🤖 #20: Vivian's Deeptech Insider: The Power of Problem-First Storytelling

Hello and welcome to #20 edition of the fortnightly Vivian’s Deeptech Insider.

In our last newsletter, we dove into a few blueprints to Unlocking Your First Champions. By now, you likely have more clarity - although these are still assumptions - around the profiles of your early adopters and their key pain points. Now, we’ll take that understanding and apply it to crafting messaging that speaks directly to both your champions and investors. This is an essential part of our Champion series in our 4Cs framework:

1. Complexity → Clarity
   Founders need to translate complex technical problems into business challenges that resonate with non-technical stakeholders. I’ll help you clearly communicate the significance of your solution, making sure everyone understands the problem you’re solving and why it matters.

2. Clarity → Champions
   It’s about more than identifying a problem—it’s about pinpointing your early adopters, refining market positioning, and clearly articulating the problem and customer definition to showcase potential to investors.

3. Champions → Communication
   Deeptech products can be hard to explain. I’ll help translate technical milestones into core features, benefits, and customer impact, ensuring they’re clear and compelling to investors and customers alike.

4. Communication → Clients
   I’ll provide guidance on tracking progress, communicating growth metrics, and updating stakeholders on the product's evolution to demonstrate how scientific advancements translate into tangible value.

External communication is key to ensuring your messaging is grounded in the clear value your product brings to both champions and stakeholders. Using the early adopter insights from our previous newsletters, we’ll help you refine a message that cuts through the noise for both customers and investors.

While there are several other messaging frameworks - like the Value Proposition and Founder’s Story - that help establish initial messaging, the core framework we’re focusing on today is Problem-First Storytelling for several key reasons:

1. Focus on Real Customer Pain (Rather Than Product Features)

A Value Proposition often revolves around the specific features or functional benefits of your product. While these are important, they can sometimes come across as a hard sell, especially when the customer’s pain points haven’t been clearly articulated yet.

Problem-First Storytelling flips this narrative. It places the problem at the centre of the story, making it easier to explain why your product is needed in the first place.

Example:

• Value Proposition: “Our AI-powered tool automates data analysis.”

• Problem-First Storytelling: “Researchers face immense pressure due to slow, error-prone data analysis. Our AI-powered tool automates this process, saving time and reducing errors.”

By focusing on the pain first, you allow your audience to see why they need your solution before diving into the technical details or features of the product.

2. Emotional Engagement (Over Technical Details)

The Founder’s Story is important for conveying why you're the best team to solve the problem. However, many founders focus on the emotional reasons behind building the company, which is crucial for investors but less relevant for customers.

Problem-First Storytelling, on the other hand, centres on the emotional impact of the problem itself - what’s at stake for the customer. By emphasising the pain and urgency they face, it creates a stronger emotional connection, making your message more compelling for both investors and champions of your product.

3. Investors Want to See Market Need

Investors typically care about the market potential - they’re less concerned with the features of your product and more focused on whether you are addressing a significant pain point in the market.

A Value Proposition can talk about what your product does, but it doesn’t fully convey the urgency of solving the problem. By framing your message around the problem, you highlight the market gap your product fills, making it easier for investors to understand why this matters.

Investors will ask: What is the customer pain? How does your product solve it better than alternatives? What’s the urgency? A Problem-First Story already answers these questions, giving them a solid foundation to get excited about your startup.

Core Framework: Problem-First Storytelling

When crafting your messaging, it’s essential to shift from focusing solely on your product or technology to highlighting the problem your customers are facing. The key here is to emphasise emotion - both customers and investors connect with the frustrations and challenges your product helps overcome.

1. Start with the Problem

The most compelling stories begin with a relatable problem. This is where you move beyond technology and highlight the real-life consequences of not solving the problem. What does it feel like for your target audience? What impact does this problem have on them?

Template for Problem-First Storytelling:

Example:

“Medical researchers often spend countless hours manually processing clinical data, leading to delays in trials and the risk of errors. This creates immense pressure, stress, and frustration. Our AI-powered tool automates data analysis, saving researchers valuable time and reducing mistakes, enabling them to focus on advancing medicine with peace of mind.”

2. Introduce Your Solution

Once the problem is clearly articulated, introduce your solution in a way that demonstrates how it resolves both the practical and emotional challenges the customer faces. Emphasise the relief your solution provides.

Template for Solution Messaging:

Example:

“Our AI-powered tool is the solution to slow and error-prone data analysis, allowing researchers to gain faster, more accurate results and feel confident that their findings will drive real medical advancements.”

3. The Emotional Connection

This is where the emotion comes into play. You need to help your audience feel the urgency of the problem and the relief your solution provides. By speaking to this emotional aspect, you ensure that your message resonates more deeply and is remembered.

Template for Emotional Connection:

Example:

“By automating data analysis, our tool helps medical researchers feel empowered, knowing they can focus on critical insights, accelerating the discovery process and expediting breakthroughs that improve patient outcomes.”

Wrapping Up:

With Problem-First Storytelling, you ensure that your messaging speaks directly to the emotions of both investors and customers. You clearly communicate why your solution matters by focusing on real pain points and showing how your product makes a significant difference.

Stay tuned for our next edition, where we’ll help you refine your messaging and positioning to speak directly to these early adopters and effectively communicate your product’s value.

To continued clarity and success,
Vivian

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