I'm part of a Slack group (ssg.space) made up of founders & investors where we share our experiences and help each other grow.What I love about it, is that we are a community. One of the subjects we were able to discuss last week was…pitching by telling a story. Here are my thoughts on it.
My nickname is JD, but my full name is Juan Diego. For those raised catholic you probably know the origin of my name… This story is for those who don’t.
Juan Diego was an indigenous individual from Mexico. He walked many miles every day to get education from the nearest church (year 1531). On his walks to the mission, he had to cross a mountain called Tepeyac (Mexico City). In one of his walks, the story goes, that Virgin Maria appeared to him and asked him for a favor. In that appearance told him that he had to ask the bishop of the town to build a chapel in the mountain.
Let’s take a second and analyze the situation. An indigenous man that no one knew had to go the bishop (authority) to ask for money to build a chapel because he believed in what he saw. This relates very highly to the world of entrepreneurship, (The indigenous man can be the entrepreneur, the bishop can be a VC, the chapel can be the startup and the “appearance” can be the disruptive idea that started this whole situation.)
Now, back to the story. It goes on to say that Juan Diego told the bishop who, (predictably,) didn't believe him and told him to forget about it. Then, he was walking again on the mountain where Maria appeared again and ask him what happened. Juan Diego told the apparition of Virgin Maria, that the bishop told him that how can someone so important as her appear to “ a back-frame, a tail, a ming, a man of no importance”. He told her that she should choose someone better, that had a greater standing in society. She insisted he had to go again and try. So, there he went, again, to meet the bishop where he met with the same results. This time though, the bishop required Juan Diego to bring proof of this so called “dream” (aka metrics). He was so embarrassed that he decided not to take the same road through the mountain to avoid her. He didn’t want to go again to see the bishop with the same story. He felt embarrassed.
Here’s how it connects with our startup life. A friend and founder told me that he had pitched to 60 VC’s in Silicon Valley with no results. That he was frustrated and having second thoughts until he ran into his neighbor and told him the story. His neighbor (who’s company is worth $1B+) said: “I pitched 200 times to VC’s before I could raise money” (he raised $50M+ to later IPO). The lesson is that you will get many NO’s but you should keep trying. As the bishop, many don’t believe until there is proof. It’s not just one try, one shot.
It’s not one shot.
Walking on a different road Juan Diego found himself in front of Maria again who told him that if he needed proof he should go up to the mountain and collect some flowers (impossible to find between cacti) and bring them to the bishop as evidence. He collected it in his mantle, using it as a sack, and took them to the bishop. When he opened his mantle, the flowers fell, and in it there was an imprint image of the Virgin. The bishop was surprised and believed the story! They went on to build the chapel and it became one of the most visited churches in the world (20M people 2010). All Juan Diego’s effort and sacrifice was worth it. But he had to hold on during the hard moments and keep going until he succeeded.
It doesn't matter if you believe in God, the Virgin Maria or even if this story is real. The story of my mother naming me after him* is true, and it makes hella of a good story to tell. The important point is how to tell a story that compels the reader/listener and makes the message come through to receiver.
To learn more about storytelling I would recommend you 3 things:
- See this video of Andrew Stanton “The clues to a great story”
- Listen the songs and read the lyrics of Bob Dylan.
- Read twice and write once.
PS: If you like it, I think you will also like “1 trick to get a VC”.
PS: Please hit the Recommend button and make me smile. Reach to me on Twitter, I'm @JDcarlu
There is a curious fact that I’m born June 6th (6/6) and the day of commemoration of the story is December 12th (12/12).
