Category and Wedge Definition
Category and Wedge Definition helps the founder or programme team build a first usable version of market category, beachhead wedge, alternatives and differentiation. Within Opportunity Discovery & Venture Thesis, it turns a broad or uncertain area of the venture into a concrete Bertie work product that can be reviewed, improved and reused. The task is intentionally discrete: it should produce a specific artefact, decision, evidence item or risk signal rather than general learning notes.
Produce a first complete and usable asset for Category and Wedge Definition. The objective is to remove ambiguity around market category, beachhead wedge, alternatives and differentiation, give the founder a decision-ready output, and make it clear whether the venture should progress, repeat the task with stronger evidence, escalate to expert support, or move into a linked stage.
Bertie or a programme manager assigns Category and Wedge Definition when the venture needs a decision-ready output for this group. Typical triggers include group-gate reviews, evidence gaps identified by the co-pilot or founder request.
founder profile; initial idea or opportunity notes; sector interests; early assumptions; available market signals; draft inputs or template to complete; specific context for market category, beachhead wedge, alternatives and differentiation.
The founder gathers all current pitch materials, customer discovery notes, and market research to audit existing assumptions around market definition. They import the standard category definition template into their venture workspace to establish a baseline structure. This ensures all historical insights and raw hypotheses are captured before defining new category boundaries.
ObjectiveCompleting this action alone establishes a baseline inventory of the founder's current assumptions and raw market data. It prevents duplicated effort and aligns the venture team on standard frameworks required to define a defensible beachhead.
What's expectedThe founder must produce a populated source-audit document linking past pitch decks and customer notes directly to template sections. They must clearly flag which category assumptions are backed by verified evidence and which remain pure hypotheses.
Open action arrow_forwardConsultant stress-test · 5 questions- 1.What existing primary research supports the initial category framing you have mapped into this template?
- 2.How have you accounted for previous pitch deck messaging that contradicted your current beachhead hypothesis?
- 3.Which specific customer quotes or observations directly justify the wedge definition baseline you selected?
- 4.Why did you choose this specific category framing over alternative industry definitions present in your raw materials?
- 5.How do you know your current baseline reflects actual market demand rather than internal product bias?
- A data-room asset titled Category and Wedge Definition
- A completed working asset, template, framework or decision-ready document that can be stored in the data room
- It should update the venture DNA with specific evidence or decisions about market category, beachhead wedge, alternatives and differentiation, create a visible milestone in the founder journey, and generate one or more recommended next tasks
Bertie co-pilot researches market signals, structures opportunity comparisons, challenges weak theses, and recommends discovery or specialist-sector tasks. For this task, it should focus on market category, beachhead wedge, alternatives and differentiation, prompt the founder for missing inputs, draft or improve the output, flag weak assumptions, and record the result back into the relevant data-room section.
A mentor or evaluator can review the output at the group gate. Programme managers can require an advisor checkpoint before Bertie moves the venture forward.