mmm...what is storytelling?
I’ve read many books, watched countless movies, listened to a bunch of podcasts, gone through endless X threads, and still I couldn’t quite understand what storytelling really meant.
Everyone talks about it.
Musicians use storytelling to connect with their audience.
“Storyteller” is suddenly a hot role in tech.
Every VC tells founders: learn storytelling.
And of course, as a founder, I would want to learn and apply whatever makes my company succeed. If storytelling is what it takes, then so be it.
I thought it was about crafting narratives. Fictional characters, conflict, resolution. Something designed to make people feel.
Boy, was I wrong. It’s not a side quest. It’s the thing everything else is built on.
The shift happened when one of our hires asked: “Why are you guys doing this?”
I went on to give a two-minute incoherent monologue. The history. Our thought process. The team.
And somewhere in the middle of it, I realized I was telling a story, and more importantly, living the one that makes me wake up in the morning and do this.
So what does it actually mean to tell a great story?
Not something you craft. Not something you add. Something you start to notice.
1. Your pull + patterns
You’re already describing what you’re drawn to. That’s the story forming.
- You tend to gravitate toward a certain type of people
- You stay in a space long enough to start seeing opportunities firsthand
- You keep coming back to the same problems
2. Your meaning-making
You’re already explaining why it matters. That’s you making sense of the story.
- You start to see why this space feels interesting to you
- You begin to answer: why this, why now, why you
- What starts as curiosity slowly becomes belief
3. Your translation gap
You’re already living it. The gap is in translating it.
- The story is clear in your head, but not clearly articulated
- Your team doesn’t fully align because they can’t see what you see
- Customers don’t fully understand what you’re building
A quote to ponder: “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.” ~ Steve Jobs
A book to read: Winning the Story Wars