DESCRIPTION

Startup Storytelling: startup storytelling is the most effective form of communication available to the entrepreneur.  Startup storytelling enables you to make ‘me’ into ‘we’: to achieve engagement with the audience to draw people into the significance of how your business will change the world.

Successful founders are inevitably excellent at startup storytelling. Having the ability to tell the real story of your venture will make the business understood—and appreciated. The book, Founders Are Storytellers will help you both understand why, as well as how you can be a convincing storyteller yourself.

SKILLFUL STARTUP STORYTELLING

Founders Are Storytellers will help you tell your startup story and:

• articulate your grand vision to everyone you meet;
• excite listeners or readers about what is so special about what you’re doing;
• offer a way of exhibiting your values without threadbare phrases;
• convince partners to come on board;
• convey to customers why your product or service offers them value;
• show executives in equity finance how you will produce a return;
• reassure loan or equity providers that the business makes financial sense;
• persuade quality talent to join the company;
• give suppliers good reason to do business with you.

You’ll also find help with these aspects of successful storytelling on two other pages of venturefounders.com: Startup Statements of Intent and Entrepreneurial Empathy.

Read a Free Sample Chapter to get a flavor of how the book works

REVIEWS OF FOUNDERS ARE STORYTELLERS

“This little book is like a giant tree. It has a substantial trunk filled with Will’s wise counsel, but it is the many branches to online references that make it the most comprehensive source on storytelling for startups. No startup founder will succeed without being able to tell their story. This book will help it have a happy ending. A picture is worth a thousand words, but a genuine story could be worth millions in capital.”

Wayde Gilchrist, Host – TechStartRadio and Startup Consultant

“Entrepreneurs always ask me ‘what are you looking for in a pitch’ and I always say the same thing: tell me your story. Tell me what problem you discovered and how you will make money solving the problem and tell me why you and your team can solve this problem better than anyone else. This book helps an entrepreneur tell a story that will grab the attention of customers, investors and stakeholders.”

Cairn G. Cross, Co-Founder and Managing Director, FreshTracks Capital LP

“A tactical gem. Will is a true entrepreneur himself, and is blessed with the ability to motivate others to bring their best work to the world in the form of new, sustainable businesses. He not only provides hands-on suggestions for cultivating interest in your start-up business through the power of startup storytelling, but he delivers the roadmap on crafting and telling your own compelling business story.”

Beverly Winterscheid, PhD, Founder, Center for Nature and Leadership

“Whenever we want to tell something important about another person or an experience we tell a story. This is how we as human beings are wired. It’s also how we as listeners are wired to be motivated and emotionally involved. What can be more important to an entrepreneur about to start a new business than to have a great story to tell? Will Keyser gets into the details of how to build that story and brings up the other critical elements and inspires you with stories from real life startups. If you are contemplating starting a new business or are already starting one, you should read this book about startup storytelling.”

Sven Atterhed, Chairman & Co-founder, The ForeSight Group, Sweden

“Will Keyser is one of those rare authors who has a special gift: the ability to take a complex topic that tends to get oversimplified—after all, how many startups actually succeed—and call out the essential elements into a recipe for success. He does this with wit, charm, and hands-on experiences… It’s like having a coach in your pocket with whom you can converse. You can almost hear him whispering in your ear about startup storytelling as you get ready for the action… It took a lifetime of experiences to create and package the Keyser wisdom for the budding entrepreneur waiting to emerge in all of us.”

Victor Rosansky, CoFounder, TenXgrow LLC

MUST READ BOOK

“This book is a must read especially for someone planning or in the formative stages of starting a business. Will has been providing much needed counsel and mentoring to me as I engage in starting my own business. But reading this book has been liberating. Liberating in the sense that my startup story telling skills have been honed and perfected. I see a lot that I have been doing wrong, my ducks are now in a row. I look forward to telling my story and getting results in the process. Will’s grey hair experience and wisdom really comes out in this book. Founders are indeed story tellers!”

Bonang Sealetsa, Managing Director and Founder, Institute of Entrepreneurial Development, Botswana

“I needed this book years ago, and still do today. As an entrepreneur building my third start-up, I have made all the mistakes Will Keyser identifies, focusing on the model, projections and the ‘how’—instead of sharing the ‘why’ through powerful storytelling. Storytelling is absolutely the most effective form of communication. Good ideas are plentiful, but turning an idea into a successful organization requires inspiring and convincing others, which is often challenging. I highly recommend Founders Are Storytellers to anyone launching a new business or nonprofit, as well as to seasoned entrepreneurs ready to hone their communication skills.”

Ted Barber, Founder of social enterprise Prosperity Candle

“Every 5 year old would rather hear a story than a lecture. Most adults feel the same way but are not willing to admit it. In Founders Are Storytellers, Will Keyser helps unmask the elements of what separates a great story from a boring narrative, and in the process challenges every entrepreneur to be their honest, authentic selves.”

Seth Goldman, Co-Founder and Chief TeaEO Emeritus, Honest Tea