Tell us your story, not just your technology

Agile storytelling can transform an elevator pitch into a narrative that will elevate your company above the startup frenzy

Venture investing is primarily about making money. Lose sight of that, and you lose the whole plot.

But venture investors are only human. Every week, hundreds of startups will try to catch our attention in search of funding. How can they break through the noise?

One tried and proven method is to use effective storytelling – and it is too often overlooked. Startups are often so proud of the cleverness of their technology that they forget to explain how it can change people’s lives.

In order to even reach my desk, each company must have a potentially commercial product, ideally based on original proprietary technology or an original approach to existing technology. The founding team must display technical excellence, relevant experience, commercial sensibility and the proven management skills required to establish, lead and build a potentially profitable company that is likely to give a decent return to investors.

In order to make an informed decision, we need the usual basic materials from each company: a well-constructed and realistic outline for a business plan; a presentation or deck explaining the mission, team, market and technology; and a robust spreadsheet setting out realistic financial projections for the next several years, together with funding requirements.

But if you want your startup to stand out from the crowd, you need more. If you really want to capture our attention, and the attention of potential partners and customers, you need to tell us a story.

The art of startup storytelling is essential, but many founders fail to realize it until it is too late and they have missed their chance.

In my experience, effective startup stories divide into two.

1. Business as a lifestyle

The success of many of the world’s biggest companies has been built on transforming their technology from a business to a lifestyle, or even a social movement. One superpower of companies like Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, WeWork, Google, Amazon and other modern behemoths was their ability to position themselves as much more than mere purveyors of goods and services. They offered – and often delivered – the promise to change the way we live.

The decision to purchase an Apple phone is as much as an expression of lifestyle or fashion choice as the selection of a particular operating system. Using cutting-edge technology combined with eye-popping design – which Steve Jobs memorable described as “the soul” of a product – Apple and other companies managed to become agents of social change, burrowing deep into our consciousness to capture our hearts as well as our pocket books.

2. Origins and founders

Every day, we meet startups whose technology promises keep us safer, move us faster, feed us better, protect us more securely, power us more sustainably and maintain our health more effectively. They also plan to perform all this life-changing work while delivering an impressive return on investment.

But we also want to be inspired by the people we work with. The companies that truly stand out from the crowd often have an origin story that resonates with investors, potential partners and customers.

BrainQ Technologies was awarded FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its wearable device which uses non-invasive electromagnetic therapy to enhance recovery in stroke victims. The company and its core technology was the brainchild of Dr. Yaron Segal , who developed the idea when existing medical devices proved unable to help his own son.

“My son, Lear, was born with familial dysautonomia, a rare genetic disorder that affects the development of the autonomic nervous system, and has no cure to date,” says Segal, BrainQ’s Co-founder and Chief innovation Officer. “As a father and a physicist, I was not ready to accept the fact that Lear, and people like him, would never be able to recover from their disorders. Examining the available treatment options, I realized that I must find an alternative solution to treat the core of his syndrome, not just its symptoms.”

“After extensive research, I identified a promising path, and when I realized that the same solution can be applicable for different types of neurodisorders, I created the idea for BrainQ’s technology,” he says. “My vision is to develop an accessible treatment for Lear and other neurodisorder patients that allows for continuous care throughout their entire recovery path. I want to ensure that neurodisorder patients around the world can maintain their daily schedules while still receiving treatment, alleviating the burden on patients and their loved ones.”

Maolac takes nutrient-rich bovine colostrum – the first pre-milk produced by birthing cows which is currently discarded by the billions of gallons – and turns it into protein-rich food additives.

Maya Ashkenazi Otmazgin , a biomedical engineer who is Maolac’s CEO and Co-founder, was nursing her first child when she got the idea for harnessing the health benefits of breast milk, but in food and wellness supplements for adults.

“I wondered why we were not understanding the proteins inside breast milk and trying to find bioequivalents in other sources,” she told Christine Hall at TechCrunch. “Breast milk is the ‘gold standard’ for nutrients, and grownups are being deprived of one of life’s greatest resources.”

These are just two examples of compelling origin stories that have helped propel these small startups into the media and into the hearts of investors.

Great stories can then be amplified by social and other networks to raise the company above the noise and attract the attention of potential investors.

Clearly, storytelling by itself is not enough. However good your startup story, it can only achieve results if it is underpinned by the startup fundamentals that will get your company onto my desk in the first place.

But if you can use agile storytelling to transform your elevator pitch into a narrative that will elevate your company above the startup frenzy, you will be well on the way to that funding round.

About ‘Investors on the Frontlines’

I’m the CEO and Founder of?OurCrowd, the global equity investment platform that gives individual accredited investors access to pre-IPO startup deals alongside top-tier VCs. If you are an investor, private family office or financial advisor, subscribe?here?for my biweekly commentary or follow me on?Twitter. I welcome your comments in the response section below.