Videos
Founder Storytelling Videos
Short videos from Lyn Graft on creating and telling your founder story: getting attention, the rule of three, visuals and props, credibility, your "why", and testing your story with real audiences. Each video links to a written post.
19 videos in 4 sections. Each one links to a written post.
Start with this one. Three reasons the rule of three works for founders creating and telling their origin story.
Read the postCreating your story
5 videos
Always Keep Your Founder Story Goal Separate From Your Business Need
Why the ask (funding, a sale, coverage) shouldn't be part of your story, and what your story's goal actually is. Yes, there are mousetraps.
Read the postForget the Hero. Tell the Story You Want to Tell
Why Lyn recommends skipping the Hero's Journey for a startup story, and choosing a simpler structure instead.
Read the postWhy Your Why Matters When Telling Your Startup Story
Why knowing your "why" is central to telling your startup story, and why it goes deeper for founders than "people buy why you do it".
Read the postImagination: One of the Most Powerful Forces in Storytelling
Why imagination, "the seed of all great accomplishments", matters when you tell your story as an entrepreneur.
Read the postThe Benefits of Starting Your Story and Startup From Scratch
What starting from nothing gives you, and how to turn it into the opening of your founder story.
Read the post
Telling your story
10 videos
The Rule of 3 in Business Storytelling
Three reasons the rule of three works for founders creating and telling their origin story.
Read the postAttention: The First Thing Your Story Needs to Get
Why attention comes before everything else when you share your story, and how to earn it in the first seconds.
Read the postCredibility and Storytelling: Why It Makes Your Stories More Effective
How credibility makes your story more effective, and the simple ways founders can build it into what they say.
Read the postThe Importance of Using Visuals in Your Founder's Story
Why visuals work so well, given how the brain takes in the world, illustrated with one founder's product.
Read the postWhy Founders Should Use Props in Your Startup Story
How a physical object makes your story easier to picture, remember and repeat.
Read the postThe Number 1 Audience You Need to Practice Your Story With
The difference between practicing and testing your story, and the one audience you can practice with any time, anywhere.
Read the postHow to Sharpen Your Founder Storytelling Skills During the Holidays
Holiday gatherings are full of low-stakes audiences. How to use them to practice your story.
Read the postWhy You Need to Test Telling Your Entrepreneur's Story
Why a story only becomes yours once real audiences have heard it, and how to run those tests.
Read the postThe "So What" Factor: What It Is and Why You Need to Get Over It
The question every audience silently asks, and how to answer it before they do.
Read the postHow to Connect Your Story to Audiences: Make It Relevant
Making your story relevant to the person in front of you, so it connects instead of just informs.
Read the post
Telling your story when times are hard
3 videos
Turning Disadvantage Into Advantage in Founder Storytelling
A process for facing a difficult situation head-on, reading the room, and keeping a bias for action, so the experience becomes part of your story.
Read the postControlling the Narrative as a Startup Founder During Crisis
Why you should define your own narrative with conviction when you face an investor, a customer or a reporter.
Read the postDavid vs Goliath: Why Underdog Founders Need to Change the Rules
The unconventional strategy David used against Goliath, from Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath, and the shift it suggests for underdog founders.
Read the post
About the book
1 video
Start with Story, One Year Later
Lyn looks back on the first year of Start with Story and what the book changed, personally and professionally.
Read the post
FAQ
Questions founders ask
01What are the S4E videos about?
They are short lessons from Lyn Graft on creating, telling and sharing a founder story: getting attention, the rule of three, visuals and props, credibility, your "why", and practicing and testing your story.
02Is there a written version of each video?
Each video has a blog post with the key points in text.
03Where can I watch more?
On the Storytelling for Entrepreneurs YouTube channel, youtube.com/@storytellingforentrepreneurs.
Watch more on YouTube
New videos land on the Storytelling for Entrepreneurs channel first, and in the newsletter.