Startup Storytelling That Wins: Craft a Pitch Investors Remember

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Your pitch deck isn’t just slides — it’s a story. Learn startup storytelling techniques that help founders win VC funding, attract customers, and align teams.

🎙️ In this episode of Startuprad.io, startup narrative expert Ehud Dror breaks down the psychology behind high-impact founder stories. He reveals why most decks fail, how to avoid information overload, and how emotional resonance can help you raise faster — and lead better.

📌 What You'll Learn:
What makes a pitch resonate with investors
Why clarity + momentum matter more than tech
How to frame deep tech so non-technical people care
How to craft your founder “why” for Series A–C funding
The narrative structure that works from pitch to IPO

👤 About the Guest:
Ehud Dror is a storytelling strategist who’s helped Israel’s most innovative startups communicate their ideas with clarity and power — from deep tech to SaaS to medtech. His clients raise millions using his founder-first storytelling approach.

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Learn more here: http://startuprad.io/post/the-startup-storytelling-playbook-craft-narratives-that-win-investors-and-customers

🔖 Related Topics
#StartupStorytelling #FounderNarrative #VCPitchTips #DACHstartups #Startupradio #Entrepreneurship #TechFounders

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00:00Welcome to StartupRad.io, your podcast and YouTube blog covering the German startup scene

00:13with news, interviews, and live events.

00:19Hello and welcome everybody.

00:22This is Joe from StartupRad.io, your go-to startup podcast for startup founders,

00:27scale-up executives, and venture capital insiders.

00:31In today's episode, we dive into the power of strategic storytelling for startup growth

00:38with our guest Ehud Dror, founder of Tailoring Your Story.

00:44Ehud is a renowned startup pitch expert and narrative strategist who helps tech founders

00:50to turn complex ideas into founding-ready investor decks, go-to-market messages, and memorable

00:59keynote stories.

01:01With a track record of guiding some of Israel's most innovative startups, Ehud unpacks how clarity,

01:08belief, and emotional resonance can differentiate your brand, attract VC funding, and align your

01:15team. If you're a B2B SaaS founder, deep tech entrepreneur, or a growth stage executive

01:21preparing to pitch, this episode is packed with insights on using startup storytelling,

01:27pitch check optimization, and strategic communication to win in competitive markets.

01:34Ah, we met at the EU Startup Summit in Malta, and now, welcome, Dror.

01:38Welcome, Ehud.

01:40Sorry.

01:40Welcome, Ehud.

01:41Welcome to StartupRadio.

01:43Hi, hi.

01:46I'm very excited to be here.

01:48It is my pleasure.

01:50Let us dive in straight with narrative and strategic communications.

01:56It's all about storytelling with you, but why is storytelling the most underutilized tool

02:02in startup growth?

02:04Oh, wow.

02:05So, I like how you dove into the pain point at the very first question.

02:11I mean, but I wouldn't be a storyteller if I didn't start with the sentence, let me tell

02:17your story, right?

02:18So, let me tell your story.

02:21Most founder think storytelling is something you do at the end, when in fact it should shape

02:27everything from the start.

02:29Founders often invest in product, in tech, go to market, but forget what makes people believe.

02:37Storytelling isn't fluff.

02:38It's a strategy dressed as a narrative.

02:41It aligns your team.

02:43It earns investors' trust and helps customers understand what you do and, most importantly,

02:50why it matters.

02:52I mean, most speeches I see are loaded with features and jargon.

02:58Most entrepreneurs use them to sound bright and trendy.

03:02And they think the big tech world make the difference.

03:07But who really understands what the algorithm or how the algorithm works, right?

03:13Investors and partners.

03:15Actually, I have to tell you, Ehud, what is really interesting is the longer I do this,

03:22the more I can really feel you.

03:25For the very simple reason, you go on the website or you listen to a presentation of one of the founders

03:30and he drones on for like 20 minutes.

03:32And at the end, you think, what the hell are you guys actually doing?

03:36Yeah.

03:37Right?

03:37That is a point you're trying to make and I've seen so, so often.

03:41Yeah.

03:42So, basically, the algorithm, no one understands how it works, include investors.

03:48So, you can feel free to let that part go.

03:52So, investors and partners, at the end of the day, seeking clarity, vision, conviction, okay?

04:01A great story delivers all three.

