One of the rules of great brand storytelling is that a story must have clear structure and purpose. How does this translate into Brand Story and start-up funding? The TYPE of story you tell will have a greater impact on your audience (potential investors) depending on your funding start-up stage.

Let’s do a quick review of the stages of start-up funding:

• Bootstrapping/ Pre-Seed Funding

• Seed Funding

• Series A-D Funding

Each one of these funding stages offers a very different and unique path to acquiring the investment that you need to fund your start-up or idea.

There is no right or wrong way to do your funding, every business has its own unique path in order to get funded. 

We believe at Brand Psyche Strategies, that story is the key to getting more money, faster.

By developing an authentic, compelling, and captivating Brand Story, you’re able to better express why you’re in business, your values, what you’re selling, and why people should do business with you. 

So, what stories should you use based on your start-up stage?

Origin, mission, and values stories – overlapping these stories from the Brand Story process in the initial pitch deck to help clients acquire more investment funds. This strategy is helpful in the Pre-Seed/Seed phase.

Focusing on the founder’s story – as you move into Series A funding you’ll still be telling the story of your mission and values, but at the same time really revealing who you are (as a founder), why you chose this business/idea and what makes you the most capable at executing it.

Community stories – these are stories about your team members and even your clients. Helping investors really see the whole picture of your business when you’re looking for funding in the higher series rounds. 

Rebirth stories– this is for Series B-D funding when you’ve reached a crossroads in your business. Maybe you need to change directions, or maybe you’ve failed and are rising like a phoenix from the ashes of that crash and burn. Rebirth stories, when told well, can really amplify your success.

What stories are you currently using in your startup? What stories could you start to use to acquire more customers and attract more investors?