An Artist's Approach to Startup Storytelling
As someone lucky enough to mentor startups at prestigious institutions like Harvard, MIT, and my alma mater, IE Business School, as well as private startups, I often get asked what makes my approach different from other professionals in my field— my primary focus is to expand the founders' mindset and provide creative tools to strengthen their pitching skills by bringing art thinking and startup thinking together.
The other day, I had a conversation with my friend Wenyi Cai, the founder of Polymath Ventures. She asked me how art thinking can help startup founders shape their narratives. What you're reading now is a peek into our chat.
Learning-By-Listening
Often, people understand the 'what' they need to do but grapple with the 'how.' A practice I borrowed from the realm of #music is 'learning by playing.' A musical instructor demonstrates a musical piece, allowing their student to learn by direct observation. So instead of telling the students how to play, the instructor plays it for them. I implement a similar approach in my work, which I term 'pitching by doing.' Here, I play the role of the founder of the startup company I am working with and deliver an example pitch of their idea to them, thereby offering the founder a fresh perspective to pitching their startup and subsequently helping identify blind spots, reinforce the unique selling point, or simplifying the complex (see below).
Roleplay
When it's pitch time, founders often spend hours polishing their slides. But here's the thing — YOU, the founder, are the presentation. The slides (or deck, or one-pager, for that matter) are there just to support your ideas. So, in our sessions (and I mean every session), we roleplay. I'm the investor, they're the founders, and we're nailing that pitch together. Imagine doing this over the course of 10 to 15 meetings with one big difference from an investor meeting — you get feedback after pitching about the different aspects of your pitch.
One might think that roleplaying is narrowed down to only investor meetings, but we also practice demo day style pitch, we practice Q&A, and we even practice small talk so founders can learn how to introduce what they do in situations where they may only be given a minute to get their ideas across.
Questioning
Anton Chekov once said, "The role of the artist is to ask questions." And entrepreneurs? They are expected to deliver answers, yet in my perspective, great entrepreneurs are also great inquisitors. Whether challenging industry norms or traditional methodologies, I guide founders in mastering the art of questioning to gain clearer insights into their interactions with investors. When someone tells you, "It's not enough," how do you know what enough is? Or when they say "it is too low"? What is low?
Simplicity
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
is a sentiment attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Centuries later, #Picasso echoed this ethos, stripping his subjects to their bare essence in a drawing like "The Bull," and #SteveJobs perfected it in Apple’s products.
Absorbed in their daily struggle, founders sometimes assume that industry jargon or professional language is universally understood. It's not. That's where simplicity steps in.
Now, you might be expecting a straightforward example of simplicity in practice at this point — whether in a slide, a product, or a sentence (but obviously, due to confidentiality with our clients, we cannot share specific instances). However, while it may sound straightforward, simplicity is a complex art. If it were as simple as it sounds, it would be as common as a commodity product. But the reality is simplicity is anything but common or easy to achieve. Achieving simplicity is not a straightforward task. If it were, everyone would be successful at it. Rather, it requires substantial time, effort, and a profound understanding of the essence of your business. Truly simplifying a startup's narrative is an intricate process that I can guide you through, ensuring your messaging is both clear and impactful.
So while the task is often very challenging than one might expect, it's a game-changer.
Emotions
While numerous technical startups might seem to thrive solely on technical language, it’s essential to remember that most of the world’s problems are fundamentally human-centered. Hence, reaching out on an emotional level can drastically enhance engagement with your ideas, making them more compelling and resonant.
An excellent example of this is the iconic 1984 Apple Macintosh advertisement. The ad, framed in a dystopian world, positioned Apple as a rebellious force challenging the status quo. The bleakness of conformity, the thrill of rebellion, and the hope for a different future created an emotional resonance that helped shape Apple’s narrative. Steve Jobs communicated Apple’s value and vision not merely as a technology company but as a revolutionary force. This emotional connection made Apple’s story more impactful, turning it from a mere provider of products into an entity that stood for something larger.
Just as emotions are vital in art, they are equally important in your startup story. Some might frame this as vision, mission, or purpose. Regardless of the terminology, it’s the bold, emotionally-charged vision that can captivate the right investors, employees, and partners. Remember, a startup’s narrative isn’t solely about the data or technical details; it’s also about the emotional connection and the compelling story that these details are part of. Your startup could be the next rebellious force, changing the world one product or service at a time.
Visual Storytelling and Aesthetics Guidance
Last, but not least, it's the obvious and direct relation between the arts and startup storytelling — the visuals. There’s a wealth of resources available to help you overcome any visual challenges, so let me put my two cents in: Founders often think their deck IS their pitch. Far from it! Your deck is there to back you up. Ever sat through a presentation with slides crammed with text? Not fun. So, remember — simplicity is key, not just in what you say, but in what you show.
These are just a few examples of how art thinking informs our approach at The Artian to startup storytelling. The impact of art thinking and practices goes much beyond these examples. It touches every facet of how a story is crafted and told, from the nuances of narrative structure to the emotional resonance that a well-told story can evoke. It's about viewing your startup through a different lens, one that values creativity, imagination, and the power of compelling narratives
Whether you need help with just storytelling or something else, you bet art thinking will be in the mix! 😉
