strategy
startup
Want funding for your start-up? Tell a story! What is a meticulously drafted business plan but a riveting story that combines logic with emotion? The mission of award winning story teller and strategy expert Robert McKee and his ever growing disciples are proof of how a welltold story can do what an Excel sheet cannot to get a start-up going
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or over a quarter of a century, award winning director and writer Robert McKee has been evangelizing a growing swell of screenwriters, filmmakers, novelists and journalists on the nuances of fine writing across continents. McKee is the creator of Story Seminar, a much sought after series of lectures that lace McKee’s own experiences with lessons drawn from the movies to help people communicate persuasively and effectively, much like a bestselling paperback. While much of McKee’s work and advice is aimed at performing artistes, his concepts of storytelling are just as relevant to entrepreneurs who McKee believes might be able to get their way far more effectively if only they put aside their power-points and memos and told a story, instead. A strong believer in “uniting an idea with an emotion”, McKee, recently told Harvard Business Review: “In a story, you not only weave a lot of information into the telling, you also arouse your listener’s emotions and energy,” he told Harvard Business Review in an interview a couple of years ago. Every start-up has a story behind it. Most successful entrepreneurs would acknowledge that either a particular turn of events in their lives or their disgust with existing systems and processes provided the impetus for the ideas they customised as startups. Of the several entrepreneurs I have had the opportunity to meet or interview, many have told me of the problems they faced in their personal lives, which set them off on a journey to seek solutions. Kranthi Kiran Vistakula, the founder of Hyderabad based Dhama Innovations, is one such entrepreneur and innovator. While studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2004, Kranthi had to wear multiple layers of clothing while outside his class 68 DECEMBER 2010 | dare.co.in
and remove them when inside. This got him thinking “why clothes couldn’t be air-conditioned”. It resulted in him working on a technology that now creates apparel and accessories to provide heating and cooling on demand.
How to Tell Your Story
It may seem quite daunting to tell a story to a group of people you are seeing for the first time. For an entrepreneur, however, it is often an imperative, the need to break out of one’s shell and share a story with a diverse audience: investors, customers, suppliers and employees. An array of business plan competitions have made it mandatory for aspiring entrepreneurs to make compelling presentations of their dream ventures. Numbers are beautiful and investors love to see them, but many angels and VCs pay significant attention to the stories behind the start-ups. They want to know about the team members and the ideas that bind them together. Poring over Excel sheets to prove the viability of your start-up can take you only thus far – focusing on the reasons that make you passionate about your start-up is equally important. It is always advisable to align your thoughts beforehand to avoid bouncing aimlessly from one point to another. Here are a few areas to focus on while telling the story of your start-up: Be Passionate: This has plenty to do with your belief and confidence. If you believe in yourself and your idea, there is no reason why your voice and body language should convey a different message. Focus on your thoughts, actions and words, instead of your fear and hesitation. Talk of the Idea: This is where it all began — with an idea. Take a leap back in time to tell how the idea
Numbers are beautiful and investors love to see them, but many angels and VCs also pay significant attention to the stories behind the start-ups
came about. It could have been a life-changing event or an interaction with a friend or a colleague. Your idea could have germinated from a problem you faced over time or you saw someone else caught up in. Talk about the thoughts that passed through your mind and what prompted you to believe that your idea could change the lives of people around you. Even if you read about the opportunity in a journal and decided to develop it, let the world know. Show the Opportunity: Before you let others see the opportunity that exists, carry out enough research to support your claim. Picking up pieces from market research reports that claim the hefty size of the opportunity alone might not suffice. If you are clear about the geography your start-up would operate in, do your own research to find out how many prospective cus-
Vimarsh Bajpai
tomers are waiting for the product or service that you want to offer. Share Your Vision: Before you talk of the vision that you have for your startup, visualise where you see your business five-seven years from now. If you have plans to go global in the second year, make a compelling case for it. The clarity with which you show the roadmap for the success of your startup could have a huge impact on the judges at any B-Plan competition or the investors who plan to invest in your venture. Complement this part of the storytelling with a presentation that shows the milestones that you plan to reach over time. Reaffirm Your Values: A good business is not just about revenue figures. It has a lot to do with the business culture that the company creates for itself and its employees. Therefore, as the founder of a company, you ought to know the values which are dear to you and which you would want to see, not just on the wall as a vision statement, but in everyday practice. If you are true to the values you believe in, it will be easy for you to reaffirm them every time you talk of your startup. Make a list of five core values that you would want your employees to put into practice. Vimarsh Bajpai is an entrepreneur, writer, and content and communications consultant. As the founder of Samvad Sutra, he works with organisations and individuals to help them communicate better.
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