Setup, confrontation and resolution

Flickr photo by VideoVillain.

Editor's note: This article, by Inman News Publisher Bradley Inman, was originally published at BradInman.com. Click here to view the original item.

Around the time that I started Internet video company TurnHere, I saw a film shoot for a television commercial that blocked off an area between 5th and 6th avenues on 44th Street in New York City. I counted 75-plus people, a catering truck, off-duty policemen and two big rigs -- all to produce a 30-second commercial that we would someday TiVo out.

For years, the details of this scene anchored my story about "Why TurnHere?" I contrasted the extravagant scene on 44th Street to the TurnHere production model -- that company has produced 22,000 video ads at a very low cost, each with a one- or two-filmmaker crew and minimal equipment -- no caterers, no booms, no off-duty cops and no big rigs.

When changing an industry, such comparisons and contrasts are central to the entrepreneur's story. Examples help people relate to and understand what startups are trying to do. Spreadsheets, business theories and metrics are a necessary part of the story, but they do not engender enthusiasm to build support for a new business idea.

Actual stories with details, along with illustrations, inspire people to get behind you.

When I started HomeGain, I carried around a full-color postcard that displayed the retouched and professional photo of a handsome real estate agent, with the headline, "Why Paul?" It was a real estate marketing flier for the Northern California agent.

I used it as a prop to explain the inefficiencies of real estate marketing and how consumers had no good way of comparing and contrasting agents, which was the core proposition of HomeGain.

We also used a comparison to the stock market to explain why our new idea of offering consumers free electronic home valuations would be popular. "You can check your stock quotes every day, shouldn't you know the value of your No. 1 asset, your home?" ...CONTINUED

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