Chapter 19: Blue Ocean Theory

There are a million ways to make money these days.

Media. Agencies. AI. SaaS. Ecom. etc

You name it, someone’s building it.

But here’s something I’ve been thinking about:

Everyone wants to build an AI company right now.

Cool.

So does every Stanford dropout, ex-Google engineer, and YC-backed founder.

You're not competing with average operators.
You're competing with some of the sharpest minds on the planet.

It’s a tough game to win.

But what if you looked somewhere else?

What if, instead of chasing the hottest trend,
you found a pond that wasn’t being dominated by the world’s best fishermen?

Enter: Blue Ocean Theory

This concept comes from the book Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne.

Here’s the idea:

Think: Probiotic sodas. Generic marketing agencies. AI writing assistants.

But in a blue ocean?

There’s no blood.
No race to the bottom.
Just open water.

Because you’re not trying to win by being “better” in an existing market,

You’re creating a new one.

You find unmet needs.
You reframe old problems.
You reposition a product in a way that no one else is doing.

And suddenly, you’re not competing.

You’re carving out your own lane.

Add in: Category Design

There’s a great companion book to this idea called Play Bigger by Christopher Lochhead and team.

It’s about category design, or “the process of defining, naming, and owning a new category before anyone else does”

They share examples like:

• Airbnb – created a new travel experience.

• Salesforce — transformed “on-premise software” into SaaS.

• Uber — invented ride-sharing and became a verb in the process.

They didn’t enter a market.
They created one.
Named and claimed it.
And made themselves the default.

That’s the magic of positioning:

If you create the category, you don’t compete in it — you own it.

A quick story from my 1st startup

At my first tech startup we saw a broken system.

Local businesses were juggling 3–5 tools for websites, reviews, messaging, booking, etc.

So we bundled it all.
Simplified the experience.
Sold it at a better price.

And for a while?

No one else was doing what we were doing.

We weren’t the best in every category.

But, we combined them into one —
And created a blue ocean in the process.

That company grew from $1M to $10M+ in two years.

Not by trying to be better than existing solutions —

But by competing differently.

Try this today

Whether you're building a business, an offer, or a personal brand — ask yourself:

• Am I fighting in a red ocean or building in a blue one?

• How can I frame the problem I solve in a way others haven’t?

• Is there an opportunity to bundle, reposition, or reimagine the solution?

• What category could I create, instead of competing in someone else’s?

Remember:

Don’t be a “better” version of something that exists.

Niche down. Focus on being different. Tell that story.

Wrapping Up

Everyone’s fighting for attention in the same crowded rooms.

But the biggest wins?

They don’t always go to the best product.
They go to the best-positioned one.

Blue ocean strategy + category design = unfair advantage.

So don’t blindly chase the biggest wave.
And don’t wander into empty waters either.

Find a pond that’s overlooked, but full of real demand.

Reframe the problem. Own the narrative.
& Build something so distinct, no one else can compete.

Rooting for ya,
—Dodds

Bonus Section of Examples:

-Dude Wipes (flushable wipes with dude-first positioning against big toilet paper)
-Put You On (championing “music curators” + building a music label & events company)
-Tony The Sign Guy (hilarious promotion of advertising signage for businesses)
-Isaac French & Live Oak Lake (championed unique and experience-driven Airbnb’s)
-Hormozi & Acquisition.com (media-first approach to private equity)