Ideas on category design, narrative strategy, and building companies that lead rather than follow.https://www.forwardmomentum.llchttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/create-a-category-or-compete-in-onehttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/create-a-category-or-compete-in-oneCreating a category is expensive, slow and sometimes the wrong call. How to tell whether your problem is the category you're in or how you compete inside it, and why owning a category matters more than creating one.Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTbuyer-questionAndreas Gebhardhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/why-brand-transformations-stallhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/why-brand-transformations-stallA brand transformation rarely stalls because the idea was wrong. It stalls because nobody owned what happened after launch. Three places to look, in order, before anyone proposes a relaunch.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTbuyer-questionhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/how-aristides-guitars-turns-customers-into-fanshttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/how-aristides-guitars-turns-customers-into-fansWhy a Dutch guitar maker that knows exactly who they are ends up with fans, not just customers. A case study from the owner of four of their guitars.Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTpovAndreas Gebhardhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/too-busy-for-strategyhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/too-busy-for-strategyIf strategy matters so much, why is there never time for it? Being too busy is a choice, and every delayed start costs more than it seems.Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTpovAndreas Gebhardhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/the-pilot-trap-is-a-positioning-problemhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/the-pilot-trap-is-a-positioning-problemThe fix for initiatives that move fast and add up to nothing is to settle the destination first. That's good advice, and it's not really about AI.Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTpovAndreas Gebhardhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/ask-ten-people-what-your-company-doeshttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/ask-ten-people-what-your-company-doesLeaders guess their organization has about 10% variance in its judgments. Measured, it's usually north of 50%. The same gap exists in how your company describes itself, and it can't be fixed by averaging.Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpovAndreas Gebhardhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/we-did-their-positioning-then-became-a-customerhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/we-did-their-positioning-then-became-a-customerWe defined Runway's category in 2024. When it came time to rebuild our own site, we ended up hosting it there ourselves.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/why-category-design-beats-competing-on-featureshttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/why-category-design-beats-competing-on-featuresFeature comparisons put you on someone else's playing field. Category design lets you set the rules instead.Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/procreate-stance-on-generative-aihttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/procreate-stance-on-generative-aiProcreate took a clear stance against generative AI. That's a point of view, and most companies never manage to state one when a new technology arrives.Tue, 17 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMTpovhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/how-to-be-a-better-angel-board-member-and-investorhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/how-to-be-a-better-angel-board-member-and-investorThe signals that tell you a company you back has a positioning problem, and what to do when you hear them.Wed, 28 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMTpovhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/what-is-organizational-culturehttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/what-is-organizational-cultureA working definition, the three things that actually produce it, and why the document that fixes your positioning also fixes your culture problem.Tue, 06 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMTbuyer-questionhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/10-common-mistakes-when-rebrandinghttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/10-common-mistakes-when-rebrandingMost rebrands underdeliver for the same handful of reasons, and almost none of them are visual design problems. Ten mistakes, grouped by the stage where they happen.Sat, 26 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMTbuyer-questionhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/the-lightning-strike-that-workedhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/the-lightning-strike-that-workedIn 2022 we argued Zuckerberg's Meta keynote was a textbook Lightning Strike. The execution was near-perfect. The category still collapsed, and that's the more useful lesson.Mon, 03 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMTpovhttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/what-open-source-taught-me-about-coalitionshttps://www.forwardmomentum.llc/insights/what-open-source-taught-me-about-coalitionsIn 2020 I helped merge a scattered group of volunteer projects into the TCN Protocol, which Apple and Google built on. Three lessons that transfer.Sun, 02 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTcase-note