Before the customers, the bitcoin billions, the fans, the investors, the rabid media, every company has its own origin story: What got you into blockchain in the first place? What were you doing before? Why are you building this product?
These questions can be for investors, your customers, or even just for your own team, but they should have the same answer. Just like any mythical hero, or billion dollar company, the best ones survive because their stories have a universal reach.
The companies that have an obscure and opaque company image are often bound to be sad places to work, offer uninspiring products. Unhappy employees lead to lethargic work and weak sales, which takes a company nowhere. Utilizing the power of an origin story should, first and foremost, help build a team that is dedicated to the mission and the vision of a company.
Therefore, your origin story can act as a moral compass for your company. When a company knows who it is, not only does it allow new teams to develop around a passionate idea, but it also translates into the customer experience.
While an energetic and robust origin story will help cultivate a healthy team that translates into the development of a successful product, it also helps in securing investors.
Investors are just like customers, but they want to see more from the company than simply launching a product and making a few sales. Having a strong origin story is just as paramount to attracting investors as it is to maintaining satisfied customers.
Investors in blockchain startups want to understand the source of the passion the founders have for their product. They want to be able to know what drives you every day, so they can feel confident in your abilities.
Investors aren’t usually investing a “quick dollar” into a blockchain company. Rather, investors come along to companies where they can trust the founder(s), who have what it takes to wake up every morning and grind, code, and build their product.
Investors know companies aren’t built overnight, and they’re looking for reasons to believe the founders are the right ones in which to invest. What better way to instill confidence than by assuredly portraying their “aha!” moment in starting the company?
This works the same way it does in your personal life. In order to gain friends, or acquire the trust of your partner’s parents, you need to explain to them who you are, where you come from, and what gets you going every day (your “why”). Think the same way for your company — the best messenger for your company is you.
Don’t let someone else tell your story. Get out in front of the papers and introduce your story. Why is your company here? What problem are you trying to solve for people on the blockchain? How is your solution different? How will your protocol or network change the world, so to speak?
Package it up into an ongoing story and, voilà, you have yourself an origin story to start telling the world.
Based in Los Angeles, Joe is the Director of PR & Marketing for BlockGroup.
