November 3, 2025 • 9 mins
We show how a founder story becomes a trust and referral engine when it centers on one pivotal moment, a clear villain, real stakes, and a hard choice. We share the framework and prompts to help you write a story others can retell and that naturally leads to your offer.
• what a founder story is and is not
• why stories beat resumes for trust and recall
• common mistakes like vague claims and trauma dumping
• naming the villain your audience cares about
• raising stakes that show what is on the line
• making the risky choice that creates tension
• showing the messy middle with proof and lessons
• stating the outcome and mission that drive your work
• using prompts to draft and tighten your story
• tying the story cleanly to your offer
If you haven’t already, write us a review where you listen to your podcast, give us some feedback, and let me know what you need to make your story the one they remember
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
If your founder's story is nothing more than a
(00:02):
list of important dates andaccomplishments, well, that's
more of a humble brag than afounder's story.
Today we're going to show youhow to write a founder's story
that makes your story the onethey remember.
(00:28):
Good morning, good evening, goodafternoon, wherever you are in
the world.
I want to welcome you to anotherepisode of the Story Lab.
And I think this is one of themost important episodes I've
done.
We're going to talk today aboutyour founder's story and a
founder story that's going toget people to remember you.
So we're going to jump right inand we're going to talk about
what a founder's story is andwhat a founder's story isn't,
(00:49):
because that's really important.
A founder's story is the momentyou chose the work you do.
It's the values, it's yourmission, it's your goals, and
it's the transformation that youwent through to get you to where
you are now.
But it is not a LinkedIn resume.
It is not a job application.
It is not the timeline of everyjob you ever had.
(01:11):
It's a story.
And you want people to be ableto retell this story.
So if a stranger can't retellyour founder story in a few
sentences, then you missed yourmark and you gotta focus on
getting it tighter.
You want people to alwaysremember what you're doing and
how you're showing up.
That's way they can actuallyrefer you to other people.
So why do founder storiesmatter?
These stories help you buildtrust at speed.
(01:34):
It builds credibility and itreally does connect with the
social proof aspect because itshows that you have done this
and you have a reason to dothis.
And it's not just a claim thatyou're putting out there.
Also, stories are more memorableand relatable.
So people remember yourfounder's story.
And then you get they can repeatthat, especially if you have a
(01:54):
clear stake and a clear villain,which we're gonna talk about the
key aspects of your founderstory.
But if you have a story that hasclear stakes and a clear
villain, then your people canrepeat that and that's gonna get
you referrals.
And that's important for a smallbusiness.
It also gives you yourpositioning power.
You are better than anybody elseat your business because you are
(02:18):
the only one that can do it.
Your founder story builds a moataround you, and it protects you
because nobody else can do whatyou do.
It is your unique sellingproposition.
So it informs your uniqueselling proposition as well as
many other things.
Your founder story is a verypowerful story in your business.
So here's some things thatpeople do in their founder
(02:38):
stories that aren't the best.
I'm getting you all the thingsthat you shouldn't be doing, you
should be doing, and then we'regonna jump into the framework
for this story.
So you don't want to have vaguegeneralities.
You want to re you want to haveone key point, one concrete
moment that changed things, andsomething that you can pull out
(02:58):
of that.
The other thing you don't wantto do is you don't want to jump
your trauma.
It's not about the wound.
It's never about the wound.
It's about the lesson.
It's about what you learned,it's about how you now operate.
When I tell my founder's story,I don't live in the attack.
That's not the important part ofmy founder's story.
That happened to me and that wasthe spark that changed things,
(03:20):
but I focus on what came afterand how I was able to build a
beautiful business that helpspeople tell their story because
of what happened.
So it's not about the trauma,it's about the things that
matter and what happens after.
It's the lesson.
Another mistake people makeevery single date, important
accomplishment, whatever it is,is put into that story.
(03:43):
We don't need the full timeline.
We never need the full timeline.
We need just the things thatmatter, just the things that
move us forward.
Two more mistakes people make.
Who's the antagonist?
What's the problem?
How can you focus youraudience's energy on that
problem?
Which might be, should be, theproblem that they are having
(04:06):
that you help solve.
Then the final mistake thatpeople make is they don't have a
point where a choice has to bemade.
You need to have the moment thechoice is made and then what
happened after that choice ismade.
What we're gonna do now is we'regonna go into the six core
components of a founder's story.
And I'm gonna talk about thembriefly.
But when you're creating yourfounder story, you want to make
(04:28):
sure that you have it in thisformat.
And this format is SPARK.
What started everything?
What is the moment thateverything changed in your life,
in your business, and what isgoing on?
How did you end up here?
What is that moment that startedthat?
That's the spark.
Now ask yourself, what happened?
What did I see that I couldnever unsee?
(04:49):
What did I learn that I couldnever unlearn?
What was this pivotal moment inmy business?
That's your spark.
Next is the villain.
You need to have a villain.
