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- Who plays the lead in your company's story?
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Who plays the lead in your company's story?
Read time 2.1 minutes.
I often talk about how your pitch shouldn’t be just a Founder’s Story and that your pitch needs to center around a corporate narrative, not a personal one.
One of the problems that I see when people apply that advice without having deep-dived into my newsletters or course is that they build the entire story around the company with no human characters. This is a massive mistake.
Concept of a Lead
While the story should be about your company and its growth/story, the leading role needs to belong to a human.
When we talk about the story of the birth of America often, George Washington plays the leading role. When we discuss WW2, Churchill often plays the leading role. Today, when we discuss the story of the invasion of Ukraine, Putin and Zelenskyy play the leading roles.
The truth is that humans are very poor at telling stories about anything other than humans. This is why nature documentaries are filled with comparisons between animal behaviour and human behaviour or why cartoons use anthropomorphism or personification to turn non-humans into human-like characters.
Who is Your Lead?
There are generally two people who fit the role of a lead character in your company’s narrative:
You
Your Ideal Customer
You as the lead
If you are taking on the leading role in the company’s story, then you need to be the person who personifies what the company has gone through. Again, this is not telling the story of where you came from and where you are going; this is the story of the company told with parallels to your own growth.
Your Ideal Customer as the lead
In a perfect scenario, this is the best lead you can possibly have. Being able to pitch your company through the lens of the customers whose lives you are improving with your product/service and demonstrating their transformation is a great way to get investors to experience firsthand the value of what you are building.
Who is the lead in your company's story? |
Onwards and Upwards,
