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{ "episode": { "guest": "Andy Raskin", "expertise_tags": [ "Strategic Narrative", "Pitch Framework", "Business Storytelling", "Sales Strategy", "CEO Advisory", "Screenwriting Structure", "Movement Creation" ], "summary": "Andy Raskin, a narrative strategy consultant, explains how to pitch products and companies using a framework based on screenwriting structure rather than traditional problem-solution pitching. Instead of focusing on features and comparisons, he teaches leaders to define a fundamental shift in the world (old game to new game), establish stakes by showing winners already adopting this shift, articulate the object of the new game as a rallying cry, identify obstacles to achieving that goal, and then present solutions as magic gifts that overcome those obstacles. This approach has proven transformative for companies like Salesforce, Gong, Zuora, and 360Learning, helping them scale revenue and align entire organizations around a unified narrative.", "key_frameworks": [ "Strategic Narrative Framework", "Old Game to New Game Shift", "Naming the Stakes", "Object of the New Game", "Obstacles and Magic Gifts", "Hero's Journey Application to Business", "Movement Creation vs Category Creation" ] }, "topics": [ { "id": "topic_1", "title": "Andy's Journey from Coder to Narrative Strategist", "summary": "Andy shares his origin story starting as a computer science major during the dot-com era. After receiving brutal feedback on an investor pitch (rated 1/10 with 'Worst' written next to it), he discovered screenwriting books that taught him how movies structure compelling stories. By restructuring his business pitch using screenwriting principles, he began getting investor interest. This insight led him to eventually build a consulting practice helping CEOs craft strategic narratives.", "timestamp_start": "00:00:00", "timestamp_end": "00:08:03", "line_start": 1, "line_end": 77 }, { "id": "topic_2", "title": "What is a Strategic Narrative", "summary": "Andy defines strategic narrative as a single unifying story that a CEO uses to drive success across marketing, sales, product, fundraising, and recruiting. Unlike traditional problem-solution pitching (the 'arrogant doctor' approach), strategic narrative focuses on a fundamental shift in the world—from an old game to a new game. The Salesforce example exemplifies this: rather than claiming superiority over Siebel, Benioff positioned the shift from on-premise software to cloud computing, making Siebel part of an obsolete past.", "timestamp_start": "00:08:19", "timestamp_end": "00:12:02", "line_start": 79, "line_end": 97 }, { "id": "topic_3", "title": "Real-World Examples of Strategic Narrative in Action", "summary": "Andy walks through multiple examples of companies successfully using strategic narrative frameworks. Zuora pivoted from transaction-based to subscription economy messaging. Gong shifted from 'opinions' to 'reality' using AI-powered call recordings. Each example demonstrates how reframing the narrative helped companies become market leaders and scale faster than competitors, even when they weren't first to market.", "timestamp_start": "00:12:19", "timestamp_end": "00:16:40", "line_start": 100, "line_end": 124 }, { "id": "topic_4", "title": "The Power of Writing and Content Distribution", "summary": "Andy discusses how his viral Medium post 'The Greatest Sales Deck I've Ever Seen' about the Zuora pitch got 2 million views and transformed his career. He reflects on the power of platforms like Medium and LinkedIn that removed editorial gatekeepers, allowing him to build an audience directly. He also emphasizes that viral success rarely comes from one post—it typically comes after 30-40 pieces that gradually build traction.", "timestamp_start": "00:15:23", "timestamp_end": "00:19:27", "line_start": 115, "line_end": 145 }, { "id": "topic_5", "title": "The Five-Step Strategic Narrative Framework Deep Dive", "summary": "Andy breaks down the core framework: (1) Name the old game to new game shift concisely (e.g., 'software' to 'cloud'), (2) Name the stakes by showing winners already adopting this shift and highlighting consequences of inaction, (3) Name the object of the new game as a rallying cry (e.g., 'belong anywhere'), (4) Identify obstacles preventing achievement of that goal, and (5) Present solutions as 'magic gifts' that overcome obstacles. This structure emotionally engages prospects by making the future either catastrophic or transformative.", "timestamp_start": "00:19:42", "timestamp_end": "00:30:17", "line_start": 148, "line_end": 214 }, { "id": "topic_6", "title": "360Learning Case Study: From Collaborative Learning to Upskill from Within", "summary": "Andy details how 360Learning's CEO Nick Hernandez reframed corporate training from