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Recessions don’t kill businesses. Fighting for demand does.

When the economy tightens, most companies panic.

They discount.

They compete harder.

They spend more to make less.

And that’s exactly why they lose.

This audiobook makes a simple but contrarian claim:

Recessions are the worst time to chase demand—and the best time to create it.

Customers don’t stop spending. They reorganize their priorities.

Everything gets sorted into two lists:

Must-haves

Nice-to-haves

If you land on the wrong list, no amount of marketing will save you.

This mini-book shows you how to move categories, products, and services up the hierarchy of perceived value—so you’re not competing on price, discounts, or desperation.

Here are a few key points:

[00:00] - Recessions create two lists: must-haves and nice-to-haves. The key is to get your product/service on the must-have list by increasing perceived value.

[07:20] - Create high-value non-obvious insights by auditing today's popular solutions to find emerging category opportunities and solve tomorrow's problems.

[16:58] - Convert non-obvious insights into intellectual capital, then turn that into digital products, services, or businesses that can scale infinitely.

[26:43] - Design new categories for your digital products/services, considering how to turn cost centers into revenue-generating opportunities.

[26:43] - Market your new and different category to create net new demand by solving tomorrow's problems today, avoiding competition and thriving during recessions.

This is not about waiting for the recession to end.

It’s about using the recession to reposition yourself.

Because when competitors are distracted by survival, that’s when category creators design the future.

Now is no time to work on the incremental.

Now is the time to design demand.

Arrrrrrr,

Category Pirates

Eddie Yoon

Christopher Lochhead