the right direction." - Christopher Lochhead
31:38 - "If you view yourself as a person/company that is trying to catalyze a movement and bring people together and drive a conversation, magic happens." - Christopher Lochhead
33:25 - "This is the greatest time of technological innovation in the history of human beings. And it is the greatest time in the history of human beings to be a creator and an entrepreneur." - Christopher Lochhead
33:53 - "The future needs the entrepreneurs, the creators, the innovators, the pirates, and dreamers to do exponential things to create different futures. And there's never been a greater time to create different futures and category design your own new markets than right now." - Christopher Lochhead
Connect with Christopher Lochhead
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Knucklehead Media Group is your "push button" for podcasts. We help companies and organizations tell their story using podcasts and best practices for content distribution. Home to some of the top podcasts across multiple categories, captivating coursework on gaining traction with your show, and consulting to those companies BOLD enough to get some wins. We believe your mistakes set the foundation for your success, those stories help customers beat a pathway to your doorstep, and the myths from bringing business online shouldn't hold you back from getting yours.
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