a 'collaborative learning' descriptor into a movement narrative. The shift: from top-down learning where experts centralize training, to 'upskill from within' where companies turn their own people into educators (citing Google and McDonald's as examples). This narrative became the product roadmap filter and eliminated the competitive comparison problem ('how are you different from other learning platforms?').", "timestamp_start": "00:31:41", "timestamp_end": "00:36:13", "line_start": 223, "line_end": 249 }, { "id": "topic_7", "title": "Impact and Business Outcomes of Strategic Narrative", "summary": "Andy shares measurable impacts: teams stop pitching features in isolation and instead pitch movements; marketing content shifts from product promotion to trend pieces (Zuora's approach); the narrative becomes a product roadmap filter eliminating feature request ambiguity; sales teams stop getting the 'how are you different?' question; and feature requests become easier to prioritize. These outcomes compound competitive advantages, though absolute attribution is difficult.", "timestamp_start": "00:36:23", "timestamp_end": "00:39:15", "line_start": 251, "line_end": 273 }, { "id": "topic_8", "title": "Non-Client Examples: Drift and Conversational Marketing", "summary": "Andy identifies Drift as an exemplar of strategic narrative despite not being his client. Drift reframed from being 'another chatbot' to creating a movement from the 'world of later' (forms, waiting) to the 'world of now' (conversational marketing, immediate buyer engagement). This narrative broke Drift away from direct chatbot competition and established it as defining a new category, demonstrating the framework's universal power.", "timestamp_start": "00:39:15", "timestamp_end": "00:40:35", "line_start": 272, "line_end": 281 }, { "id": "topic_9", "title": "Strategic Narrative vs Category Creation", "summary": "Andy softens criticism of category design by noting that Play Bigger acknowledges narrative as the foundation of category creation. However, he argues many companies focus only on the three-word category name without the story, missing the power. Amit Bendov (Gong) told him the specific name 'revenue intelligence' mattered less than the underlying opinions-to-reality narrative. Andy advocates focusing on movement and narrative first; if a category emerges, it's a bonus rather than the goal.", "timestamp_start": "00:40:55", "timestamp_end": "00:44:16", "line_start": 283, "line_end": 307 }, { "id": "topic_10", "title": "Ideal Customer Profile for Strategic Narrative Work", "summary": "Andy identifies the sweet spot: B2B enterprise software companies with complex products, group buying decisions, and features changing constantly. The arrogant doctor approach (feature comparison) works for static consumer products like cans of soup or cars, but breaks for software. While consumer companies occasionally work with him, the framework provides most value for technology companies at Series B growth stage seeking to scale beyond founder-driven growth.", "timestamp_start": "00:44:33", "timestamp_end": "00:46:33", "line_start": 308, "line_end": 316 }, { "id": "topic_11", "title": "Signs Your Strategic Narrative Needs Work", "summary": "Andy identifies three key moments when CEOs contact him: (1) Series B maturation where founder-driven sales can't scale and the company needs a unifying story for distributed teams, (2) Post-scale acquisition or new product unit launches where the old narrative isn't big enough (OneTrust example), and (3) Market pivots where the original story no longer applies. These signals indicate narrative work would unlock the next growth phase.", "timestamp_start": "00:46:42", "timestamp_end": "00:48:53", "line_start": 318, "line_end": 327 }, { "id": "topic_12", "title": "First Steps for Founders to Develop Strategic Narrative", "summary": "Andy recommends starting with the framework structure: define the shift, stakes, object, obstacles, and solutions. Test it in real sales calls with a small group before rolling out organization-wide. Ask salespeople to introduce the narrative and observe if prospects nod, validate they're seeing the shift, and respond authentically. This qualitative testing determines resonance without requiring perfect polish. Many founders have successfully applied this independently after reading his Medium post.", "timestamp_start": "00:49:11", "timestamp_end": "00:50:32", "line_start": 331, "line_end": 337 }, { "id": "topic_13", "title": "Why Templates Don't Work and Principles Matter", "summary": "Andy refuses to create or endorse narrative templates because every team needs a different structure. Some slides compress the shift into one slide, others use many. Sometimes presentations work without slides. Instead of a formula, Andy emphasizes principles: the story must have the right structure, but the execution varies. This principle-based approach forces teams to think deeply rather than fill in blanks, creating stronger narratives.", "timestamp_start": "00:50:41", "timestamp_end": "00:51:37", "line_start": 340, "line_end": 343 }, { "id": "topic_14", "title": "The Second Session Low Point in Narrative Development", "summary": "Andy reveals that the second working session with narrative teams is deliberately painful. In the first session, teams generate mountains of ideas. Andy then works with the CEO one-on-one to craft a first draft that discards most ideas to achieve clarity and power. When presented in session two, the team feels loss and sees areas needing improvement. This pain is essential—a rough draft creates the friction needed to iterate and improve, whereas starting with 'great ideas' prevents breakthrough.", "timestamp_start": "00:52:17", "timestamp_end": "00:55:20", "line_start": 352, "line_end": 367 }, { "id": "topic_15", "title": "Strategic Narrative for Product Leaders and Organizational Alignment", "summary": "While Andy works primarily with CEOs, product leaders and CPOs frequently participate as team members. However, narrative work is most effective when the CEO actively leads and owns it, not just in title but in execution and drafting. CEO-led narratives provide 'air cover' across marketing, sales, recruiting, and product, amplifying their impact. Product leaders benefit from CEO-driven narratives that give them top-down alignment for product roadmap decisions.", "timestamp_start": "00:55:45", "timestamp_end": "00:57:01", "line_start": 376, "line_end": 382 }, { "id": "topic_16", "title": "Books, Movies, and Favorite Products Lightning Round", "summary": "Andy recommends 'Story' by Robert McKee as the foundational book on screenwriting structure. He also loves 'Out of Sheer Rage' by Geoff Dyer for its honest exploration of procrastination and creative process. His favorite recent show is 'Station 11' for its narrative beauty. He recently purchased a Fitbit after comparing it to a Polar, selecting it for comfort. For presentations, his key tip: make slide titles into takeaways, not labels, so viewers understand the point without effort.", "timestamp_start": "00:57:46", "timestamp_end": "01:01:17", "line_start": 402, "line_end": 448 }, { "id": "topic_17", "title": "Andy's Podcast and How to Stay Connected", "summary": "Andy hosts a podcast called 'The Bigger Narrative' where he interviews CEOs implementing strategic narrative. His mother introduces each episode after reviewing the interview and discussing what listeners will gain. He's available on LinkedIn and his website AndyRaskin.com. He invites listeners to share experiences—what worked, what didn't, and questions—as feedback that helps him refine and improve the work.", "timestamp_start": "01:01:35", "timestamp_end": "01:02:22", "line_start": 451, "line_end": 467 } ], "insights": [ { "id": "insight_1", "text": "The traditional 'arrogant doctor' pitch structure (problem, pain, solution, treatment) sets you up for bragging about features. This approach fails for complex B2B software because it ignores fundamental market shifts and invites direct feature comparisons.", "context": "Andy contrasts traditional business school pitching with screenwriting structure, explaining why feature-based pitching became obsolete for software companies.", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 82, "line_end": 87 }, { "id": "insight_2", "text": "Every movie starts with a shift in the world—a movement from an old game to a new game. This structure is far more powerful than solving a problem because it defines a movement rather than offering a treatment.", "context": "Andy explains the core principle that separates his framework from traditional pitching, using Star Wars and Salesforce as examples.", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 85, "line_end": 87 }, { "id": "insight_3", "text": "The difference between leading with a shift versus leading with features: Salesforce could have said 'we're easier to install than Siebel' but instead positioned on-premise software as an old game and the cloud as inevitable. This made competitors irrelevant rather than comparable.", "context": "Andy demonstrates how Salesforce used narrative advantage to transcend category comparison, even though CRM was already established and other web-based CRM solutions existed.", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 91, "line_end": 96 }, { "id": "insight_4", "text": "The stakes in a narrative must be emotional and existential, not just transactional. The prospect must see the future as binary: a catastrophic outcome without change, or a transformative one with it. This is the 'killing the aunt and uncle' moment from Star Wars.", "context": "Andy explains why emotional resonance matters: it's the difference between 'I should evaluate this' and 'I must act or my company dies.'", "topic_id": "topic_5", "line_start": 158, "line_end": 165 }, { "id": "insight_5", "text": "The naming of the old game and new game must be extremely concise and evocative. Examples like 'software to cloud,' 'transactions to subscriptions,' 'opinions to reality' work because they're memorable and imply complete paradigm shifts, even if they're slightly overstated.", "context": "Andy explains why precision in naming matters: the words become a shorthand for the entire movement and must be simple enough to survive casual conversation.", "topic_id": "topic_5", "line_start": 148, "line_end": 153 }, { "id": "insight_6", "text": "The 'object of the new game' functions as the company's true mission statement and rallying cry. It should be almost asymptotically unachievable (like 'belong anywhere' for Airbnb) so that the company always has something to aim toward without ever truly finishing.", "context": "Andy distinguishes between marketing messaging and deeper purpose, showing how the object of the game serves as a perpetual north star.", "topic_id": "topic_5", "line_start": 167, "line_end": 180 }, { "id": "insight_7", "text": "By framing obstacles as monsters blocking a new goal (rather than 'problems we solve'), they take on emotional weight. Prospects understand why they matter because they prevent entry into a life-or-death future scenario.", "context": "Andy explains how narrative context amplifies the perceived importance of product features and capabilities.", "topic_id": "topic_5", "line_start": 181, "line_end": 186 }, { "id": "insight_8", "text": "Strategic narrative is not about storytelling skill or entertainment—it's about one specific story with a specific structure that positions the buyer as the main character of a movement, not the audience of a pitch.", "context": "Andy clarifies a common misconception: this isn't general narrative ability, but a precise framework that transforms the relationship between seller and buyer.", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 199, "line_end": 206 }, { "id": "insight_9", "text": "Your messaging shifts from 'we solve X problem' to 'you need to join this movement or you're in the losing game.' This reposition eliminates direct feature comparison and instead forces competitors into obsolescence.", "context": "Andy explains the psychological shift that happens when a buyer accepts the narrative frame versus evaluating options.", "topic_id": "topic_1", "line_start": 36, "line_end": 42 }, { "id": "insight_10", "text": "Marketing content for narrative-driven companies becomes trend pieces about the shift itself ('how music companies embrace subscriptions') rather than product announcements. This creates unlimited content, looks less salesy, and educates the market.", "context": "Andy contrasts Zuora's 80% non-promotional content strategy with traditional 'look how great we are' messaging.", "topic_id": "topic_7", "line_start": 254, "line_end": 258 }, { "id": "insight_11", "text": "Strategic narrative becomes a product roadmap filter: every feature request can be evaluated against 'does this help us achieve the object of the new game?' This eliminates endless debate and provides a clear bar for prioritization.", "context": "Andy explains how narrative provides operational clarity beyond just sales and marketing.", "topic_id": "topic_7", "line_start": 260, "line_end": 270 }, { "id": "insight_12", "text": "Category names only gain power when they're backed by a compelling narrative of change. Without the story, a three-word category is just a label. Gong's 'revenue intelligence' could have been 'strawberry intelligence' if the underlying opinions-to-reality narrative hadn't been so strong.", "context": "Andy responds to category design criticism by emphasizing that narrative, not naming, drives market dominance.", "topic_id": "topic_9", "line_start": 290, "line_end": 300 }, { "id": "insight_13", "text": "The second session with a narrative team is intentionally painful because clarity requires cutting the majority of good ideas. This friction is essential—a rough draft generates the insights needed to improve, whereas avoiding criticism prevents breakthrough.", "context": "Andy reveals the psychological and creative necessity of discomfort in the iterative process.", "topic_id": "topic_14", "line_start": 362, "line_end": 367 }, { "id": "insight_14", "text": "The timing to invest in strategic narrative work is Series B, when founder-driven sales stops scaling and the company needs a distributed story that doesn't depend on the CEO being in every room.", "context": "Andy identifies a clear inflection point where narrative ROI becomes obvious