The Importance of entrepreneurial storytelling
Pitching in the context of founding and growing a venture
What types of entrepreneurial stories are there?
Crafting a good story
The Three Ws
3. The Importance of entrepreneurial storytelling
Storytelling is a culmination of key moments, lessons learned, pivots, motivation, frustrations, and
successes.
Stories can help persuade key stakeholders – employees, investors, and consumers – to invest in your
company
Customer cares about stories
For example, 70% of millennials will spend more on brands that support causes they care about. We
see similar change in B2B purchases, where 81% of non c-suite employees influence purchase decisions.
4. The importance of pitching in the context of
founding and growing a venture.
We connect emotionally with brands
The competition is brutal
150 Applications
50 Interviews
10 Accelerators
5 Raise capital
2 Still here in 5 years
We are constantly pitching to different audiences
Cash crunch
Journalist
Politician
5. Elevator pitch
The elevator pitch is a concise way of verbally
communicating what your business does. Essentially, it’s
the first opportunity to engage people around a story
about the company. It tells people what they need to
know in a short amount of time, which is why it’s so
important.
Origin story
How did you first start your business or come up with
your idea? What's your origin story
Pitch deck
It’s a key presentation that tells the story of how a
company meets a unique need and is generally used by
founders to raise money from investors.
Internal story
The internal story is about motivating your team to work
toward your mission, as well as a future that likely doesn’t
yet exist. People now care so much about purpose.”
What types of entrepreneurial stories are there?
6. Crafting a good story
Have a beginning and an end
Engage our emotions and senses
Connect the storyteller with the audience
Surprise us, by teaching us lessons about ourselves and the world
Engage memory and create retention
7. Pitching
“What you need an investor to know is that this is a
great market, and you can do that in 30 seconds”
- Andrea Barrica, Venture Partner and Pitch Coach at ‘500 Startups’
8. The Three Ws:
What is my big
market to
disrupt?
•Who is your
audience
Why now is the
best time to
launch?
•What problem do
they need to
solve?
Why this idea
matters?
•What’s the
solution?
Every audience needs a journey
9. Exercise: Practice Pitch
• Consider your business idea
• Using the ‘Three Ws’ and prepare a 30-second pitch for your chosen organisation
1. What is my big market to disrupt?
2. Why now is the best time to launch?
3. Why this idea matters?