Andy Raskin28 May 2023

The power of strategic narrative

1Frameworks

7Insights

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Communication5 steps

Strategic Narrative Framework

Turn a product pitch into a movement buyers choose to join

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Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Myth Buster· 1

Myth Buster

The Viral Article Was Raskin's 30th or 40th Piece

Raskin's two-million-view article looked like an overnight breakthrough, but it followed dozens of earlier pieces whose traction increased gradually. He describes online writing as a long accumulation punctuated by unpredictable peaks, not a reliable one-shot route to an audience.

The breakout article followed roughly 30 or 40 earlier pieces
Earlier work had already begun attracting progressively more attention
Individual posts can spike or underperform, while the long-run body of work compounds

“that was probably the 30th or 40th piece, you know, and they were gradually getting more and more traction.”
Andy Raskin

“there's this a while where you're writing and it feels like you're talking to nobody. And then sort of gradually it grows”
Andy Raskin

#writing#content#audience-building

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take

A Category Name Cannot Do the Work of a Movement

Raskin does not reject category design, but he argues teams over-focus on finding two or three magical words. Gong's revenue-intelligence label mattered less than the opinions-to-reality story behind it, while HubSpot's inbound movement stayed useful even as its formal product category broadened.

A category label is shorthand, not a complete reason to change
The old-game/new-game story gives a label meaning
A durable movement can remain constant while a company's formal category changes

“we probably could have called it like strawberry intelligence. It didn't matter. It was really the story that that was sort of mattered.”
Andy Raskin

“let's let's focus on the story. So uh that's why I talk about strategic narrative and and movement creation versus category creation.”
Andy Raskin

#category-design#positioning#movement-creation

Explainer· 1

Explainer

Why Strategic Narratives Fit B2B Enterprise Tech Best

Strategic narratives are especially useful when a complex, fast-changing product must win over a group buyer and stay coherent across several channels. Raskin contrasts that setting with straightforward consumer purchases, where comparing stable specifications can still be the sensible buying mode.

Enterprise purchases often require a unifying story for multiple decision-makers
Fast-changing software makes static feature comparisons fragile
Simple consumer products may still be bought primarily through specification comparisons

“it has the most value, most impactful right away for B2B uh enterprise technology companies.”
Andy Raskin

“when like consumer products companies contact me, I I usually say no.”
Andy Raskin

#b2b#enterprise-sales#product-marketing

Story· 1

Story

Why the Second Narrative Session Is Supposed to Hurt

After a kickoff produces many promising ideas, Raskin and the CEO must discard most of them to create a clean first draft. The wider team then sees its ideas missing and finds flaws in the draft, making the second session emotionally difficult but far more useful than an untouched board full of possibilities.

A kickoff with several leaders naturally produces too many ideas to keep
Clarity requires the CEO and facilitator to discard most of the raw material
Criticism of a concrete first draft supplies the information needed for a stronger revision

“having a shit draft is like a million times more valuable than having all these great ideas, but it's also really painful.”
Andy Raskin

#collaboration#drafting#facilitation

Tool· 1

Tool

Replace Every Slide Label With Its Takeaway

Raskin's simplest presentation improvement is to replace labels such as “the team” or “the problem” with a sentence stating what the audience should conclude. This reduces interpretation work and creates a clearer flow across the deck.

Use the title to state the conclusion of each slide
Replace generic section labels with specific claims
Make the audience do zero work to identify the intended takeaway

“Make the title the takeaway of the slide so that the person looking at it has to do zero work to take away.”
Andy Raskin

“every single slide, the takeaway, it's a takeaway, not a label.”
Andy Raskin

#presentations#slides#communication

Takeaway· 2

Takeaway

Three Moments When a Company Needs a New Narrative

Raskin repeatedly hears three triggers from CEOs: founder-led selling no longer scales, an expanded product portfolio has outgrown the old story, or a pivot makes the previous story obsolete. Each trigger creates a coordination problem that a shared narrative can address.

Founder brute force stops working when leaders cannot attend every sales and product conversation
Acquisitions or new product units can make the original story too narrow
A market-driven or deliberate pivot requires a different direction

“the company is getting so they can't be in every every sales call, every market call.”
Andy Raskin

“that old story we told is just it's just not big enough.”
Andy Raskin

#scaling#leadership#company-strategy

Takeaway

The CEO Must Own the Company Narrative

Product leaders can contribute heavily to narrative work, but Raskin found that the strongest engagements were led personally by the CEO. Executive ownership gives product teams air cover and lets the same story guide marketing, sales, recruiting, and other company functions.

Nominal sponsorship is weaker than a CEO who actively works on the drafts
A narrative confined to product cannot become a company-wide North Star
Cross-functional consistency gives individual teams air cover

“it was always the ones where the CEO was was leading it”
Andy Raskin

“you don't want to be just telling that story in product.”
Andy Raskin

#ceo#leadership#alignment