and budget-justifiable to leadership.", "topic_id": "topic_11", "line_start": 320, "line_end": 324 }, { "id": "insight_15", "text": "Testing a narrative in the real world is qualitative, not quantitative. Watch if prospects nod when you describe the shift, if they validate they're experiencing it, if they stop asking 'how are you different?' These signals show the narrative is working.", "context": "Andy provides practical, observable metrics for narrative efficacy that founders can implement independently.", "topic_id": "topic_12", "line_start": 331, "line_end": 336 }, { "id": "insight_16", "text": "CEO-led narrative work creates 'air cover'—when the CEO visibly owns and drives the narrative, it cascades through marketing, sales, recruiting, and product with exponentially greater impact than when a functional leader owns it alone.", "context": "Andy explains why organizational alignment requires CEO sponsorship and active participation, not just endorsement.", "topic_id": "topic_15", "line_start": 376, "line_end": 381 }, { "id": "insight_17", "text": "Writing consistently over time compounds more powerfully than hoping for one viral hit. The post that got 2 million views was probably the 30th or 40th piece written, with gradual traction building through peaks and valleys.", "context": "Andy corrects the misconception that success comes from a single breakthrough piece, revealing the actual compound effect of consistent output.", "topic_id": "topic_4", "line_start": 137, "line_end": 138 }, { "id": "insight_18", "text": "Every slide title should be a takeaway, not a label. Instead of 'The Team,' write 'Our team is comprised of 20-year software veterans.' This forces the audience to do zero work to understand the point and improves comprehension.", "context": "Andy provides a practical presentation principle that applies beyond strategic narrative work.", "topic_id": "topic_16", "line_start": 446, "line_end": 447 }, { "id": "insight_19", "text": "Screenwriting principles apply to business pitching because both are trying to make someone see a world differently and understand their role in it. The difference is scope—you have limited time, so the narrative structure must be even more disciplined.", "context": "Andy explains why he turned to screenwriting books as a foundational reference for business narrative.", "topic_id": "topic_1", "line_start": 38, "line_end": 42 }, { "id": "insight_20", "text": "The strategic narrative framework is most valuable for B2B enterprise technology companies with complex products, group buying, and rapidly changing features. Consumer products and products with static features benefit less because feature comparison still works.", "context": "Andy clarifies the ICP for his approach, explaining why the framework doesn't universally apply.", "topic_id": "topic_10", "line_start": 308, "line_end": 316 } ], "examples": [ { "id": "example_1", "explicit_text": "At Salesforce, Benioff comes in and says, 'Hey, software is over and there's this new world called the cloud, a new game, new rules. That's the new way to win.'", "inferred_identity": "Marc Benioff, Salesforce CEO", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Salesforce", "cloud computing", "software as a service", "paradigm shift", "enterprise software", "CRM", "market positioning", "founder strategy", "pitch framework" ], "lesson": "Demonstrates how repositioning from feature comparison (easier than Siebel) to paradigm shift (cloud is inevitable) transcends competitive category and makes incumbents irrelevant.", "topic_id": "topic_2", "line_start": 85, "line_end": 96 }, { "id": "example_2", "explicit_text": "Zuora, the CEO Tien Tzuo, was employee number 11 at Salesforce. So he learns this from Benioff. And he's pitching, 'Hey, in the old world, businesses operated on transactions... In this new world the subscription economy'", "inferred_identity": "Tien Tzuo, Zuora CEO", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Zuora", "subscription economy", "business model transformation", "SaaS", "recurring revenue", "Ford example", "music companies", "luxury goods", "narrative replication", "employee number 11 at Salesforce" ], "lesson": "Shows how the strategic narrative framework was successfully transferred from Salesforce to a new domain (subscription business models), and how it enabled Zuora to position itself as defining an entirely new economy rather than just offering billing software.", "topic_id": "topic_3", "line_start": 100, "line_end": 105 }, { "id": "example_3", "explicit_text": "They were around series B, I think this is around 2018. Amit Bendov said to me, 'Listen, Andy, We're going to be a huge company. The question is how huge. And I think that this narrative along the lines of Zuora or Salesforce, if we get this right, this is going to be a