“Humans are story-consuming machines. So it only stands to reason that storytelling is a good way to engage with us. Stories provide us with a format for explaining the world around us, understanding that other humans have similar thoughts, and making sense of the world. Storytelling brings something that is perceived on an individual basis into a context that makes it tangible to an entire community.” - Rick Turoczy
When we think about ecosystem builders, we often identify connectors, programs, funders, and ESOs. But what about the storytellers?
Storytelling is a critical element in the growth of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. It helps startups and local businesses get the attention they need while bringing the community together through stories. Startup Champions Network is full of knowledgeable and talented ecosystem builders who have used their love for storytelling to rally support around entrepreneurship and ecosystem building. We interviewed a few of them to share their advice.
Why it’s important
Rick Turoczy, Cofounder and General Manager at PIE (Portland Incubator Experiment) / SCN Board Member, has been running the blog Silicon Florist for 15 years. His blog has been invaluable to the Portland community. He also recently started and podcast and YouTube channel called, Mildly Interesting People.
“The most important aspect of storytelling is that it gives something nebulous form. For startup ecosystems that have a tendency to bandy about generic anecdotes and metrics about their community — “This is a great place to start a company!” — specific stories about the people, founders, and companies give people something intelligible to consume and internalize.
But perhaps more importantly — especially for early-stage startup founders — a story about what they’re doing validates their existence. It’s at least one more person championing what they’re doing. And it can be that little burst of support that keeps them doing what they’re doing.”
How to get started
It can be daunting to take on the role of storyteller, especially if you’re not sure about your skills. Charlton Cunningham, storyteller, podcaster, and Program Manager at Lightship Foundation shares this advice:
“One of the ways I would encourage ecosystem builders to approach storytelling is by identifying the main outcomes they would like to achieve. Three common ways I have seen great storytelling done is through these three lenses: informing, celebrating, and cataloging. If there is a lack of knowledge around what events, initiatives, or funding opportunities there are, one might focus on informing their ecosystem about these opportunities. If there are unsung entrepreneurs doing great work in the ecosystem, one might focus on individual stories to celebrate and highlight their work. Or if the ecosystem is siloed or scattered, simply cataloging the players, resources, and history of the ecosystem could offer a great foundation and a tangible asset for entrepreneurs in their communities.”
Anika Horn, who you may know from the podcast Ecosystems for Change or her storytelling on Ecosystem Builder Hub, advises starting with what you know.
“Start with what you have and what you enjoy. You don’t have to have a degree in journalism or writing or media production. Think about the entrepreneurs you personally admire, have conversations with them, and feature them. There are so many tools out there that provide you with a platform to jump in at very low cost as long as you bring the passion. For example social media makes it very accessible, platforms like Medium are a great platform to just share what you’re seeing and thinking. You can use your cellphone to record videos and create some really awesome content. Let your personal preference guide you in the way you do storytelling.”
For the bloggers out there
SCN has MANY longtime bloggers amongst us who have been bolstering their ecosystem through blogging for years. Geoff Wood has been doing it for over a decade on multiple platforms, but most recently, Clay & Milk, Tom Chapman has been running Mug News in Omaha while Jeff Bennett started blogging about the Sacramento Startup Scene and then starting sharing stories about ecosystem builders across the country on Ecosystem Builder Hub.
“For Portland, Oregon, I published stories on Silicon Florist for 15 years about early-stage tech startups in the region. But it was starting that blog that made all of the difference for me. And that helped elevate what was happening here in our community. Well, starting it and then consistently publishing stories on it. But it wasn’t a business. It wasn’t for my gain. It was to tell the story of what I saw happening here,” says Rick.
Geoff Wood uses blogging to help add credibility to startups and the ecosystem and also as a record of the ecosystem’s growth. Some startups he’s written about used his early articles to gain media exposure in the local and national news media.
“The lesson that I’ve learned is that our niche isn’t quite big enough to count on traditional media to value this thing that we care about so much. If we want to make sure the story of our community is told, someone within our community has to own up and tell it. That has been Clay & Milk for us and why we do it,” says Geoff.
Jeff Bennett has seen lots of impact from his local and national storytelling efforts.
“Since launching the StartupSac.com website and blog about our startup ecosystem in Sacramento, I’ve become convinced that storytelling is one of the most impactful things we can do as ecosystem builders. Through interviews with startup founders and other ecosystem builders in our community, I’ve seen the positive impact firsthand, not only on the companies we spotlight, but also us as an organization, and our city as a whole. When I started publishing interviews and stories of our community’s founders and innovators, website traffic increased, raising awareness of the entrepreneurs and ourselves.” - Jeff Bennett
If you want to start a blog, check out these successful blogs first. You can also check out these two articles written by Jeff Bennett:
For the curators
If storytelling and interviewing aren’t for you, a newsletter might be the way to go! Diana Wright, Startup Community Builder at Greater Des Moines Partnership, started a newsletter on Substack for the Iowa Startup Community that curates news from across the state.
“I started the Substack newsletter to be bi-monthly, but quickly found that it needed to be moved to a monthly frequency! Each newsletter takes around 5-7 hours for me to find and tell from the point of view of startup news, those actively raising (yes, I ask for permission and work with the entrepreneurs), and show what's happening across the state.
I've learned there is nothing wrong with a 'swipe file' as you find ideas worth implementing for your newsletters or blogs. As I'm working on building the list of subscribers, I found how it's important to be transparent. One of the Substack accounts I follow (PerfectPutt) always welcomes and shows how many new subscribers joined from the last edition. This is so, so good. It encourages those reading to share naturally, and it grows trust in the community.”
For visual creators
Social media is storytelling. A social media account sharing other stories and creating short-form content around startups can be as powerful as a blog or a newsletter. Canva is an excellent tool for graphic design and simple videos. You can use tools like Hootsuite to plan and schedule content weeks at a time.
“I hear the TikToks are pretty big with the kids, these days. But seriously, a social media account that amplifies other businesses, a newsletter that shares interesting stories from around the region, a Twitter Space that brings the community together, or an event that gives interesting people a platform to share… basically anything that creates content can be your platform for storytelling.” - Rick
For folks who love to talk
Cameron Cushman and Kendel Rogers interviewing an entrepreneur for the Innovate Fort Worth podcast.
We’ve got a few of those types of storytellers in our midst. If you were at the Fort Worth Summit, you may have heard from Cameron Cushman and Kendel Rogers on their podcast, Innovate Fort Worth. The podcast has become a powerful tool for their ecosystem as a growing database and resource.
“There are so many cool stories that never end up in the newspaper. The podcast is a great way to shine a light on the cool stuff that is happening in Fort Worth. It has also created a database for us of really cool entrepreneurs. When the media calls or an investor is looking for a deal in a specific industry, we say, oh yeah, here are three people who are working on this. Listen to episodes 15, 27 and 34 and let me know if you want a connection,” explains Cameron.
Kendel helps wrangle guests and produce the podcast and has been happy with its success.
“We initially started with just wanting to share the stories of our innovative researchers on campus to gain more public awareness. Cameron would ask every guest at the end of the podcast ‘Who is your favorite innovator in Fort Worth?’ That became our funnel for finding new entrepreneurs and innovators. We see the media picking up our stories and the community is starting to have an invested interest in what these entrepreneurs are doing because they're representing our ecosystem. The magic sauce to the podcast was really making it easy on the entrepreneur AND easy for the media to pick up,” says Kendel.
But podcasting isn’t the only medium for interviews. You can also host a YouTube channel where you interview startups or even do shorter videos using Instagram Live, Instagram Reels, or even TikTok.
For the big picture data lovers and strategic planners
Storytelling can help you change hearts and minds and even win grants.
“Powerful storytelling can help drive change and dollars to support the work of ecosystem builders and entrepreneurs. Recently, I’ve been inspired by Indiana Economic Development Corporation’s recent launch of Entrepreneurship Indiana, a publication that highlights stories of 100 local entrepreneurs at different stages of their journey. The publication not only celebrates these founders, but also highlights the important role entrepreneurship plays in their overall economy, even outlining how much they contribute to the state’s GDP. Another great example of how storytelling can drive change is Right to Start’s video series, ‘The Start Show’. This “virtual road trip” highlighted communities across the country and engaged their ecosystem in conversations around how to better support entrepreneurs to inform policy recommendations at the local, state, and federal Level,” says Charleton
For Debbie Irwin in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, storytelling helped her win grants she needed to continue to support entrepreneurs.
“Understanding the need for storytelling has led to a $1.2 Million dollar grant for our region from the state through Go Virginia. That is a collaboration between 17 organizations and took us 18 months to pull together. While storytelling wasn’t always external facing, oftentimes it was to build collaboration,” says Debbie.
Storytelling comes in many forms, but there’s no denying its power. Whatever medium you choose, be consistent. It takes time for things to gain traction. If you’re a storyteller in your ecosystem, we’d love to hear about it! Shoot us and email to hello@startupchampions.co or message us on social media.