David Riemer - Get Your Startup Story Straight: The Definitive Storytelling Framework for Innovators and Entrepreneurs

PRAISE FOR
Get Your Startup Story Straight

I raised $4 million for my startup in July by reading this book, and you can, too. I know it was the book because I had been out fundraising for six months with little luck when David Riemer sent me Get Your Startup Story Straight. Although, I had my pitch down pat and really was kind of loving it, I opened Davids book in case there were any insights I might apply. By the time Id motored all the way to the end, I had mentally torn up my tried and true (and failing) pitch and crystallized a fresh plan of attack for my meeting the next day. I chucked the stats and graphs and marketingspeak. Instead, I followed Dr. Riemers prescription: I told a story. No one knows your startups story better than you do. And as youre about to discover, no one knows how to help you tell it better than David Riemer.

Jon Klein, former president, CNN US; cofounder, Hang Media

Entrepreneurs and innovators have big dreams of changing the world with a grand vision. But thats not enough. The key to making a big impact is to articulate the vision to be compelling and exciting, to wow a group of super talented people, partners, and investors to believe and support the cause. The best way to do so is by transforming an abstract vision into a vivid story, and this is exactly what Davids inspiring book will help you do.

Brad Bao, co-founder and chairman of Lime, named in Time Magazines 100 Most Influential Companies of 2021

Having worked with hundreds of early startup founders, they all could have benefited from reading this and using the tools and frameworks from this book. Cannot recommend this book enough.

Marvin Liao, partner at GameGroove Capital and former partner at 500 Startups

As a VC focused on investing at the inception-stage, Ive heard tens of thousands of pitches. And the most common feedback we share is to get the story straight! Davids Get Your Startup Story Straight will not only improve your chances of winning investor capital, but will also help you narrow your focus at a most critical time of company formation. For those further along in their entrepreneurial journey, Get Your Startup Story Straight is packed with easy-to-implement strategies to get you back on course. A must read for any entrepreneur!

Michael Berolzheimer, founder and managing partner, Bee Partners

I am so glad David wrote this book so I did not have to. Building successful startups is about so much more than novel technologiesit is about solving big problems for customers woven into a beautiful story. David is the master of teaching storytelling by telling stories.

Sonja Hoel Perkins, founder of The Perkins Fund, Broadway Angels, and Project Glimmer; former partner, Menlo Ventures

My advice to innovators: Tell em youre painting a picture. Then tell em the story that paints the picture. And if you want to know how to do that, you need to read this book. Its David Riemer in action.

Rich Lyons, chief innovation officer, UC Berkeley; former dean, Berkeley-Haas School of Business

Behind every company and every product there is a story. These stories are what ultimately define your company and they are the ones that connect your users with your product. David is a master of uncovering and telling these stories. I had the privilege of working with David to tell the first stories of both Databricks and Anyscale, stories which were instrumental in putting these companies on the map. If you are an entrepreneur or want to become one, this is a must-read book!

Ion Stoica, executive chairman, Databricks; executive chairman and president, Anyscale

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and author are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing herein shall constitute legal advice or a solicitation to offer legal advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Published by River Grove Books

Austin, TX

www.rivergrovebooks.com

Copyright 2022 David Riemer

All rights reserved.

Thank you for purchasing an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright law. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

Distributed by River Grove Books

Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group

Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group

For permission to reproduce copyrighted material, grateful acknowledgment is made to the following:

ALEXANDER HAMILTON (from the Broadway musical Hamilton)

Words and Music by LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA

2015 5000 BROADWAY MUSIC (ASCAP)

All Rights Administered by WC MUSIC CORP.

All Rights Reserved

Used by Permission of ALFRED MUSIC

Photo of Databricks website. Copyright 2014 by Databricks.

All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63299-469-1

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-63299-473-8

eBook ISBN: 978-1-63299-472-1

First Edition

To the idea people:

To the creative thinkers who have the big ideas.

To the visionaries who have strong enough convictions to develop them.

To the courageous ones willing to take on every obstacle to make it all happen.

Every successful
innovation has a story.

I raised $4 million for my startup in July by reading this book, and you can too. I know it was the book because I had been out fundraising for six months with little luck when David Riemer happened to send me the galleys for Get Your Startup Story Straight. He had no idea I was in the middle of raising a round; he was just seeking input from entrepreneurs. Besides being a close friend since college, David had headed up marketing at a startup Id founded twenty years ago, before leaving to do the same for Yahoo!.

The book arrived one day before my call with a Silicon Valley VCan experienced investor who had been a seed funder in unicorns like Uber and Salesforce. A major leaguer who could put my company on the map. Although I had my pitch down pat and really was kind of loving it, I opened Davids book in case there were any insights I might apply.

To be honest, I doubted there would be. I mean, Ive been launching startups for over thirty years and have raised more than $100 million from stellar VCs and acquirers, including Ron Conways Silicon Valley Angels, Warburg Pincus, Apple, Discovery, and Intel.

Whats more, Ive been a professional storyteller for five decades, as a news and documentary producer for CBS and a screenwriter for studios including Disney, Paramount, and MGM. As a startup CEO I might need advice on the intricacies of managing a customer acquisition funnel or how to code an unstructured machine-learning brain. But the one thing I sure didnt need advice about was telling the story of my startup.

Boy was I wrong. That was clear before Id even gotten through chapter one. And by the time Id motored all the way to the end, I had mentally torn up my tried-and-true (and failing) pitch and crystallized a fresh plan of attack for my meeting the next day. I chucked the stats and graphs and marketingspeak. Instead, I followed Dr. Riemers prescription: I told a story.