About
About Eddie
Eddie Yoon is the founder of Eddie Would Grow, a think tank and advisory firm specializing in business growth strategy. Previously, he was a principal at the Chicago-based consulting firm, The Cambridge Group. Eddie Would Grow generates billion dollar outcomes for clients via superconsumer growth strategies -- strategies that help birth new categories and drive existing category growth.
He's the author of the bestseller Superconsumers, the most-published Harvard Business Review contributor on Category Design, co-founder of Category Pirates, and a partner at Greyspace Holdings. Each of those is covered in more depth below.
Eddie loves to envision the future, almost as much as he loves Hawaii, where he was born and raised. After graduating from Punahou School in Honolulu, Eddie relocated to the midwest, where he earned degrees in political science and economics from the University of Chicago. Eddie splits time between Chicago and the Big Island.
Four hats
How Eddie spends his time
Author
Superconsumers: A Simple, Speedy, and Sustainable Path to Superior Growth, Harvard Business Review Press. Named one of the best business books of 2017 by Strategy+Business.
7+ books written: Superconsumers (Harvard Business Review Press), and the Category Pirates library -- Snow Leopard, The 22 Laws of Category Design, Lightning Strike Marketing, The Category Design Toolkit, A Marketer's Guide to Category Design, Thinker's High, and Creator Capitalist.
Category Pirates
Co-founder, with Christopher Lochhead, of the authority on Category Design and Category Creation — 300+ mini-books written on Substack. One of the Top 5 most-read paid business newsletters on Substack. The $375/year Founding tier unlocks the Pirate Eddie Bot, trained on the complete library, plus every book and audiobook.
Greyspace Holdings
The World’s First People Equity Firm
Greyspace believes human capital is greater than financial capital — unless you have the wrong humans. It's a collection of experienced executives and serial entrepreneurs who simplify strategy, people, and culture to deliver financial results.
Founder Clint Carnell is a category creator and serial entrepreneur with five successful exits in consumer healthcare. He's CEO of InBrace, and led BeautyHealth and its flagship brand HydraFacial from a $175M acquisition in 2016 to a public company (Nasdaq: SKIN) with a $4.5B market cap, growing revenue 5x over five years.
Eddie is a Partner at Greyspace. In their own words, he's a “proven growth strategist, the world’s expert on Superconsumers and Category Design, and the ‘Wizard of Weird Data.’”
Three ways they work
2-Day Strategy Session
Output: the 1 number that matters, and 1 page to guide execution.
Monthly Advisory
Ongoing counsel for founders and investors on growth and category strategy.
OG Company
Greyspace itself runs commercialization execution.
Harvard Business Review
Regular contributor since 2009 and the most-published HBR contributor on Category Creation of anyone, living or dead.
Read Eddie’s articles at HBR →About the name
Why “Eddie Would Grow”
The name "Eddie Would Grow" was inspired by the iconic saying "Eddie Would Go," referring to the world-class waterman and big-wave surfer, Eddie Aikau.
On the North Shore of Oahu, Aikau was Waimea Bay's first lifeguard. He saved 500 people from drowning in the high surf. In 1977, he won the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship.
Read the rest of the story →
In 1978, Aikau joined the Hōkūle'a, a 60-foot replica of a Polynesian voyaging canoe, on a 30-day, 2,400-mile journey from Hawaii to Tahiti. The crew were to use only ancient navigational techniques. After the canoe capsized, Aikau was the one who paddled toward Lāna'i in hopes of finding help. While the rest of the crew were eventually rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, Aikau's body was never found.
The surf industry honored the life of Hawaii's surfing hero by organizing the Quicksilver Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, a contest with the unique requirement that the waves must be 20 feet or bigger. While the organizers were deciding whether to proceed, in spite of the huge waves and dangerous conditions, Mark Foo, a famous surfer, looked on and said, "Eddie would go."
The phrase has stuck, and the iconic expression gives tribute to a heroic yet humble man who did not necessarily enjoy competition. More importantly, the statement is about having the courage to pursue greatness when others hesitate. Aikau went where others dared not. Today, his legendary courage encourages others to dream, persevere, and be generous. Yoon shares a similar worldview and loves to collaborate with clients who share the values Aikau embodied.
Have a growth problem worth solving?
Get in touch about advisory work, media, or Category Pirates.
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