(Original Post) 👉The 23 Rules of Storytelling For Fundraising
Written By James Currier, GP, NFX (@jamescurrier)
As a Founder, you are the Chief Storyteller. You need to convince investors, employees, customers, partners, and journalists to give you the resources you need — you do that with your story, your narrative.
A story is not about tricking people into doing what you want. It’s about understanding your audience, empathizing with how they see the world and what they want, and then inspiring them using words that mean something to them.
When you are fundraising, we have observed specific storytelling techniques that will motivate your VC audience to invest. To be a world-class Founder, here are our top 23 rules for great storytelling.
Listeners can’t hear what’s important when you talk too much or put too much in your deck. Telling a good story isn’t about spewing out everything on your mind and letting them sort through the mess. It isn’t about bludgeoning the listener with so many sentences that they love you.
Saying less is better. Figure out what’s important and what’s not. Emphasize what’s important. As a listener, I just want the important pieces from you.
It turns out that there are only a few elements of your story that are important in motivating an investor to invest. Here’s a quick list. You should emphasize these: