The Importance of Self-Promotion
Should you promote yourself or rely on your un-hyped brilliance to build your unicorn?
· Can you name the businesses started by Richard Schulze, Richard Burke, Robert Kierlin, or Don Kotula (Bootstrap to Billions at www.dileeprao.com)?
· Can you name the businesses founded by Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Brian Chesky, or Jeff Bezos?
“Effective Storytelling:” Hype by another name.
The difference between the two becomes clear in Sequoia’s Base Camp class on “effective story-telling,” which, depending on your perspective, can also be called as “Unicorn Myth-Building” or “VC Hyping.”
The first group (respectively the Unicorn-CEOs of Best Buy, UnitedHealthcare, Fastenal, and Northern Tool) avoided VC and had no reason to hype themselves or craft personal myths. In contrast, the latter group used VC and invested heavily in public relations (PR) to promote their narrative – because promotion is key to generating hype and accelerating valuations, which is the lifeblood of the VC ecosystem. Myth-building, or “effective storytelling,” is practically mandatory if you get VC from a Top 20 VC firm. That’s why when they flame out, they do so in public. Ask Sam Bankman-Fried.
While some billion-dollar entrepreneurs who did not use VC, like Sam Walton, Howard Schultz, and Mark Cuban, did use PR, it was primarily when they went public to promote their stock to investors, or to hype an NBA team. On the other hand, unicorn-entrepreneurs like Schulze (Best Buy), Burke (UnitedHealthcare), Kierlin (Fastenal), and Kotula (Northern Tool) neither sought VC nor relied on personal hype, even when some of their companies did go public.
If you do decide to hype yourself and your business, build your “unicorn myth.”
Common Unicorn Myths
Here are some of the most memorable myths surrounding billion-dollar entrepreneurs:
· Sam Walton: As the myth goes, Walton succeeded by building a new kind of supply chain for Walmart. He needed the new supply chain because, initially, he strategically placed his big box stores in small towns where his direct competitors were small businesses unable to compete against the Walmart juggernaut. But small towns were underserved by traditional trucking networks. Meanwhile, competitors like Kmart and Target focused on urban America, using existing supply chains. After dominating rural America, Walmart used this strong base to expand to urban areas and destroy Kmart. The narrative of Walton as a supply-chain innovator presented a more positive image than one of a destroyer of small, rural businesses.
· Jeff Bezos: The myth highlights Bezos’ 2-pizza rule – his success in fostering innovation by keeping teams small enough to be fed with 2 pizzas. In reality, Bezos beat his large indirect competitors, like Borders and Barnes & Noble, by using an emerging revolutionary trend – the Internet – to build an online bookstore that offered virtually all books in print and mostly at lower prices. The Internet eliminated the need for physical stores giving it a cost edge. Borders and Barnes & Noble could not easily switch to the Internet because that would destroy the value of their fixed assets and their balance sheet. Then Bezos added other products based on customer feedback and beat other retailers. His masterstroke was the creation of Amazon Web Services (AWS), initially built to support his growing online empire. By offering the service to other retailers, including Target, Bezos gained valuable insights into what was selling and at what price. This data allowed Amazon.com to refine its offerings and even imitate successful products, solidifying its dominance. But he is well known for “2 pizzas.”
· Brian Chesky: Chesky did not innovate a platform to help people rent their homes, or rooms in their homes. Others were already offering the service. Chesky’s true genius was in storytelling and strategic promotion. During political conventions, he promoted cereal boxes with political messages to help with cash flow. He also focused his initial attention on New York City landlords due to the large number of tourists and media dominance.
· Steve Jobs: Jobs excelled at refining existing concepts and turning them into revolutionary platforms, like the iPod, the iPad, and the iPhone. And he was a genius at promoting them.
· Elon Musk: One story about Musk is that he personally worked on Tesla’s assembly line during its early struggles. Whether he did or not, the publicity has helped his image as an uncommon genius with the common touch.
We remember great entrepreneurs the way they want to be remembered – through the myths they craft themselves or the one shaped by their VCs.
Build Your Unicorn Myth
Define and promote your own myth to elevate your reputation and fuel your venture’s growth:
· Credibility: Build your credibility by sharing stories that highlight how you helped your customers solve their problems or seize opportunities.
· Reputation: Control your image shaping the narrative you want history to remember – assuming it does.
· Wealth: Elevate your profile to create wealth.
Bill Gates is known for saying that if he had one dollar to spend in marketing, he would spend it on PR.
MY TAKE: Listen to Gates. First determine what you want to promote. Then promote it and build your myth.
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