04:03Startups that know how to tell their story don't just raise money faster.

04:08They move faster because once people believe in you, you're halfway there.

04:14When people believe in you, you're halfway there.

04:18That's a pretty good quote.

04:20So, we already talked about startup narratives.

04:24What makes a startup narrative resonate with both the investor and the customer community?

04:33So, that is a great question, but the simple answer would be that it doesn't.

04:38The more complex answer would be that the best startup stories live at the intersection of vision and relevance.

04:57For investors, it's about scalability and belief.

05:02They want to know you're solving a real problem in a way that can grow.

05:07Customers, on the other hand, it's about empathy and clarity.

05:11They don't want to know you understand them or they do want to know you understand them and can improve their lives.

05:18A resonant narrative bridges both by answering three questions.

05:22Why now?

05:24What urgency drives this?

05:26Why you?

05:26I mean, what makes this team and solution credible?

05:30And why should anyone care?

05:32So, that's where the emotional hook lives.

05:35A good narrative knows how to speak to both and speak the language of opportunity to investors and value to customers.

05:46And it does it both without switching personalities.

05:51When you hit that sweet spot, your story doesn't just reason it.

05:54It compels action.

05:58You mentioned clarity and momentum.

06:01How do you build that in a pitch, especially a short one?

06:05Okay, so clarity and momentum are two rails every great story runs on.

06:11Clarity means stripping your message down to the one thing you want people to remember.

06:17It's not about dumping things down.

06:19It's about making complexity unavoidable.

06:25When I start working on a story, I always ask, if your audience remembers only one sentence, what should it be?

06:32That's your signal.

06:34Everything else supports it.

06:37Then comes the momentum part.

06:38And that's where most pitches fall flat.

06:43Momentum is the feeling that things are already moving.

06:47And the only smart thing to do is to join the ride.

06:51A good example would be showing traction early or use a quote or a win, a number that proves motion,

06:58and a structure in your pitch like a story arch.

07:01Don't just inform people.

07:03Escalate.

07:04End with a vision.

07:06So people lean forward, not back.

07:08When you combine clarity with momentum, you don't just explain your idea.

07:13You drew people into it.

07:15People are looking for that hook.

07:17So give them something to aspire to.

07:19Can you walk us through?

07:27I've seen some examples when preparing for this interview.

07:30Can you walk us through how you turned quantum computing into a story about speed?

07:36Because many people talk about quantum computing.

07:40Yeah, they're small things and they do something.

07:43That is not really a story, isn't it?

07:45Yeah, absolutely.

07:46So that's an excellent example of taking a complex message and simplifying it.

07:54One of my clients, a partner at a VC firm, asked how to explain quantum computing to a non-technical audience.

08:03So instead of starting with definitions, I reframe the whole concept with one word, speed.

08:11I opened with Usain Bolt's 9.58 second world record.

08:15This is something everyone instantly relates to and understand and get.

08:20And then I positioned quantum computing as the next leaps in computer processing power.

08:26Not just faster, but a new kind of speed.

08:30And to get the full picture or to bring it to life, I used metaphors like the flesh.

08:35Again, not to explain physics, but to paint a picture of limitless potential.

08:41We showed how this new kind of acceleration could transform fields like medicine, cybersecurity, and finance.

08:52So basically what we did is we swapped equations for metaphors, confusion for clarity, and abstraction for emotional resonance.

09:01So once we planned that, the right association, the rest was given.

09:10I was wondering, what's your take on why so many pitch decks fail to convert?

09:18Is it just you pitching the wrong VC?

09:22You pitching the wrong vertical, the wrong stage?

09:25Or is it simply the story fails?

09:27Okay, so as long as it's just both of us on this conversation, let me tell you a secret.

09:35Most pitch decks...

09:36Just you and me and 50,000 listeners.

09:39Yeah.

09:41Okay, go ahead.

09:43So let me tell you a secret.

09:45Most pitch decks fail not because the idea is bad.

09:49I mean, some ideas are not worth mentioning, but the majority fails because the story is broken.

09:55A good deck transforms the way people feel about your opportunity.

10:02The problem is that founders are often too close to the product.

10:06They try to explain everything.

10:08Features, deck, milestones.

10:11And in the process, they worry the one thing investors need, the belief.

10:17A pitch deck isn't a data dump.

10:19There is a considerable difference between dumping data, even if it's a good one, and telling a story.

