← Startup pitch to investors: free course
The customer is the hero
Miller borrows the structure of nearly every story: a hero wants something, meets a problem, meets a guide who gives them a plan and calls them to action, and the story ends in success or failure.
The mistake most sellers make is casting themselves as the hero. The customer is the hero. You are the guide.
The framework in a pitch
- What does the customer want? Say it plainly.
- What's the problem? On three levels: external (the practical issue), internal (how it makes them feel) and philosophical (why it's just wrong that it should be this hard).
- Show you're a credible guide: empathy ("I understand") plus authority (proof you've helped others).
- Give a simple plan, ideally three steps.
- Call them to action clearly.
- Show what success looks like, and what failure costs.
Say this
- “Most owners we talk to are tired of chasing bookings by phone. Here's a three-step plan that fixes that.”
Avoid this
- “We were founded in 2015 and we're the leading provider of...”
Apply it: Startup pitch to investors
Your product: a 15% stake in your startup. Your buyer: an angel investor.
Write a StoryBrand one-liner for your product: the problem, your plan, and the success. Keep it under 40 words and say it out loud.
Study plan (40 min)
- Read: 20 min
- Written exercise: 20 min
Based on
- Building a StoryBrand (Donald Miller)
- Marketing Made Simple (Donald Miller, J.J. Peterson)
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