Lenny's Podcast · May 28The power of strategic narrative | Andy Raskin
CEO Nick Hernandez moved from the flat 'collaborative learning' label to a story of upskilling from within versus top-down training, using Google and a McDonald's France poster as winners. Prospects stopped asking how it differs from other platforms, and the story filters feature requests.
Tips
- Name the stakes by showing winners already playing the new game▶ 21:30Zuora cited Airbnb and Box as 2015 winners and showed a stat on shrinking Fortune 500 longevity. 360Learning used a McDonald's recruiting poster about learning from teammates.
- Use the story as a North Star to decide which features to build▶ 38:00360Learning asks whether a feature helps companies upskill from within. Gong's Amit Bendov said they decline requests that are about opinions, since their story is opinions to reality.
- Reposition a crowded category by pitching the movement, not the tool▶ 39:16Nick Hernandez said that since using the new story he no longer gets the 'how are you different from this other learning platform' question.
- Focus on the story behind the name, not the category label▶ 42:25Other companies already used the term revenue intelligence before Gong, yet it only became a thing with Gong's story behind it. 360Learning had the name Collaborative Learning but no story.
