You’ve nailed your elevator pitch. You can rattle off the ICP, TAM, CAGR, and your three-year roadmap in your sleep. But how do you bring that story to life for customers, talent, and investors?

Hearts, minds, and cash

When we are bootstrapping content marketing and telling our story, the focus is almost always on sales, especially in B2B companies. We often fall into the trap of sharing the benefits and features of our product and service, assuming our audience is ready to buy.

There is a very narrow audience for that content, as the majority of your potential buyers are not in the market. The challenge is greater if you are defining a new category or way of solving the buyer's problem; the broader market needs to know there is a new kid in town when it comes to framing their need and how to solve it. 

We must also consider other audiences beyond potential and future customers, including attracting talent and investment. Therefore, our story needs to build a memorable brand that people can buy into, going beyond the transaction of solving a use case with a feature.

The goal of our story is therefore to win the hearts of our customers, the minds of our talent, and the cash of future investment. 

Winning hearts

In any considered purchase, especially in B2B, we need to overcome not just our competitors, but the buyer's fear of f’in’ up and the comfort of doing nothing, or kicking this can down the road as so many B2B sales processes end with “do nothing”.

Plus, as a startup with a new approach, going beyond the early adopters of your market and meeting the mainstream buyers you need for scale, you probably scare the bejesus out of them. We need to overcome this emotional friction with trust and belief, which isn’t coming from a description of your features and functions.

Simon Sinek talks about buyers buying your “why”, suggesting that you should wax lyrically about why you founded this popsicle stand, but I am not so sure.

Yes, if you have a compelling story that aligns with their values, tell it, but buyers are worried about their own problems. How does your story answer their why? Why should they trust you?

Winning minds

Just like your buyers, the outstanding talent you want to hire in your market is placing a bet on you. The difference is that they are not betting with someone else’s money; they are staking the only resource they have – their labour, and if you are a startup, they know you will ask for a lot of it.  

So, your story needs a strong why for them – a founder's story that gives meaning to this grind. In today’s hybrid and remote workforce, this story needs to be something that can be told consistently and be felt across a network with varying levels of connectivity to the core.

Winning cash

Speak to investors, and you’ll discover that deep down, they aren’t just looking at the numbers; they talk about investing in entrepreneurs, the people, not just their latest business idea. Zoom out a little on that, and you can see investors bet on a story that they trust will deliver against their needs for a return.

Your story should demonstrate an understanding of the market, empathy for the buyer, a passion for solving problems, and a clear vision of how we get to the chocolate island you are taking us all to. 

Tell your story

For inspiration, here is a structure I’ve found effective, which ensures we address the needs and challenges of the buyer before we start talking about ourselves, our product features, or services:

1. What’s the change in the world that is impacting your buyer?
2. What will their world look like if they can address this change?
3. Who will be the winners and losers?
4. Why did you tackle this challenge, and how does your product or service help them to be winners?
5. Show the proof of why they should trust you

It’s time to stop pitching and bring this thing to life, with a human story, told consistently across your investor deck, website, and from the lips of all of your team.

Winning hearts, minds, and cash.

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