multiplier on our growth.'", "inferred_identity": "Amit Bendov, Gong CEO", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Gong", "revenue intelligence", "sales enablement", "call recording", "AI analytics", "Series B growth", "narrative impact", "sales operations", "opinions to reality", "scaling strategy" ], "lesson": "Demonstrates that even successful companies (already gaining adoption) recognize that strategic narrative is a multiplier on growth, and that reframing from a tool (call recording) to a movement (opinions vs reality) shifts perception from operations to strategy.", "topic_id": "topic_3", "line_start": 109, "line_end": 114 }, { "id": "example_4", "explicit_text": "Gong everyone probably knows by now, they take the video recordings of all your sales calls and they stick AI onto it and come out with all these insights. And that story is, hey, goodbye opinions. Used to be a world where sales is run on opinions. Hello reality, that now all the winners are adopting this new mindset where we really have to see what's really going on.", "inferred_identity": "Gong (inferred from context, Amit Bendov CEO)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Gong", "sales analytics", "call recording", "AI-powered insights", "sales leadership", "opinions vs reality", "revenue intelligence", "sales intelligence", "call transcription", "behavior change" ], "lesson": "Illustrates how repositioning a technical capability (AI-powered call analysis) as a fundamental shift in how sales leaders approach their role (from gut to data) creates both market positioning and product strategy clarity.", "topic_id": "topic_3", "line_start": 104, "line_end": 114 }, { "id": "example_5", "explicit_text": "I remember Bendov said to me, they were initially seen as a tool for sales operations, for someone who's going to record the calls and what this narrative did for them... what it really coalesced was this is a tool for sales leadership.", "inferred_identity": "Amit Bendov, Gong CEO (via Andy)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Gong", "sales operations vs sales leadership", "positioning shift", "organizational hierarchy", "tool perception", "narrative impact on buyers", "buying committee", "decision maker", "stakeholder mapping" ], "lesson": "Shows how the same product viewed through a narrative lens can attract a completely different buyer and decision-maker (operations manager vs VP of Sales), amplifying market reach and deal size.", "topic_id": "topic_7", "line_start": 112, "line_end": 114 }, { "id": "example_6", "explicit_text": "Airbnb for a while had this one, live anywhere... 'Belong anywhere,' and then it switched to, 'Live there.' You know better than I do. But either one, I mean think they're saying very similar things.", "inferred_identity": "Airbnb (inferred from conversation context)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Airbnb", "accommodation sharing", "travel narrative", "belonging vs experience", "mission statement", "rally cry", "asymptotic goal", "brand evolution", "messaging evolution" ], "lesson": "Demonstrates that the object of the new game works best when it's slightly aspirational and never fully achievable, serving as a perpetual mission rather than a destination.", "topic_id": "topic_5", "line_start": 167, "line_end": 180 }, { "id": "example_7", "explicit_text": "360Learning. So this company, I don't know if folks know, but this company is raised over $200 million. They're in the space of corporate training software... Nick Hernandez is the CEO and Nick's been on my podcast.", "inferred_identity": "Nick Hernandez, 360Learning CEO", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "360Learning", "corporate training", "learning software", "raised $200 million", "upskill from within", "top-down to distributed learning", "employee development", "knowledge transfer", "learning culture" ], "lesson": "Documents a complete narrative transformation from a feature descriptor (collaborative learning) to a movement (upskill from within), showing how the new frame eliminated competitive positioning and aligned product strategy.", "topic_id": "topic_6", "line_start": 224, "line_end": 225 }, { "id": "example_8", "explicit_text": "Nick was in France and he saw this poster, a recruiting poster from McDonald's and it said, 'Hey, if you work at McDonald's you're going to learn from everybody else on your team.' And it was like, wow, there it is.", "inferred_identity": "Nick Hernandez, 360Learning CEO (discovering evidence)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "McDonald's", "employer branding", "recruiting", "internal learning", "peer-to-peer learning", "culture", "evidence gathering", "winner examples", "narrative validation" ], "lesson": "Shows how validating a narrative by finding real-world examples (McDonald's as a winner already practicing upskill from within) makes the story feel inevitable and defensible rather than contrived.", "topic_id": "topic_6", "line_start": 241, "line_end": 243 }, { "id": "example_9", "explicit_text": "I can't remember exactly, it was something like, how do you upskill from within? What would it take for you to turn your experts into champions of learning in the company and turn them into stars?", "inferred_identity": "360Learning narrative (Andy working with Nick Hernandez)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "360Learning", "question framing", "object of the new game", "expert activation", "internal educators", "company culture", "knowledge democratization" ], "lesson": "Demonstrates how posing the object of the game as a question engages prospects as co-creators in the narrative, rather than passive listeners.", "topic_id": "topic_6", "line_start": 242, "line_end": 243 }, { "id": "example_10", "explicit_text": "Google, there's this page where I think you can go, it's a public. You can connect with Google's AI experts. They literally turn their internal experts into champions that are educating, not even just the company but even external people.", "inferred_identity": "Google (cited as example of upskill from within by Andy/360Learning)", "confidence": "medium", "tags": [ "Google", "AI expertise", "internal expert program", "knowledge sharing", "learning culture", "external education", "thought leadership", "narrative proof point" ], "lesson": "Shows how identifying real companies living the new game (Google as an example of upskill from within) provides proof and makes the movement feel inevitable rather than invented.", "topic_id": "topic_6", "line_start": 236, "line_end": 237 }, { "id": "example_11", "explicit_text": "Drift comes out with essentially like a chatbot for your website, which might be the 30th chatbot for your website. And they don't say, 'Hey, here's why our chatbot is the best one.' They start from a completely different place, which is, 'Hey, used to be people would sort of wait around for you to get back to them.'", "inferred_identity": "Drift (David Cancel and David Gerhardt mentioned)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Drift", "conversational marketing", "chatbot", "website engagement", "real-time communication", "world of later vs world of now", "buying behavior", "buyer psychology", "forms vs conversation" ], "lesson": "Non-client example showing how even mundane categories (chatbots) become category-defining when positioned as a fundamental shift in buyer expectations (from 'later' to 'now').", "topic_id": "topic_8", "line_start": 275, "line_end": 279 }, { "id": "example_12", "explicit_text": "David Cancel and David Gerhardt started from right the beginning saying, 'Now we're in a world of now, where buyers are .... I remember it was this woman sleeping with her phone. That's your prospect.'", "inferred_identity": "David Cancel and David Gerhardt, Drift founders", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Drift", "conversational marketing", "founder strategy", "buyer psychology", "mobile-first", "real-time engagement", "immediate response", "always-on expectations" ], "lesson": "Illustrates how powerful narratives are grounded in visceral, real images (woman sleeping with phone) that make the buyer behavior change feel undeniable.", "topic_id": "topic_8", "line_start": 278, "line_end": 279 }, { "id": "example_13", "explicit_text": "Take Gong, I mean already other companies were using this term revenue intelligence. With Gong, it suddenly becomes a thing because I think they have this opinions-to-reality story behind it.", "inferred_identity": "Gong (Amit Bendov CEO)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Gong", "revenue intelligence", "category ownership", "narrative power", "term creation", "market perception", "competitive differentiation" ], "lesson": "Proves that the same terminology is generic until backed by a powerful narrative. The narrative, not the name, creates market dominance.", "topic_id": "topic_9", "line_start": 293, "line_end": 296 }, { "id": "example_14", "explicit_text": "I asked Amit, he said, 'Yeah,' because I remember he really struggled, 'What should we call it? What should we call it?' He came up with that one. But then when I asked him later, he is like, 'Yeah, you know what? In hindsight we probably could have called it strawberry intelligence. It didn't matter.'", "inferred_identity": "Amit Bendov, Gong CEO (reflecting on naming)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Gong", "revenue intelligence", "naming flexibility", "narrative primacy", "category name irrelevance", "founder reflection", "strategic narrative power" ], "lesson": "Reveals that even founders recognize the narrative and story matter