He needed to reframe the discussion -- he was controlling the discussion, and was completely at liberty to define success however he pleased. He could've said,

He needed to reframe the discussion -- he was controlling the discussion, and was completely at liberty to define success however he pleased. He could've said, as others have pointed out, we're going to be #1 at X, where X is some subset of the market. When you can't win the game, change the game to one you can win. The trick is making sure it's still one worth playing.