Many founders, especially technically minded ones, assume it’s obvious why the problem they’re solving is crucial for customers. In his universally praised pitch for the Tesla Powerwall, before Elon Musk shows the audience his batteries, he presents this image of a world powered completely by the sun: Listing your product’s features, even obliquely, does not qualify as the Move. For example, they’ll say, “In the future, our customers will have a rich, well-designed interface for…” Sorry. Warning: Often when I ask founding teams to describe their Promised Land, they just describe their product. That’s why I call it the Move: you’re moving the outcome - or at least an advertisement for it - up higher in your narrative.Īfter stating the problem, but before introducing your solution, present a tantalizing glimpse of the outcome - the Promised Land - that you’ll help your customer reach. That strict adherence to chronology is particularly strong among engineers and scientists, most of whom (like me, a former coder) have been trained to build an iron-clad case before blurting out conclusions.īut to get your audience to buckle in for the ride, you have to talk about the outcome much earlier. That’s because we tend to tell stories like this:
To be sure, the Move doesn’t come naturally to many of us. Yes, they need to hear about your target customer’s problem, but why does solving the problem matter? Likewise, to hook investors, prospects, or any business audience, convey what’s at stake early. Now we understand that Star Wars will be about more than solving some princess’s problem: Her rescue - and Darth Vader’s defeat - will be in service to helping everyone in the galaxy return to happier times.
0 kommentar(er)