10:26Telling a story is a belief-building tool, after all.

10:30You're not just pitching your solution.

10:32Most of the time, what fails is decks are too long or too technical or too flat, lacking momentum or flow that resonates with the audience.

10:44Storylines that feel scattered, like a list, not a journey, and no emotional anchor, I mean, just logic.

10:51And most importantly, no why.

10:54One of the most quoted TED Talks, Why, by Simon Sinek, discusses where great leadership and innovation begin.

11:02Sinek explains that people don't buy what you do.

11:05They buy why you do it.

11:07The most successful leaders inspired by communication from the inside out.

11:12I mean, starting with the purpose.

11:14Then how, then what?

11:16Show a clear signal from slide one.

11:19What are we solving and why now?

11:22A founder who gets the market, not just the tech, and the structure that builds confidence slide by slide.

11:30This is the way to do it.

11:31I totally know what you mean.

11:37Let us get a little bit into fundraising and pitch coaching, because a lot of people out there, usually we start with our audience around, with our coverage around Series A.

11:51But I do get the message that a lot of our audience is Series A, B, but mostly Series C founders.

12:00So, therefore, that's actually a different level, because you have somebody who's working for you.

12:07You have coaches that work with you on that.

12:12But what do top-performing investor presentations have in common?

12:18So, I would like to address this matter from a broader range of stories, because we all have all kinds of stories supporting our day-to-day, whether it's marketing, sales, product, finance, IPO, internal stories, and so on.

12:37So, I did some research and looked at the top 20 rated TED Talks, and found some similarities between them.

12:45First of all, they all use the platform to its maximum.

12:51You have limited time to convey your message, first of all, clear ideas, narrative structure, visual simplicity, of course, authentic delivery, data-supporting storytelling, and compelling conclusion.

13:08In his TED Talk, How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint, David J.P. Phillips emphasized the importance of designing presentation that aligns with our brain cognitive capabilities.

13:21He advocates simplicity by focusing on one message per slide, minimizing text, and utilizing visual to enhance understanding, creating more engaging and effective presentation.

13:33A great example would be Al Gore, that effectively conveyed complex climate data through impactful visual in his An Inconvenient True presentation.

13:46I think everybody remembers him for this lift he was on, right?

13:53Yeah, absolutely.

13:54Another great example would be Steve Jobs in his iPhone launch, concluded with the iconic phrase, one more thing, introducing a surprise element that left a lasting impression.

14:09And there are many more examples of great stories that can maximize the audience's attention by following all these fundamentals.

14:18Can you describe a moment when a storytelling shift led to funding success?

14:24Well, I'll answer that with a story, but not from a startup point of view, but from recent events that can teach us how a great story is formed.

14:36Yuval Rafael, Israeli representative for Eurovision 2025, which was held a few weeks ago, didn't win the audience's favor with 13 deux poids and second place overall just because of the music.

14:51I mean, she's a great singer, no doubt, but if we go deep, we will find an unbelievable story.

14:59To those of you who don't know her story, she's a survivor from the Nova Festival on October 7th,

15:08after playing tech for hours until she was rescued.

15:11And she captured hearts and global attention because her performance carried something deeper, a story of identity, intensity, if you'd like, an unapologetic authenticity.

15:25This is something you can't fake.

15:26I mean, she wasn't just singing a song.

15:29She was telling a story of resilience, of self-expression, of belonging.

15:33And that emotional clarity is exactly what changes the game in startup storytelling, too.

15:40If you can build that in your pitch, the rest will follow.

15:43I was just checking on eBay while you were talking with this Nova Festival, we got into very tough content.

15:53I was just checking, such a scissor lift as Al Gore used, it should be worth for you a few thousand euros.

16:00So, I would not recommend it to use it for your next presentation, especially if you do air travel.

16:07Well, okay, keeping a little bit too off, fundraising and pitch coaching, how can a founder translate his or her belief into deck or keynote?

16:21So, referring back to Simon Sinek, TED Talk, the most essential belief tool is start with why.

16:29And the answer can't be because I want to change the world or to make money or like every beauty queen wants to stop world hunger.

16:38You know this?

16:40That's definitely possible.

16:41Or world peace.

16:44Or world peace, right.

16:47So, because all these things are too vague, too universal and too emotionally hollow at the end of the day,

16:55it doesn't create the resonance because anyone can say it.

