In this blog post, we’ll discuss the importance of storytelling in startup pitches. We were thrilled to have around 27 startup founders join us, sharing their pitch-related concerns and questions.
The Zoom event was buzzing with burning questions, useful advice, and insightful suggestions and discussions.
The Zoom session was hosted by Anshuman Sinha, an angel investor and co-founder of Startup Steroid.
“Storytelling in startup pitches helps create an emotional connection, makes your pitch more memorable, showcases your uniqueness, illustrates the market need, and builds trust. By harnessing the power of storytelling, you can effectively communicate your startup’s value proposition and increase your chances of securing investment.” — Anshuman Sinha.
We had Martha Gamboa, founder of Frendii, as the first speaker on the show from the attendees. She explained how she is into early-stage technology, working on finding a solution to solve the problem of loneliness and isolation for women above 50. She wanted to know how can a startup founder incorporate storytelling in their pitch without missing out on the opportunity to explain where they are in their startup journey.
Anshuman came out with a useful suggestion. “You know TV commercials are just maybe 10-15 seconds, but they are so beautifully crafted that we remember them even after months. Your startup pitch needs to produce that compelling effect. “
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Gagan Pal Singh Nagi, founder of HiLogue, also chimed in, adding, “It’s storytelling but not a story. Before you pitch your startup, make sure you understand who are you pitching your startup and how can you make a human connection with them in a simple language. In addition, your pitch also needs to focus on how you’re solving a problem and of course, you need to speak about the financials and where you’re on your journey. In a nutshell, summarize why you started the startup and what’s your mission and vision about it. That’s what a perfect storyline for your startup should sound.”
Jerry Heikens, Executive Director, TiE SoCals, also added that how much time you spend on explaining your pitch doesn’t matter if the pitch has an essence. It can go from 30 seconds to even 3 or 5 minutes. Most importantly, investors want to know the passion behind launching the startup and what you want to achieve through it. Startup founders need to build a story out of it to connect with the investors.
Importance of Incorporating Storytelling In Startup Pitches
Builds Emotional Connection
People tend to easily forget data and facts or figures. But when ou build an emotional connection with your target audience—be it the investors, customers or your team, this emotional connection will stay for a long time. You need to come up with with the content or idea that describes your version of the story.
We had a young entrepreneur Diwakar, Founder SiteGuide, on the show. He’s a college student but has delivered over 20 projects while in college. It’s indeed remarkable. He wanted to know how can he incorporate his personal story in the pitch.
Our mentor Anshuman suggested that his success story can be successfully built around his startup and accomplishment. Diwakar is passionate about delivering projects on time.
Thus, the whole purpose of highlighting a story in your pitch is to make an emotional connection with investors.
Storytelling in business refers to personalizing communication by making use of personal anecdotes to create a wow moment!
Storytelling Gives You An Opportunity Discuss Your Passion
What you currently do is important, but what was the idea behind coming up with such a business plan is also important. Investors would want to know that, too.
You have to be creative here and bring a personal story to it.
Martin Sornes, the founder of Hearoll Medical Inc, also joined the show. His company Hearoll is a startup that addresses the pain points of ENT patients.
He is working on a business model through which patients can have audiologist at home to get their ears checked for any hearing-related issues or ear problems.
Martin enquired how can he go ahead with his plan. Our experts advised him to look out for government grants relevant to the industry. In addition, our experts also suggested him to make use of storytelling techniques while pitching his startup idea or explaining about what he does in front of the audience.
Proves Your Commitment and Dedication to the Project
Did you know what most investors say? We invest in people, not products.
No matter, how great your products are, unless you specifically reach out to your potential investors explaining what led you to work on this particular startup idea, it won’t click or create any interest in their minds about your startup.
You have to convince investors that you’re really committed to the startup you launched and wish to even take it forward if it gets funded. Storytelling allows you to show the real person behind the startup and makes for an authentic appeal.
In Conclusion
As Anshuman rightly pointed out while pitching your startup for funding, you’ve to tell your story and startup journey to make investors feel curious and engaged. It all depends upon how well you can do that to captivate their attention.
There’s no one-size-fits-all formula to it. The more you focus on the storytelling aspect of your startup pitches, the greater the chance of getting investors hooked on it instead of saying next!