Hey everyone,
Here’s this week’s update from the The Founder’s Foyer show:
We’ve got a new home, yay! Check out The Founder’s Foyer new website here👇
Whether it’s meeting a founder friend, a potential hire, investor, customers, or even a bunch of product team leads, there’s one thing that stands out–the ‘narrative’ you want to tell, the story of what you’re building and why you’re building that. Strategic narrative binds all the folks who are directly impacted by your ideas and in turn gives you all the clarity and helps you articulate your vision well. But, how do you frame this narrative? What are the components of a great story?
Andrew Raskin is a Silicon Valley storytelling mastermind. Andy helps C-suite leaders and leadership teams align around a high-level story that powers success—in sales, marketing, fundraising, product development and recruiting—by getting everyone on the same page about strategy and differentiation. His post “The Greatest Sales Deck I’ve Ever Seen” is an internet sensation, with nearly 90+k views on Medium.
Andy explains what strategic narrative is, why it's an evolutionary thing, deconstructing the parts to make a good narrative; he discusses about what makes a good pitch and the mistakes founders often make while presenting their pitch; Andy and Aishwarya also chat about the influence of leadership in making a strategic narrative, real-time examples from Andy's advising companies, and the practical tips to get better at product storytelling.
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Andy and I discuss about:
How Andy transitioned from product marketing to strategic consulting
What makes a good pitch? [From the time none knew what it is]
Mark Benioff and Salesforce setting the pitch
How to align the company towards the strategic goals
What's a strategic narrative? What are the components?
Gong's example of good narrative and what made them win over competitors
How all parts of problem and story need to tie together
Why product is not the only thing customers look at
More examples of tweaking the narrative for better market fit
How external factors (like pandemic) influence strategic narrative
Category creation and narrative: The connection?
How to bring in people from different functions contribute to narrative
Andy's general observations and how these help him in his work
Listen to our conversation as a podcast on:
Thank you, and keep your suggestions coming! :)
Have a great weekend,
Aishwarya
The Founder's Foyer with Aishwarya: Strategic narrative, startup pitches, storytelling for founders