16:58And many do.

17:00So, it's like saying I want to be happy.

17:03Okay, it's true, but it's not specific, earned or anchored in personal insight.

17:09So, I often use the Pixar Story Spine.

17:13It's used to craft emotionally compelling, clear and memorable narratives.

17:18And it works just as well for startups as it does for animated films.

17:22So, basically what it means, you're not selling the idea.

17:27You're inviting belief through a narrative arch.

17:31You go from the personal spark or your personal spark to problem, to solution, to vision.

17:39The audience isn't just informed.

17:41They're emotionally involved.

17:43It has six steps for creating a story.

17:45So, once upon a time, everyday problem, until one day, because of that, until finally, and ever since then.

17:55So, now let's check this out, how it really works.

17:59So, every story starts with once upon a time, right?

18:04Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, uh-huh.

18:08So, describe what was broken in the world before you started.

18:13For example, once upon a time, small businesses were invisible online.

18:19Continue with everyday problem.

18:21Describe the frustrating status quo or the reality your audience relates to.

18:27Every day, they spent hours creating content that no one saw, okay?

18:35Until one day, what was your spark?

18:38The insight, the frustration or problem that made you act.

18:43Until one day, we realized the problem wasn't effort, it was a strategy.

18:49And because of that, introduce your product or solution, but not as a pitch, but as a natural response.

18:56Because of that, we built a platform that uses AI to optimize every piece of content in real time.

19:03Because of that, you can show traction here or momentum or proof, emotional payoff.

19:10Because of that, our users doubled their reach in under a month.

19:15Until finally, describe the transformation, what success looked like with you in the picture.

19:21Until finally, small businesses had the voice that could compete with big brands.

19:27And ever since then, paint the future, your vision that you're building, invite the belief in.

19:34And ever since then, we've been on a mission to level the playing field for small creators anywhere.

19:41So that would be an example of using a well-known model and translating it into our needs.

19:49The mechanism stays the same, but the story changes according to our goal.

19:54Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, exactly.

19:56So I was wondering, we are already getting into the next question.

20:00Because you have the same startup story for different goals.

20:04One's for the VCs, one's for the customers, and one's for the media.

20:08How do you do that?

20:10So one of the first questions we ask at the beginning of a project is who my target audience is.

20:20Think your story is like a diamond.

20:25It has the same shape, but different light or different angles catch different light.

20:31The core story or essence stays the same, but the emphasis shifts depending on who's listening.

20:39VCs are interested in considerable market insight, the size of the opportunity, the team unfairs advantage.

20:48They're looking for momentum and scalability, betting on growth, not just the idea.

20:55For example, we've identified a massive shift in the industry and are building the infrastructure to power it.

21:04Customers, on the other hand, are looking to see if you got them.

21:08Lead with the problem they face.

21:11Use their language, their pain points.

21:14Show empathy before features and benefits before specs.

21:18I mean, a good example would be, you know that fast trading moment when XYZ happens?

21:26We fix it, okay?

21:28Media looking for a story worth telling or a breaking news.

21:34You can lead with a hook, a surprising stat, a bold claim if you would like, a human moment.

21:40Position the startup in a culture or industry trend.

21:46Something like, in a world flooded with AI hype, this team quietly built a tool that helps humans think better.

21:54So, remember the diamond.

21:56It has the same shape, but different angles catch different light.

22:00Mm-hmm, understood.

22:02We get a little bit deeper now into psychology and emotional leverage because storytelling actually appears to emotions, to psychology.

22:21That's the way it works.

22:23What role does this emotional resonance play in high-stakes communication?

22:29So, emotional resonance is the difference between being heard and being remembered.

22:41A perfect example of this is Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech.

22:47If you had stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and presented statistics, we might have heard him, but we wouldn't have remembered him.

22:56So, instead, he painted a vivid emotional picture.

23:01I have a dream that my four little children will one day, and so on and so on.

23:06So, emotion is what moves people to act.

23:10It feels personal.

23:12It bypasses the doubt.

23:14And it's about being human, after all.

23:16Take our day-to-day, for example.

23:19We are all surrounded by messages all day, at work, on our way to home, and with our loved ones.

23:25But ask yourself what you remember at the end of the day.

23:30I mean, what you honestly remember.

23:32And the answer would be close to nothing.

