Stories That Stick: How Storytelling Can Captivate Customers, Influence Audiences, and Transform Your Business

Pitfall #1: Confusing the Founder Story and the Value Story
First things first. Before we go any further, there’s an important distinction to

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make here. The founder story is not a value story. The founder story is
fundamentally about the founder. It may overlap with other stories, and it may
inherently illustrate the value of the product or service being offered. But when
that story becomes only about the product, it becomes a value story. As a
founder, you can certainly tell a value story. But just know that they’re not the
same thing. When you’re just talking about the product, you’re selling the
product, not yourself. When you’re telling a founder story, first and foremost,
you’re selling yourself.
Pitfall #2: Not Telling Your Founder Story Because You’re Tired of
Telling It
For the past several years, on any given night, if you were to walk in the
vicinity of West Forty-Sixth Street in New York City, you would be greeted by
mass hysteria. Yes, for those who know the area, you know that West Forty-
Sixth Street is Times Square, which implies chaos regardless of day or time. But
West Forty-Sixth Street is special.
It’s the street address for the Richard Rogers Theater. And the Richard
Rogers Theater is where you go if you want to see 
Hamilton
on Broadway.
Outside is mayhem: a line of people wraps around the building, nervously
waiting to get in through the main entrance and hoping the $500+ tickets they
bought on StubHub are legit. Inside the theater is worse. Complete and
organized chaos is a generous term. Yet no one seems to mind that the line for
the bathroom is one hundred people long and the price of a plastic cup of cava is
$18.
Joyously, 1,319 people make their way to seats that have less legroom than
the deepest-discount airline, and yet the air crackles with excitement as they
prepare for the experience of a lifetime.
Meanwhile, backstage, the cast is getting ready for the show. I admit I’ve
never been backstage on Broadway, but I bet the energy there is much less
anxious than that of the audience. Think about it; the actors go to the same
theater on West Forty-Sixth Street six days a week, sometimes performing two
shows a day. They put on the same outfit. Sing the same songs with the same
words, same notes. They walk to the exact same spot on the exact same stage in
the exact same way every single show.
I don’t know about you, but I sometimes get a little anxious about the natural
monotony of adult life—doing the same things day in and day out. Imagine if
that was your job! At what point does it drive you a little crazy? At what point

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do you wonder what the point of it all is? At what point do you long to sing a
different song or tell a different story?
When it comes to your founder story, it’s a lot like Broadway. Over time
you’ll get tired of singing the same notes, of delivering the same story. And
because you aren’t beholden to an actor’s union and the next character’s lines
aren’t dependent on yours, you’ll be tempted to change it up, to not tell the story,
to maybe talk about exciting new developments or new stats instead. New
anything! Anything but the same old notes you’re tired of singing.
But in those moments, think about those actors on Broadway. And how,
though the lines are always the same, they understand their performance isn’t
about them. It isn’t for them. Those actors step onstage each night to tell the
same story to the 1,319 new people sitting in the Richard Rogers Theater, eager
to experience 
Hamilton
for the very first time.
Just like an actor on Broadway or a preacher from the pulpit who only has
the same old 2,700-year-old material to work with, your story might feel tired to
you from time to time. When this happens, shift your focus from you to them.
Yes, the story might be about you, but telling it is not. It might sound old to
you, but to the person hearing it for the first time, it’s as new as the day it
happened, and your audience will love hearing it.