{"id":9902,"date":"2014-11-12T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=9902"},"modified":"2020-03-30T18:59:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T22:59:27","slug":"startup-used-power-storytelling-raise-million-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/startup-used-power-storytelling-raise-million-funding","title":{"rendered":"This startup used the power of storytelling to raise over a million in funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storytelling is as old as time. And in business, a good story can give you a great advantage.<\/p>\n

Next to the fireplace at my mother\u2019s house, there are seven photo albums neatly arranged in chronological order. If I want any photo from\u00a0my childhood, I know exactly where to find it.<\/p>\n

Personally, I have taken more than 15,000 photos of my own\u00a0young children. These precious photos are stored on my computer, external drive and social media accounts. But unfortunately, I have a very hard time accessing them. My mother\u2019s system worked well in the print era; today, my company, Mosaic, aims to solve this \u2018photo mess\u2019 problem for serious photographers today in the digital age.<\/p>\n

Telling this very specific story helped Mosaic raise over a million dollars in seed funding. Sure, investors liked our team, technology, traction and financial model. But in the end, they could relate to the story we told and believed that we were the team to solve it.<\/p>\n

Storytelling is a powerful tool\u00a0for entrepreneurs looking to raise a seed or venture round.<\/h2>\n

Humans are hardwired to love a great story. Stories inspire us. We retell stories. We remember stories. As the late Maya Angelou said: \u201cPeople will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.\u201d The same is true with potential investors. They may forget what your company does or the specifics of your business model, but they will remember how they felt when they heard your company\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t start off telling a great story to investors. We started like most first-time entrepreneurs, jumping right into what we were going to build, how much it was going to cost, how we were going to sell it and the business terms of our round of funding. All of these things are important, but if you haven\u2019t made the investor care, then everything else is moot.<\/p>\n

A good story needs to inform, inspire and involve.<\/h2>\n