23:35But if you keep in mind that you're not just transferring information, whether it is for a pitch deck, company story, or any other story you need to pass.

23:46You're transferring emotion, urgency, and trust, after all.

23:52Then you would be on the right path of conveying a good message.

23:57I'll give you an example of a story I built for a construction company that wanted to sell its building project.

24:04Took the basic term of home.

24:06We took the basic term of home and then transformed it into something emotional by giving home a meaning.

24:13We did it by taking the phrase home sweet home and said that the home is more than just four walls and a rooftop.

24:22Home is our memories.

24:24It's our dreams and hopes.

24:25It's our whole life.

24:26So, once we created that emotion, a home went from four walls and a rooftop to something bigger that people can relate to.

24:35That makes sense.

24:38What is the best way for founders to tell vulnerable but also authentic stories without losing any trust?

24:48So, we'll start with the bottom line here.

24:51Vulnerability builds trust as long as it serves the story and not the founder's ego.

24:57People don't lose trust when you're vulnerable.

24:59They lose trust when you pretend everything is perfect.

25:03Share the challenge but not the chaos.

25:05I mean, tell us what was hard but show us how you overcome it.

25:11A good example would be something like we almost gave up after the product failed but what we learned reshaped everything.

25:20I mean, frame failure as fuel.

25:24When asked about his success, Michael Jordan said, I succeeded because I failed.

25:29Vulnerability becomes strength when it leads to insight, action, or growth.

25:34If you're not saying we messed up, you're saying we got smarter faster, balance the emotion with clarity, show heart but stay grounded after all.

25:46So, investors and teams need to feel both your humanity and your leadership.

25:52Make it relevant, of course.

25:55If you're telling a vulnerable story, it should support your core message and not the other way around.

25:59In strategic messaging, there's always talked about signal and noise.

26:10How do you approach that and can you tell us a little bit about what is signal, what is noise?

26:15Because I personally, I run startup rate.io mostly by myself with some assistance and I get up to 100 emails a day.

26:26No kidding, you guys.

26:27And the question is, how would you, for example, stick out from all this noise that surrounds me that I get your message?

26:36So, as you said, first, let's remember what signal is and what noise is.

26:41Signal is what truly matters.

26:44Noise is all the rest.

26:45Simple as that.

26:47But the hardest part of strategic messaging is deciding what not to say.

26:52I mean, in every founder's story, there's a ton of noise, feature, metrics, buzzword, even good intentions.

27:00Remember the quantum computing story?

27:02It had the potential of being a flop using buzzwords.

27:06Founders tend to use the everything is important method.

27:10But it comes to think about it.

27:13If everything is important, nothing stands out.

27:17That's where the signal comes in.

27:19Signal is the one thing that must land.

27:22The sharp truth you want people to remember when the meeting ends.

27:26What sets you apart?

27:27What sets you apart?

27:28From my experience working with hundreds of companies, this is the most challenging part and the heart of every process of creating a winning story.

27:38It requires some skill, a broad understanding, and the ability to listen.

27:44My approach is to zoom out before you zoom in.

27:49Always look at the big picture using the one slide test.

27:54So once you find it, the rest will eliminate what's nice to say.

28:00Test each slide to see how it fits the overall flow and whether he creates the momentum you are seeking.

28:06All of these create the differentiation between a signal and noise.

28:14I see.

28:15So noise is what does not matter and signal is what matters.

28:19I think I'll keep that in mind for future communications.

28:23Guys, we will be back after a short ad break.

28:25Hey, guys, welcome back with Ehud as my guest here.

28:35We are talking about storytelling and communications.

28:39And we already talked about there is a lot of complexity in startups.

28:46Talked about simplifying a complex story.

28:50Can you walk us through your framework for explaining, for example, deep tech to non-technical stakeholders?

28:58Okay.

28:59So explaining deep tech to non-technical stakeholders, whether it's investors, partner, or end user, is tricky because the tech is the easy way to go.

29:10And most of the time, they found a safe place.

29:13So in order to avoid that, we need to keep it simple, as you said.

29:18Use analogs that support your message by creating imagery.

29:24Usain Bolt, the flesh, quantum computing.

29:27Avoid the jargon.

29:29Remember, no one understands the algorithm.

29:32So remember that.

29:34And it's not that important at that stage of the presentation, the jargon,

29:43because people tend to use it in order to sound smart.

