The Purpose Statement (We Exist To)
Distill why you exist into one 10-year 'we exist to' sentence that makes people root for you
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 92%
A method for articulating a company's purpose — the single reason it exists, irrespective of financial gain — as a 'we exist to ___' sentence. Unlike malleable positioning, purpose sits on a ~10-year horizon, aligns employees, and makes the public want you to win. Jackson supplies a structured brainstorm using cultural tensions to derive it.
Origin
Arielle Jackson's framework, with the brainstorm structure borrowed from Ogilvy. She cites Google ('organize the world's information'), Stripe ('increase the GDP of the internet'), and Nike ('bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world') as exemplars.
Core principles
- 01Purpose explains the change you want to see in the world irrespective of financial gain
- 02People can only remember one thing — skip mission/vision/values, keep purpose
- 03Purpose lives on a ~10-year frame; positioning changes every ~18 months
- 04A good purpose makes employees feel part of something and makes the public root for you
- 05It should double as the header of your About page (drop 'we exist to')
How to run it
- 1
List cultural tensions relevant to your business
Write a long list of zeitgeists, current events, and things your audience may be thinking (even subconsciously) that are relevant to what you do — e.g. for an alternative-assets company: rising interest in alternatives, 30-somethings nostalgic for the 90s, low interest rates.
- 2
List ways to describe your brand's best self
Separately, write all the ways you'd want someone to describe you when everything works perfectly and the product truly delivers.
- 3
Pick one from each side to prime the sentence
Choose the single best articulation of what's happening in the world and the single best articulation of what your product delivers, and hold both in mind.
Pro tip Warm up with 'the world would be a better place if ___' before moving to the purpose sentence.
- 4
Complete 'we exist to ___'
With that context, brainstorm to finish the sentence 'we exist to ___'. It should be one sentence you can say naturally when introducing yourself as a conference keynote speaker.
Pro tip Test it by introducing yourself: 'Hi, I'm [name], founder of [company], and we exist to ___' — it should feel natural and make people want to hear more.
Watch out If it only describes financial gain or takes more than a sentence, it isn't a purpose.
In the wild
An operations-automation (low-code) First Round company. Their purpose: 'to make operations data work harder than operations people' — anyone who has worked thankless operations jobs roots for it.
→ A purpose that instantly recruits sympathy from its target field and sits on the About page.
Jackson derived Alt's purpose 'to increase the transparency and liquidity of alternative assets' by first listing cultural tensions — nostalgia for 90s collectibles, low interest rates, no edge from traditional investing.
→ A purpose whose product positioning became 'make sports cards as easy to invest in as stocks'.
Common mistakes
Trying to keep mission, vision, values and purpose all at once
People can only remember one thing. Chasing multiple statements dilutes the one that matters — the 'why you do what you do' purpose.
Writing a purpose that's really about money
A purpose must explain the change you want in the world irrespective of financial gain; a revenue-shaped statement won't make employees or the public root for you.
Is it for you?
Best for
Early-stage founders who need a north-star statement to align hiring, onboarding, and public storytelling
Not ideal for
Teams needing tactical near-term messaging — that's positioning's job, which changes on an 18-month cycle
From the transcript
“your purpose is why you do what you do it makes people want to root for you”
“i like to think of it as we exist too blank and like whatever that blank is is your purpose”
“a good purpose it explains the change you want to see in the world irrespective of financial gain”
“it exists on a 10 year or so frame”
“list all of the cultural tensions that are happening in the world that are relevant to your business first”
“the world would be a better place if and finish that sentence and then go into the we exist too”
From the episode
The art of building legendary brands | Arielle Jackson (Google, Square, Marketer in Residence at First Round Capital)
Arielle Jackson (Google, Square, Marketer in Residence at Fi