when it all Bottom line, what is a business? You are an organization that has identified a pain point that people are experiencing. To remove that pain point, offer a product in exchange for money. It sounds so simple. In the startup world, we often talk about painkillers versus vitamins. You wouldn’t pause your favorite TV show, get in your car and drive to the pharmacy to buy vitamins. You will have to do without it for a few days. However, if you have a headache, you will do your best to pick up some headache tablets. The difference is the sense of urgency and need. That’s where storytelling comes in.
When you think about it, every aspect of your business revolves around storytelling. Hiring your first employees in a startup is storytelling: you tell a story that contrasts with their steady, reliable job at an established company, and argue against taking a chance on your startup. Acquiring early customers falls into the same category: why should they trust you instead of a bigger, more established competitor? Marketing? The same. To advertise? The same. Increase investment? Oh boy – definitely an exercise in storytelling.
Telling the story of your company’s origins is part of the culture that underlies everything. It determines who your customers are. It affects who considers taking a job with your company. It informs how your employees think about problems and the types of solutions they offer.
Storytelling is at the heart of everything you do. It’s the logo your company uses, it’s the design language you use, it’s the words you use to make the points you make clear.
Some CEOs are natural storytellers – and that’s a critical function of their jobs in those companies. In fact, I’d argue that in slightly maturing companies, it’s one-fourth of the CEO’s role:
- You hire the right people.
You create the right culture. - You ensure that the company does not run out of money
- You tell the story.
But what about companies that don’t solve pain points?
“But Haje,” you yell at your screen. “Some companies don’t solve pain points. They just provide fun. What about Pixar, for example?”
Excellent point. Many companies do not reduce pain, but provide pleasure. These companies are many and very varied. Coca-Cola, for example, is not primarily a thirst-quencher (water does a much better job at a much lower cost). Pixar’s films don’t directly solve pain, but they do reduce boredom and provide excitement and entertainment. (Pixar also has a pain-reducing element: For many parents, putting on Cars means taking a 90-minute break that they can use to get some chores done or make dinner.)
A screenshot of the very first thing you see when you open the Coca-Cola website. Image Credits: Coca Cola (Opens in a new window) / Screenshot
The header banner for the Coca-Cola website tells the story – this isn’t about a nice drink, this is about happy people enjoying life. That’s a conscious storyteller. And if their $41 billion annual revenue is anything to go by, it works pretty well
These companies are often the ultimate examples of storytelling. What exactly is Coca-Cola’s product? It is a lifestyle brand. Look at the ads and the way Coca-Cola markets itself. It’s rarely about how tasty the products are, but about how much fun people have in the ads. They are adventurous, young, full of life and fun. That’s what Coca-Cola sells. Sure, the company has a huge, global operation and supply chain organization, but the reason Coca-Cola is so valuable is almost exclusively its storytelling.
Isn’t this just marketing?
Many companies decide to leave their entire storytelling efforts to the marketing team. That’s a shame, because most marketing teams focus solely on how to reach potential consumers. The storytelling element goes much deeper – and involves lessons that go far beyond just putting products into the hands of consumers.
I’ve run behind-the-scenes blogs at all my businesses, and it’s a practice that has led to unpredictable results. For example, we found that our “unlimited vacation” policy backfired – it had the opposite result of what we intended. We wrote about it and became the center of a media storm. Then we wrote about how that happened. Likewise, at Triggertrap, we also had a really hard time delivering a hardware product. First, we wrote about the challenges we faced as delays piled up. When the project finally failed, we uncovered everything and investigated what exactly went wrong. At Konf we founded the ‘Konf Academy’, helping speakers, attendees and organizers create better events. And at LifeFolder, I argued with the American Bar Association about their ridiculous, inscrutable language.
I was a de facto storyteller at all my previous companies, and often we ended up writing about things that had little to do with the core business.
Want more examples of people doing well? Buffer has a fantastic blog, embracing radical transparency in an effort to tell the story of what goes on behind closed doors. . The BBC’s technical team has a fantastic blog that helps to learn more about what goes on under the hood at the world’s largest broadcaster.
Despite its stupid policy, the company behind Basecamp and Hey (the email client) Basecamp had an equally wonderful publication, Signal v Noise, that digs into what goes on under the veil. The company also doubled and published a number of booksand ‘it doesn’t have to be crazy at work‘ is a bit of a masterpiece that no doubt helped many people who wouldn’t have gotten to know Basecamp or they would have gotten to know the company.
Some people call it marketing, but I believe it goes much deeper than that.
By telling the story – both successes and failures – companies can engage in a more genuine conversation with their customers. It’s part marketing, part branding, part doing the right thing. The business logic is simple: if your customers can follow your journey, they will trust you more. They will feel your pain. They will encourage you. It makes you human, and I bet when it comes time to hire, it helps you attract better, more engaged staff.
Of course, you don’t have to go all-in on radical transparency. This is not for everyone, nor is it the right approach for all companies. But try to lift the veil every now and then – it’s incredible the opportunities that arise.
Be curious. Be open.
With every company you come up with new things, you run into new problems and you come up with new solutions. Every day. (If you’re not, you may want to close the shop and go do something else). All you have to do is keep half an ear out. Who’s doing something great? What led them to those conclusions?
The story of your startup is much more than the sum of your successes or the charts in your KPI dashboard. Analyze the challenges. Celebrate the solutions. Tell the stories.