29:50Okay.

29:50So avoid it.

29:52Just put it aside.

29:56Show the journey, not the code.

29:58I mean, you need to map the user or business flow, not the algorithm.

30:04Use images to demonstrate what you mean.

30:06We call it visual storytelling.

30:10So today we use AI tools to create any image we want to convey a precise message.

30:19Understand what your target audience is looking for and try to give it to them.

30:23Learn from the competition, obviously.

30:26I mean, see what they say.

30:27You might know how to say it better or differently.

30:30And please keep it simple.

30:32I mean, keep in mind that your message needs to be understood by an eight-year-old.

30:38If an eight-year-old can understand your message, you're on the right way.

30:43That reminds me of one of my first bosses who is actually listening to this podcast.

30:50And he told me, if you write a presentation on capital markets in consulting,

30:55make sure your grandmother would understand it.

30:57And I do believe that that's something that could really stick to you.

31:02We just talked about jargon.

31:05How can founders avoid falling into steadily talking in jargon,

31:10but still preserve credibility within the respective sub-scene,

31:15for example, in deep tech, fintech, and so on and so forth?

31:18So I think we already covered that.

31:21But jargon pushes people away versus clarity that invites them in.

31:27We keep the credibility, but wrapped it in a story everyone can relate to

31:33and understand at the end of the day.

31:35In your case, it was your grandmother.

31:38In my case, it was my eight-year-old son.

31:41Yes, that works.

31:43Are there certain elements that are essential

31:46when pitching highly complex, highly technical products for highly, highly complex content?

31:54Yeah.

31:54So most of the time, the more highly tech, the more complex the message is.

32:00When you pitch something highly technical, such as quantum computing or AI,

32:05the elements of the story are the same in every story.

32:08But remember that the tech, at the end of the day, doesn't close the deal.

32:13The story does.

32:14It goes back to clarity, simplicity, and using plain language.

32:19You don't have to hide the tech, obviously, but you must translate it.

32:23Focus on the problem, not the product.

32:25For example, we are solving a $1 billion problem in supply chain trust,

32:32not just building a better blockchain.

32:34Because blockchain is abstract, but supply chain, everyone understands.

32:40Technical doesn't mean boring, and technical doesn't always mean it's the signal.

32:45If it serves you right, so absolutely use it.

32:48But if not, let's try to find out what your advantage is.

32:52The one thing that you do that nobody else does.

32:56Let's go a little bit into go-to-market and growth.

33:00As I said, we do have different audiences here, different stages of entrepreneurs.

33:09Do you have any narrative strategies that work best during different stages,

33:15like early stage, series A, scale-up?

33:18Is there a difference?

33:19Yeah, absolutely there is a difference.

33:23So our name is tailoring your story because we don't have a one-size-fits-all policy.

33:30As you said, different fundraising stages demand different narratives, strategies.

33:38Because the audience mindset and what they are betting on, it evolves all the time.

33:44For example, pre-seed or seed, we usually sell the founder or the insight and the belief.

33:51Because this is the leg we can stand on.

33:55Series A shifts from belief to traction, show that the story is starting to come true.

34:02Scale-up, we will position ourselves as category leaders, owning the narrative.

34:09We approach every story according to its goal, target audience, and main message we want to convey.

34:16That makes sense.

34:21So in different growth stages, you do have different stories to tell.

34:27And how can a clear story accelerate your go-to-market strategy or product-market fit?

34:33A clear story can massively become a fundamental way to go to market and strengthen it, but not to replace it.

34:41It might help execute and support it better.

34:45Because when your story is sharp, everyone from product to sales to investors understand what you're building, who is it for, and why it matters now.

34:56It sharpens your customer lens.

34:58It arms your sales and marketing teams.

35:01It reduces friction in the funnel.

35:04People will convert faster.

35:06A clear story doesn't just tell the world what you're doing.

35:10It tells your company and employees where to aim and how to move faster and achieve your goal.

35:19We've talked about positive parts of the story, but is there a common mistake, a common storytelling mistake that kills startup momentum?

35:33Absolutely.

35:34So the first mistake would be not doing all the things we talked about so far.

35:40But a company's story is like a living creature.

35:44It needs to be updated and examined all the time.

35:49Momentum in storytelling isn't about speed.

35:52It's clarity.

