Bowling Pin Strategy

Take over a big market by dominating a niche first, then expanding pin by pin

April Dunford
A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins

Bowling Pin Strategy

"The easiest way to take over a great big market is to define a segment of the market that is underserved by the market leader." - April Dunford

What It Is

A market expansion strategy from Geoffrey Moore's work on technology adoption. The core insight: the easiest way to dominate a large market is NOT to attack it head-on, but to find an underserved niche (the "lead pin"), dominate it completely, then use that momentum to knock over adjacent segments.

This challenges the popular "category creation" narrative that says you must create and own a new category from day one. In reality, most successful companies—including those celebrated as category creators—actually followed bowling pin strategy. They started in an existing category, dominated a niche, then expanded.

The framework visualizes market segments as bowling pins arranged in formation. Knock over the lead pin, and it enables you to reach the pins behind it.

How It Works

The Pin Formation

  1. Lead Pin - A small, underserved segment where you can dominate. The market leader probably doesn't care about it.

  2. Adjacent Pins - Segments you can reach once you've established credibility in the lead pin.

  3. Back Pins - Larger segments, eventually including the market leader's core territory.

Example: Salesforce

  • Lead Pin: CRM for very small businesses ("We don't have any software, so you don't need IT to babysit it")
  • Adjacent Pins: Mid-market CRM, then enterprise CRM
  • Back Pins: Eventually challenged Siebel for the entire enterprise CRM market

Example: Personal Experience

April worked at a company that:

  • Started with "CRM for investment banks" (lead pin)
  • Planned to expand to retail banking, then all banking
  • Then insurance, then all financial services
  • Eventually planned to challenge Siebel for enterprise software
  • Got acquired by Siebel for ~$1 billion along the way

How to Apply It

  1. Identify an underserved niche - Find a segment the market leader ignores or serves poorly. This becomes your beachhead.

  2. Position within an existing category - Don't try to create a new category yet. Position as "[Existing Category] for [Specific Niche]."

  3. Dominate completely - Become the obvious choice for your niche. Win virtually every deal in this segment.

  4. Identify adjacent pins - Which segments share characteristics with your lead pin? Which can you reach with your current capabilities?

  5. Expand strategically - Once you dominate, expand to adjacent segments. Your reputation in the lead pin gives you credibility.

  6. Consider category creation LATER - Only when you're dominant (typically $200-400M revenue) does category creation make sense as an expansion play.

When to Use It

  • Early-stage startups choosing their initial market focus
  • Market entry strategy for new products or business units
  • Positioning decisions when deciding how to describe yourself
  • Fundraising when explaining your go-to-market strategy
  • Challenging established market leaders without resources for head-on competition

Category Creation vs. Bowling Pin

The "category creation is the only way" narrative is misleading:

  • Google didn't create search
  • Facebook didn't create social networks
  • Most category creators get overtaken by fast followers (MySpace, Ask Jeeves)
  • Qualtrics was survey software until $300M revenue, then became "experience management"
  • Snowflake was data warehousing for cloud, then became "cloud data" near IPO

Category creation works best as a late-stage expansion strategy, not an early-stage entry strategy.

Why This Works

  1. Easier positioning - You can reference an existing category buyers understand, then differentiate by niche
  2. Less market education - Buyers already know what CRM is; you just explain why yours is better for their segment
  3. Focused resources - Small team can dominate a small segment; spread thin, you dominate nothing
  4. Lower risk - You're not betting the company on whether buyers will accept a new category
  5. Build proof points - Success in niche gives you credibility for adjacent expansion

Source

  • Guest: April Dunford
  • Episode: "A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins"
  • Key Discussion: (00:53:01) - Full explanation of bowling pin strategy and category creation timing
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube
  • Original Source: Geoffrey Moore, "Crossing the Chasm" and "Inside the Tornado"

Additional Source: Geoffrey Moore

  • Guest: Geoffrey Moore
  • Episode: "Crossing the Chasm with the legendary author Geoffrey Moore"
  • Key Discussion: (00:13:31-00:14:13) - Bowling alley expansion model; (00:16:08) - Documentum example
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Geoffrey Moore explains the bowling alley as the phase after crossing the chasm where you expand to adjacent segments: "Either it's the same customer with a different use case, or it's the same use case in a different customer base. Because the one case, you use your customer references. The other case, you use your partners."

Related Frameworks

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