It's the internal or externalopponent.
It might be the algorithm or itmight be another person in your
industry.
It might be perfectionism, or itmight be this accepted thing
that happens in your in yourbusiness that everybody just
(05:11):
kept letting happen until youdecided to change it.
Think about what you were upsetwith.
What is that thing that wasreally dragging you back?
What was keeping you fromaccomplishing your your goals?
That's your villain.
Stakes.
What would happen if nothingchanged?
What would you lose?
Would you lose your health?
Would you lose time?
What about money or yourreputation?
(05:33):
What is the stake?
What is the thing that was onthe line?
Think about what's the thingthat was on the line?
What mattered to me in thismoment the most?
That's the stake.
Then the choice.
This is where you have to make achoice.
What did you choose?
It's an uncomfortable decision.
It probably felt risky.
You probably felt like you werejumping off a cliff.
But what was that choice?
(05:54):
Because you need to have thatchoice, that turning point, to
have some tension in yourfounder's story to get people
interested.
Now, next, you made this choicenow.
What happens in between makingthis choice and getting to where
you are now?
That's the messy middle.
That's where you earned it.
That's where you had failures orlessons.
We call them lessons.
That's where you figured out theway to fix it.
(06:15):
Maybe you had a notebook whereyou were writing down all the
notes and nothing was adding up.
Maybe it's all those mathequations that, you know, they
write on the board somewhereuntil they find the right
answer.
That's your messy middle.
Show the receipts.
Show the mess.
Show what you got out of themess.
Because that's your outcome andyour mission.
What did you get out of themess?
(06:37):
What changed and how did thatlead you to where you are now?
What changed after the messymiddle and how does that lead
you to where you are now?
For me, what changed was Ilearned the power of stories.
And that allows me to help myclients share their story and
change the world.
Because I changed the world withmy story.
I accomplish things with mystory.
(06:57):
And that matters because for me,having people share their story
is one of the most importantmissions I can be on.
So your outcome and yourmission, what future do you
create for your clients everysingle day?
What is that thing?
Make sure you have that.
And that's how you wrap up yourfounder's story.
So I'm gonna give you a fewquestions you can ask yourself.
As we as we wrap up thisepisode, I want to give you a
(07:18):
few questions you can askyourself to help you really get
to the main point of yourfounder story.
Ask yourself the moment thateverything changed in my world
was when?
When was that thing that youknow everything changed?
What happened?
What was were you afraid tolose?
As you were going through this,what was the the thing that you
(07:39):
were most worried about losing?
What did you choose to do?
What was your choice between Aand B?
You went with B.
And that led you to where youare now.
And then don't forget, you'vegot to tie in your offer.
So when you get to that pointwhere what where you chose what
you chose and how you chose it,then you offer those people that
are like you that same thing.
Offer them that option.
(08:00):
All right.
So that is your founder storythat they're going to remember.
All right.
Well, that is another episode ofthe Story Lab.
And I hope that you enjoyedthis, and I hope that you take
notes on this and use itwhenever you can, because your
founder story is the story thatcan change the game for you.
Create a founder story that isone that people will remember so
(08:21):
that you'll never be forgotten,so that you will be the person
that everybody's talking about.
All right.
So if you want your founderstory to become your booking
engine, then do me a favor.
Use this template.
It's gonna help you.
It's gonna change the game.
So that's another episode of theStory Lab.
I can't wait to see you againsoon.
If you haven't already, write usa review where you listen to
(08:43):
your podcast, give us somefeedback, and let me know what
you need to make your story theone they remember.
And I'll see you again soon.
Take care.
SPEAKER_01 (08:50):
Story, the one they remember, the spark in the
night, the voice in the crowd.
Some of the moment say the songin the spirit of the stand up.
If your founder's story is nothing more than a
(00:02):
list of important dates andaccomplishments, well, that's
more of a humble brag than afounder's story.
Today we're going to show youhow to write a founder's story
that makes your story the onethey remember.
(00:28):
Good morning, good evening, goodafternoon, wherever you are in
the world.
I want to welcome you to anotherepisode of the Story Lab.
And I think this is one of themost important episodes I've
done.
We're going to talk today aboutyour founder's story and a
founder story that's going toget people to remember you.
So we're going to jump right inand we're going to talk about
what a founder's story is andwhat a founder's story isn't,
(00:49):
because that's really important.
A founder's story is the momentyou chose the work you do.
It's the values, it's yourmission, it's your goals, and
it's the transformation that youwent through to get you to where
you are now.
But it is not a LinkedIn resume.
It is not a job application.
It is not the timeline of everyjob you ever had.
(01:11):
It's a story.
And you want people to be ableto retell this story.
So if a stranger can't retellyour founder story in a few
sentences, then you missed yourmark and you gotta focus on
getting it tighter.
You want people to alwaysremember what you're doing and
how you're showing up.
That's way they can actuallyrefer you to other people.