35:54It's tension.

35:55And there isn't to keep going.

35:57A powerful example is the opening of the first Harry Potter book.

36:03When JK Rowley doesn't rush through action or overwhelmed with the magical details.

36:09I mean, she builds the momentum and tension.

36:12Momentum by creating clarity.

36:14A seamlessly ordinary boy living under the stairs.

36:18And then comes the tension.

36:20Strange things are happening.

36:21Letters keep arriving.

36:23And no one will explain why.

36:26And the most important thing is a reason to keep going.

36:32Who is Harry?

36:33Why is he different?

36:35Readers are pulled forward not by speed, but by emotional investment and unanswered questions.

36:44That storytelling momentum.

36:46I mean, not how fast the plot moves, but how deeply it makes you need to know what happens next.

36:52I see.

36:54I see that.

36:55That's interesting.

36:56From Harry Potter, I always have in mind, like when they go out, when they avoid all the letters,

37:01when they go out and have like all the trees, the buildings surrounding covered in owls.

37:09That's what I have in mind.

37:12Going a little bit into the last few questions, because I am bombarding you with questions for almost 40 minutes now.

37:21Talk a little bit about differentiation and competition.

37:26Sometimes it feels like you're swimming in an ocean of startups.

37:31How does a narrative help to shape your positioning?

37:37Okay.

37:38So narrative is positioning with the heartbeat.

37:43Positioning tells me where you are, but the narrative tells me why I should care.

37:47It gives investors something to bet on.

37:52It gives customers something to believe in.

37:55And it gives your team a reason to show up with fire every day.

37:59For example, you're not just a fintech tool.

38:04You're restoring financial dignity.

38:07Or you're not just a cybersecurity platform.

38:10You're defending the edge of digital trust.

38:15Or you're not just optimizing workflows.

38:19You're reclaiming hours of human focus.

38:23Once you set the narrative, it should guide you through the whole story.

38:27You're doing good.

38:29And we do have a last question ahead of us.

38:33Still differentiation and competition.

38:35How can storytelling help founders to defend either against copycats or even larger competitors?

38:43So this question reminds me of the times we're experiencing in this era of AI.

38:51The one thing AI can't replace yet is our emotions and intuition.

38:58In a world where anyone can copy your product, your story and strategy becomes your strongest defense.

39:05Because features can be cloned, but trust and emotional connection, those take time to build and are almost impossible to steal once you build them right.

39:17You can be a shoe company, but you can't just do it like Nike.

39:21Or you can manufacture computers and phones, but you can't think different like Apple.

39:28So a good story anchors your uniqueness and it shifts the conversation from features to value.

39:36For the close, I was wondering, we are just on the onset of the age of AI.

39:45What would be your boldest prediction about how storytelling will change startup fundraising by, let's say, 2030?

39:52Wow, that's, well, when it comes down to it, storytelling isn't a trend.

40:06I mean, it has been a core human communication technique since prehistoric times, if you would like.

40:12It's one of the oldest tools we have used long before written language to pass down knowledge or culture or, say, survival skills.

40:24People tend to remember stories from childhood, like Hansel and Gretel or Cinderella, for example.

40:32Today, AI can make you a good pitch deck.

40:35But good as it is, it's not good enough anymore because everyone is good and uses the same AI.

40:43Storytelling will take you from good to excellent, from 9 to 10.

40:49It will always be the difference between, actually, it will always be the difference and turning point between success and failure.

40:59In the future, I think storytelling won't just support the fundraising process.

41:04It will be the fundraising process.

41:06So, while the tools have changed from caves to slides or from firelight to spotlight, the strategy remains the same.

41:15All you have to do is choose the right storyteller to walk you through this process.

41:19So, that means if you do have a story, a story that appeals to humans, it's always possible to get an AI to help you with refining, with adapting it.

41:34But it's almost impossible for an AI right now to come up with such a story.

41:38Yeah, AI still can't put the emphasis on emotion and intuition.

41:47This is something that us humans still have in opposed to AI.

41:54So, as long as we keep that ability, we will be good.

42:01I see.

42:02Ehud, it was a pleasure having you as guest here on StartupRate.io.

42:06So, thank you very much.

42:09It was my pleasure.

42:15That's all, folks.

42:16Find more news, streams, events, and interviews at www.startuprate.io.

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42:27And we're esteem.