1: Got this question from a CEO: "Do you also work with companies to build a differentiated story in an existing category?"

It's the wrong distinction to make, the wrong question to ask.

👇🏽 2: I know where it comes from. In the traditional view, you either create a category or differentiate within one. If the latter, you construct claims about how your product is better than others at solving the problems of a target segment. You position *relative to competitors*.

2nd installment of "Every Great Strategic Narrative Starts Out a Mess" — here's what one @redpointvc company's leadership said was working/not working the first time the CEO presented it, and then again a couple of months later

Thread for takeaways: This company has been *very* successful at selling features to solve problems. But the CEO (and the entire team) really wanted prospects to see beyond those immediate problems and imagine ways they could do new, innovative things with the technology.

One thing I've learned is a challenge for CEOs introducing a new strategic narrative is fear they'll be accused of a bait-and-switch (thread) Here's the scenario: You've built a decent sales pipeline touting how your product is better than/diff from others in STATUS QUO CATEGORY, but there's no buyer urgency.

Now, in your narrative, you're asking your sales team to say some version of GOODBYE STATUS QUO CATEGORY

One way to build a great strategic narrative is to ask “What ideological shift is my product a pitch for”

It helps to think about movies, because every movie is a pitch for a new (to the main character) ideological approach to winning: STAR WARS
Amass power => Trust the force

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
People are either friends OR lovers => People can be friends AND lovers

FROZEN
Let go of people who are close to you if they get too weird => Do what it takes to embrace them

Here are some software examples:

The purpose of your strategic narrative is not to tell prospects "you're doing it wrong."

It's to help them *make sense* of a suspicion they *already have* that they need to do it differently. When I coach CEOs on strategic narrative, I have them say, "We've been talking to [people like you] and hearing about a fundamental shift in how [ex: consumers want to consume: Goodbye ownership. Hello usership.]

Then show winners are *already* embracing the new narrative.

I'm often complimented by CEOs on how I run meetings, and some (notably @TyCloud) have asked for tips.

So here's my # 1 rule:

Before participants share their opinions, ask them to write them down. Sometimes participants moan about it. Isn't that a waste of time?

The far bigger time-waster, I've learned, is free-form sharing. You inevitably get rat-holed because of someone's proclivity to blab or because one opinion generates endless debate.