Telling the Startup Story
March 23, 2010 4 Comments
By now, we’ve probably all heard the eBay story that the founder started it because he wanted a way to help his girlfriend find Pez dispensers online. Well, did you know that was made up? That’s right, those PR folks were looking for a good, memorable story and delivered. Politicians do it all the time.
I do believe it is important to have a story for your startup. Why was it founded? Why are you doing what you’re doing? Here are some points to consider:
- Make it memorable
- Keep it short
- Practice it for consistency across co-founders
- Include emotion and feeling in it
What’s your startup story?
About David Cummings
The historian is an important role in any organization, especially in a start-up. Capturing the essence of the moment is critical and hard. Putting those initial ideas on paper, or memorializing them somehow is critical to relate to the team later. The counter to that is, the later folks may simply not care and you have to find a way to be OK with that. There is one mentality early on, another as the business scales, and yet another at exit or operating momentum.
The story you tell is about the vision, the mission, the impetus to start the venture and it must be told with passion and consistency across the core team.
My thoughts…cheers, J
Thanks Jamie. I agree that the historian is an important role. Keep the great comments coming.
I’d just add that you should figure out a way to spin something interesting out of truth, rather than base something that visible on an outright lie. And, while I’m on an ethics theme, that story about Facebook’s Mark Z. hacking competitor site’s accounts is downright ugly (if true). IMHO, ends don’t justify the means.
Thanks John. I agree that it should be memorable, and truthful.