Book Launch Talk. CIC Cambridge. November 2023

Founders of startups mistakenly assume that they need to think about their messaging just before they are ready to pitch. We pitch when we are about to beg for something— funding, market, support, or a handful of other wants and needs.

We have to stop thinking about pitching, which we do near the end of our offering’s development, but think about story instead—and think about it and think about story from Day One. You story is most often the only thing that outsiders see— who you are, what you do, what you can do for others, and what you need. That embedded impression about you and your idea comes either from the story you tell them (which you control) or the story they surmise (which may not be accurate).

Creating a persuasive, clear message that conveys a basic foundation of the problem you are solving, the opportunity you are offering, what you can bring, and why your audience should care is every bit as important as anything else you will ever do. I have seen many-an-extraordinary, game-changing, gang-buster ventures falter or outright fail, not because the idea or business plan was unsound, but because the founders were unable to convince anyone else. The odds are stacked against a startup succeeding from the get-go, so without a compelling story, the likelihood of success diminish markedly—even further..

Sadly, I see some ventures put off crafting their presentation strategy (identifying stakeholders and the way to reach them), thinking they will address that chore when they are further along and ready to pitch. Pitch can wait until then, but you need a clear, compelling story from Day One. Four reasons:

1. Market Validation. Unless your audience is clear about what you do, on the most basic level, you cannot expect to get accurate and useful customer/market validation. You data will simply be—less-than-accurate and possible not useful.
2. The Nucleus of Who You Are. Your story is at the core of every conversation, communication, and message you deliver. It needs to be simple, clear, and not bog down others with technical detail that is better presented later or irrelevant information that is not only not-useful, but could distract or detract.
3. Springboard for Your Own New Insights. As you articulate your story, you will have hear yourself saying something novel at the same time your audience hears it. In the process of constructing a story-to-tell-others, you are telling the story to yourself, improving your business plan, pivoting ideas.
4. Being Ready When You Need to Be Ready. If you wait to create your story after you have developed your MVP, you will lose valuable time developing it (when you should already be out there pitching). More important, you will lose the ability to work out the bugs in advance—so you are not working them out in front of important audiences. Your story my well be your most important asset, and without it, the world will little know or care about what you have been doing.

For those who know me and have followed my exploits, you may have heard through my stories that I have just undergone what is euphemistically called “a home improvement” project. For any of you who have shared similar renovation experiences, you know how difficult, frustrating, and energy-and-spirit zapping the adventure can be. You know that it is more time-consuming and expensive than you imagined, even when you knew from the get-go it would be more expensive than you wanted or budgeted. 

I describe being in “month-twelve” of a “nine-week” project. If asked in the future if I would rather do another home renovation, or say, have all of my internal organs involuntarily harvested or be mauled by grizzlies, I would have to pause and think about which would be the least unpleasant.

But my project is nearly complete, or as complete as it’s going to be.

I discovered, as it is wrapping up, that the final product is not precisely what I had envisioned. Sure, it is nice, but it is not exactly as designed on paper, and things that looked like one thing on the blueprints turned out to be quite different in real life. There were delays beyond my control and unfulfilled promises. Some things that the contractor did were flat-out wrong, but would be even more disruptive to change. I was frustrated by people who did not do what they promised or did not have the same drive and commitment as I had to do it right. 

There are flaws in the final construction and mars in the workmanship that I can clearly see, although no one else probably ever will. 

While I am generally happy with what I slogged through, there are some things that are disappointing. 

And so it also goes, not only for anyone in the throes of home building, but for any of designing and building our own entrepreneurial ventures. We have a vision of what it will all look like and how the process will flow. But real life and people (and circumstances) you cannot control will get in the way. 

So what do we do?

When we cannot change these blemishes, we have to live them. Work around them. Make peace with their presence. 
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We can try to camouflage them so they do not get in the way or divert others from seeing them. (This is what artists and painters often do. When working in ink, you cannot erase, so if you put down a bad line, the only thing you can do is add other lines that cover or absorb the mistake or make it less visible. We can do that in real life too.)

We can adapt, pivot. Entrepreneurs who succeed know how to side-step a charging bull.

We can figure our how to use these flaws to our advantage. This is where creativity, vision, open-mindedness become our salvation. Maybe there is a silver-lining. Maybe the obstacle can be a springboard for something you never thought of.

Yet, we may also find there are changes, whether in home or venture construction, that were unanticipated, maybe initially disappointing, but that turned out serendipitously to be not-such-a bad-thing. Some may be even be better and get you to step back and say, “Hmmm, this could work.” 

In the end, oh-so-many things come out not-according-to-plan. Some will be just fine and in the end, we may even celebrate them. Others, we just have to accept and keep building.