MESSAGE MACHINE: How Communications Will Make You An Unstoppable Founder
by Oliver Aust
If you put your offer on a banner online or a billboard in the street, that’s advertising. When people remember you and tell your story, that’s branding. When you talk to prospects about the advantages of working with you, that’s sales. And if you followed a plan to execute all of it, that’s marketing. Marketing gets your message out. It generates leads, and the act of closing a customer is referred to as sales. PR is not part of marketing. Rather PR creates a public record of your company, which is important for a host of reasons. Strategic communications refers to a strategic, systematic approach to communications, as opposed to focusing on tactics and channels. According to former Y Combinator president Sam Altman, a startup CEO should spend 95% of their time making sure strategy is happening: ”You just have to relentlessly say, ‘This is what we are doing, this is why, and this is how we’re going to do it.’ And that part – the communication and evangelizing of the company vision and goals – is time-wise by far the biggest part of the job.”
According to former Y Combinator president Sam Altman, a startup CEO should spend 95% of their time making sure strategy is happening: ”You just have to relentlessly say, ‘This is what we are doing, this is why, and this is how we’re going to do it.’ And that part – the communication and evangelizing of the company vision and goals – is time-wise by far the biggest part of the job.”
While there are advantages to having specialized teams, the traditional separation of marketing, PR and internal communications makes little sense today. The main reason is social media. Advertising, influencer marketing, media coverage, employer branding and your internal communications are all shared on the same platforms. Everything feeds into the reputation of the company.
If we phrase his advice in a positive way, the six secrets to a functional, cohesive leadership team are: People trust one another Team members engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas They happily commit to decisions and action plans They hold one another accountable They collectively focus on the achievement of results They openly communicate with each other – a lot!
Admittedly it can be hard to find the right words in the midst of battle. As a principle, in a crisis, “Acknowledge, Apologize, Act” (AAA); don’t “Deny, Diminish, Deflect” (DDD). In the latter case, when companies use the DDD approach, this means that they: Deny fault Diminish the crisis or their involvement in it Deflect the situation to shift the blame to someone else
Money follows attention. If you are visible as a founder, you attract more investors, customers and talent. Even your company’s valuation is likely to benefit. Studies have shown that a significant share of a company’s market value is attributable to the reputation of its leadership, in particular the CEO.
"If you put your offer on a banner online or a billboard in the street, that’s advertising. When people remember you and tell your story, that’s branding. When you talk to prospects about the advantages of working with you, that’s sales. And if you followed a plan to execute all of it, that’s marketing. Marketing gets your message out. It generates leads, and the act of closing a customer is referred to as sales. PR is not part of marketing. Rather PR creates a public record of your company, which is important for a host of reasons. Strategic communications refers to a strategic, systematic approach to communications, as opposed to focusing on tactics and channels."
"According to former Y Combinator president Sam Altman, a startup CEO should spend 95% of their time making sure strategy is happening: ”You just have to relentlessly say, ‘This is what we are doing, this is why, and this is how we’re going to do it.’ And that part – the communication and evangelizing of the company vision and goals – is time-wise by far the biggest part of the job.”"
"While there are advantages to having specialized teams, the traditional separation of marketing, PR and internal communications makes little sense today. The main reason is social media. Advertising, influencer marketing, media coverage, employer branding and your internal communications are all shared on the same platforms. Everything feeds into the reputation of the company."
"If we phrase his advice in a positive way, the six secrets to a functional, cohesive leadership team are: People trust one another Team members engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas They happily commit to decisions and action plans They hold one another accountable They collectively focus on the achievement of results They openly communicate with each other – a lot!"
"Admittedly it can be hard to find the right words in the midst of battle. As a principle, in a crisis, “Acknowledge, Apologize, Act” (AAA); don’t “Deny, Diminish, Deflect” (DDD). In the latter case, when companies use the DDD approach, this means that they: Deny fault Diminish the crisis or their involvement in it Deflect the situation to shift the blame to someone else"
"Money follows attention. If you are visible as a founder, you attract more investors, customers and talent. Even your company’s valuation is likely to benefit. Studies have shown that a significant share of a company’s market value is attributable to the reputation of its leadership, in particular the CEO."
"The five skills that we emphasize are: Communicating with clarity Listening to understand Telling engaging stories (your own and your company’s) Speaking and presenting with impact Leading difficult conversations to positive outcome.Let’s tackle each of these now."
- →In her book Different, Harvard professor Youngme Moon highlights three strategies startups can employ to differentiate their business and brand: Reversal: do the opposite of what everyone else does Breakaway: do something completely different Hostility: be a rebel
- →What is unique? What value do we unlock? Who cares most? What’s our category? Why now? Your messaging provides the right words to bring your positioning to life: Unique Value Proposition Perfect Paragraph MUST-have offer Brand story
- →his book You’re Invited, today we understand that three conditions need to be fulfilled for someone to trust you: Competence: you are good at what you do Integrity: you tell the truth Benevolence: you care about the other person
- →They may also conclude that you don’t fully understand what you are talking about, because clear thinking precedes clear communication. Investors demand clear and concise pitch decks for a reason.
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