Executive Summary

Executive Summary

B2B SaaS companies don't become category leaders by executing better within the same rules.

They become leaders by changing the rules—and making that change feel inevitable.

Across software categories, the companies that leapfrog competitors follow a consistent pattern. They make a strategic move that breaks from the category's inherited logic—whether by challenging a stale assumption, introducing a new business model, or combining mature capabilities to solve a bigger problem—and they pair that move with a narrative that reshapes what buyers believe they're buying and why it matters.

I call this a Product Category Reset: a strategic move paired with a narrative that makes the move feel inevitable.

A structural move without narrative is innovation the market doesn't adopt.

A narrative without a structural move is positioning the market doesn't believe.

When both reinforce each other, something powerful happens. Buyers stop comparing features and start choosing direction. Sales moves from price-taking to price-making. And internally, the company aligns around a shared understanding of who the business is helping, what value it brings, and why it matters.

The three strategic moves that reset categories:

1. Reframe the problem — Introduce an insight that exposes a hidden or outdated assumption about what buyers think they're solving.

2. Recombine mature capabilities — Reorganize proven pieces around a problem that couldn't be fully addressed until those pieces were ready.

3. Shift the business model — Deliver the same outcome through a more favorable commercial structure—reducing friction, risk, or constraint.

Each move becomes available at different moments in a category's evolution. Each demands a different kind of proof under real buying pressure. And each—when paired with the right narrative—can turn a good company into a great one.

This field guide lays out the pattern, the framework, and the practical implications for founders, investors, and bankers who want to spot (or build) category leadership early—when it's still mis-priced.