This is the ‘win with stories’ newsletter. Every week I send an email with a message wrapped in a short story. I also share one actionable tip and a recommendation for you to enhance your storytelling skills.
A few weeks ago, I got connected to a Mysuru based startup founder on Linkedin. Considering, there aren’t that many startups here, I thought this was a good opportunity to connect with one. The founder and I decided to meet for some good old South Indian filter coffee.
Sumanth and his beliefs:
Sumanth Prabhu hails from a small town called Sagara in Karnataka’s Shimoga district. Like many of us, he got an engineering degree. But unlike most of us, he never pursued a job. He’s been an entrepreneur since the day he graduated.
Sumanth and Nikhil started a company seven years ago which is now called Kidvento. Their focus was to help schools provide better quality education through automation.
His smiling demenaour deceived his trials and tribulations.
Shimoga was too small, so the first question they faced was the location of their company. Also, edtech was not as hot when they started bootstrapping their company. The market is now flooded with competitors who are flush with funding. Theirs was a B2B model with schools as clients, and the pandemic hit them hard.
Many founders would have found it difficult to surpass these challenges. But Sumanth and Nikhil did not. They decided to start their company in Mysuru. Small town boys, they wanted to stay away from Bengaluru’s chaos, and but tnot too far away.
In 2017, they raised a small round and are planning to raise a bigger one. They understand you cannot bring a knife to a gun fight. And they used the pandemic’s challenge to pivot and get into B2C model with Kidvento. Its an app that helps kids build fundamental skills that ignored by the schooling system.
How have these young entrepreneurs sailed through these tough questions?
The answer lies in their understanding of their beliefs and following them. Sumanth believes in staying close to his roots, entrepreneurship, and in the power of education.
You can apply a lot of cosmetic touches to your communication. But if it is not in sync with who you are, then it will fall on its face(immediately or with time).
Identify, articulate and build your startup based on your beliefs. Because a startup is more than a business, it is the founder’s belief system.
One communication tip for today:
Whether as a startup, business or even a personal brand, it is a good idea to identify and institutionalise your values. More than anything, they help in understanding what not to do. Though still a work in progress, Story Co swears by three values. They are:
Beginner’s Mindset: this means that we will always keep learning.
Minimalism: Ranjani(my partner in Story Co) and I are minimalists. That’s our lifestyle, but we use this value in business as well. That’s why I almost never let this newsletter go beyond 700 words(this one is 660).
Passionate about meaningful communication: a lot goes around in the name of good communication. But we are dedicated to communication that is not about impressing but about making a connection.
These values help not just in staying on track but also in giving us an identity. Sometimes your values can clinch deals, investors, partners and even help you make friends that push you forward.
One thing you could read today:
Carmine Gallo is a fantastic communications coach and also a great writer. I have learnt a lot from his book and would like to recommend one of them to you. It is called ‘Talk Like TED’. The tips and techniques suggested in this book range far beyond talks and presentations. You can buy the book on Amazom here(I am not an affiliate or connected to Gallo in anyway).