more than the specific category name chosen, inverting common assumptions about brand naming.", "topic_id": "topic_9", "line_start": 293, "line_end": 296 }, { "id": "example_15", "explicit_text": "HubSpot. HubSpot had this narrative around inbound. It used to be just outbound stuff, now we're going to have inbound. And that wasn't really a category. Back then they were probably known as marketing automation. Now they're probably known as CRM because they've broadened.", "inferred_identity": "HubSpot", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "HubSpot", "inbound marketing", "marketing automation", "CRM", "outbound vs inbound", "category evolution", "narrative orthogonality", "movement vs product category" ], "lesson": "Shows how the same company's narrative (inbound) remains constant even as their product category label shifts (marketing automation to CRM), proving that movement and narrative are orthogonal to category.", "topic_id": "topic_9", "line_start": 305, "line_end": 306 }, { "id": "example_16", "explicit_text": "OneTrust, which the CEO I had on my podcast recently. Starts out with just, I think it's data privacy around the regulations that people have to be able to say, 'Don't track me,' things like that. And then they buy these other company and now we have this much bigger offering.", "inferred_identity": "OneTrust (CEO interviewed on Andy's podcast)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "OneTrust", "data privacy", "compliance", "regulations", "acquisitions", "product expansion", "narrative scaling", "privacy compliance" ], "lesson": "Exemplifies the post-scale engagement trigger: when narratives become too small for expanded product scope, narrative work is essential to reposition and capture larger market opportunities.", "topic_id": "topic_11", "line_start": 326, "line_end": 327 }, { "id": "example_17", "explicit_text": "When I would talk about hero's journey and stuff, it's just like, it didn't really tell me what to do. Yeah, okay, yeah I got to do this pitch. So in the hero's journey there's like refusal of the call. That's actually that thing where Luke says he doesn't want to go and where the buyer says, 'Hey, I don't have budget.'", "inferred_identity": "Star Wars (used as narrative example)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Star Wars", "hero's journey", "Luke Skywalker", "buyer resistance", "refusal of the call", "sales objection", "narrative structure", "screenwriting" ], "lesson": "Demonstrates how screenwriting archetypes map to sales scenarios, making abstract narrative principles concrete and actionable.", "topic_id": "topic_1", "line_start": 190, "line_end": 195 }, { "id": "example_18", "explicit_text": "How does George Lucas change Luke's mind? He basically kills the aunt and uncle... If you haven't seen it, you're probably not going to see it. Kills the aunt and uncle. Now it's pretty clear they're coming for Luke. Now the stakes are life and death.", "inferred_identity": "Star Wars (used to explain stakes in narrative)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Star Wars", "Luke Skywalker", "stakes raising", "emotional weight", "life and death consequences", "narrative structure", "prospect motivation", "emotional engagement" ], "lesson": "Shows how narratives create emotional resonance by establishing existential stakes, not just transactional ones.", "topic_id": "topic_5", "line_start": 158, "line_end": 165 }, { "id": "example_19", "explicit_text": "I was looking for a sports watch, a Fitbit and I'm comparing specs and I'm doing all that stuff. And so that mode of buying is still happening.", "inferred_identity": "Fitbit (Andy's personal example)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Fitbit", "sports watch", "consumer product", "specs comparison", "feature-based buying", "consumer behavior" ], "lesson": "Illustrates that for consumer products with static features, spec-based comparison buying is still dominant, limiting the value of strategic narrative in that category.", "topic_id": "topic_10", "line_start": 314, "line_end": 315 }, { "id": "example_20", "explicit_text": "That post immediately got something like 2 million views around the world and I started getting inquiries from teams all over the world.", "inferred_identity": "Andy's Medium post 'The Greatest Sales Deck I've Ever Seen' (about Zuora)", "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "Medium", "viral content", "2 million views", "strategic narrative", "Zuora pitch deck", "business writing", "content distribution", "platform impact" ], "lesson": "Demonstrates the outsized leverage of writing as a business development and thought leadership tool, where one well-distributed piece can create years of inbound opportunities.", "topic_id": "topic_4", "line_start": 119, "line_end": 120 } ] }