Storytelling for Startups

Once upon a time…

Can you remember a book that has stayed with you for many years? Do you remember how vividly the author set the scene in front of your eyes? How the narration flowed? How the characters interacted with each other, as they unravelled their story to you?

What’s your story?

In any communication, the message is usually the most important bit, but how that message is conveyed determines if the point really gets across to the audience or not.

An emotional connect is what makes a message stick, thereby making it incredibly important to tell your story in a way that people will remember you and understand your vision.

There are two primary sets of audiences that startups deal with — users and funders. The essentials of how to communicate with each audience however remains the same.

In each case, the entrepreneur is trying to answer a few basic questions:

The problem

• Why does your company do what it has set out to do?
• What is the purpose of its existence?

The ignition

• What made you start it?

Uber started because Garrett Camp and his friends had to pay $800 to a private driver on New Year’s Eve. He thought there had to be a better way to lower the cost and convenience of direct transportation.

Whatever your story is, people are interested in knowing it.

And if they know your story, they’ll remember you.

The rest of the landscape

• Are there existing solutions for the problem you’re trying to solve?
• What are other players doing?

Your solution

• How does your solution improve upon the existing system or pre-existing solutions?
• What are your key strengths and differentiating factors?

Your vision

• What are your future plans?
• What is your strategy to achieve them?

This might typically be of interest to your funders, however can also be relevant for consumers trying to build a long-term connect with the company.

Putting the above into action

It is important that your story is simple, draws people’s attention and has a sense of consistency.

Practice articulation

Can you say the following for your organization?

• We are trying to [define the purpose of your start-up]
• We started because [reason for starting — the point of ignition]
• We are better than [current solution] because [key strengths, areas of differentiation]
• We are committed to [reinforce your belief and purpose] and plan to [future of your company and how its going to uphold the commitment]

Learn from the best

Look at Apple, Uber, Airbnb, OYO Rooms or any other company which you consider good at storytelling.

Putting the lens on how organizations across the world answer these questions will help you refine your story.

Once you have these basics in place, you will have to think about how best to tell the story.

Decide on the nuances

Think about these questions:

• Which medium best suits your story — is it a video, a series of pictures, a founder’s letter?
• How would your story be distributed and heard?
• Which elements should you prioritize when communicating with a particular audience?
• What is the one takeaway that is most important and will form part of your core message everywhere?

Pick up the microphone then. You’re ready to tell your story.

[About the author: This article was written by Tanvi Binani.]