So why do founder storiesmatter?
These stories help you buildtrust at speed.
(01:34):
It builds credibility and itreally does connect with the
social proof aspect because itshows that you have done this
and you have a reason to dothis.
And it's not just a claim thatyou're putting out there.
Also, stories are more memorableand relatable.
So people remember yourfounder's story.
And then you get they can repeatthat, especially if you have a
(01:54):
clear stake and a clear villain,which we're gonna talk about the
key aspects of your founderstory.
But if you have a story that hasclear stakes and a clear
villain, then your people canrepeat that and that's gonna get
you referrals.
And that's important for a smallbusiness.
It also gives you yourpositioning power.
You are better than anybody elseat your business because you are
(02:18):
the only one that can do it.
Your founder story builds a moataround you, and it protects you
because nobody else can do whatyou do.
It is your unique sellingproposition.
So it informs your uniqueselling proposition as well as
many other things.
Your founder story is a verypowerful story in your business.
So here's some things thatpeople do in their founder
(02:38):
stories that aren't the best.
I'm getting you all the thingsthat you shouldn't be doing, you
should be doing, and then we'regonna jump into the framework
for this story.
So you don't want to have vaguegeneralities.
You want to re you want to haveone key point, one concrete
moment that changed things, andsomething that you can pull out
(02:58):
of that.
The other thing you don't wantto do is you don't want to jump
your trauma.
It's not about the wound.
It's never about the wound.
It's about the lesson.
It's about what you learned,it's about how you now operate.
When I tell my founder's story,I don't live in the attack.
That's not the important part ofmy founder's story.
That happened to me and that wasthe spark that changed things,
(03:20):
but I focus on what came afterand how I was able to build a
beautiful business that helpspeople tell their story because
of what happened.
So it's not about the trauma,it's about the things that
matter and what happens after.
It's the lesson.
Another mistake people makeevery single date, important
accomplishment, whatever it is,is put into that story.
(03:43):
We don't need the full timeline.
We never need the full timeline.
We need just the things thatmatter, just the things that
move us forward.
Two more mistakes people make.
Who's the antagonist?
What's the problem?
How can you focus youraudience's energy on that
problem?
Which might be, should be, theproblem that they are having
(04:06):
that you help solve.
Then the final mistake thatpeople make is they don't have a
point where a choice has to bemade.
You need to have the moment thechoice is made and then what
happened after that choice ismade.
What we're gonna do now is we'regonna go into the six core
components of a founder's story.
And I'm gonna talk about thembriefly.
But when you're creating yourfounder story, you want to make
(04:28):
sure that you have it in thisformat.
And this format is SPARK.
What started everything?
What is the moment thateverything changed in your life,
in your business, and what isgoing on?
How did you end up here?
What is that moment that startedthat?
That's the spark.
Now ask yourself, what happened?
What did I see that I couldnever unsee?
(04:49):
What did I learn that I couldnever unlearn?
What was this pivotal moment inmy business?
That's your spark.
Next is the villain.
You need to have a villain.
It's the internal or externalopponent.
It might be the algorithm or itmight be another person in your
industry.
It might be perfectionism, or itmight be this accepted thing
that happens in your in yourbusiness that everybody just
(05:11):
kept letting happen until youdecided to change it.
Think about what you were upsetwith.
What is that thing that wasreally dragging you back?
What was keeping you fromaccomplishing your your goals?
That's your villain.
Stakes.
What would happen if nothingchanged?
What would you lose?
Would you lose your health?
Would you lose time?
What about money or yourreputation?
(05:33):
What is the stake?
What is the thing that was onthe line?
Think about what's the thingthat was on the line?
What mattered to me in thismoment the most?
That's the stake.
Then the choice.
This is where you have to make achoice.
What did you choose?
It's an uncomfortable decision.
It probably felt risky.
You probably felt like you werejumping off a cliff.
But what was that choice?
(05:54):
Because you need to have thatchoice, that turning point, to
have some tension in yourfounder's story to get people
interested.
Now, next, you made this choicenow.
What happens in between makingthis choice and getting to where
you are now?
That's the messy middle.
That's where you earned it.
That's where you had failures orlessons.
We call them lessons.
That's where you figured out theway to fix it.
(06:15):
Maybe you had a notebook whereyou were writing down all the
notes and nothing was adding up.
Maybe it's all those mathequations that, you know, they
write on the board somewhereuntil they find the right
answer.
That's your messy middle.
Show the receipts.
Show the mess.
Show what you got out of themess.
Because that's your outcome andyour mission.
What did you get out of themess?
(06:37):
What changed and how did thatlead you to where you are now?
What changed after the messymiddle and how does that lead
you to where you are now?
For me, what changed was Ilearned the power of stories.
And that allows me to help myclients share their story and
change the world.
Because I changed the world withmy story.
I accomplish things with mystory.
(06:57):
And that matters because for me,having people share their story
is one of the most importantmissions I can be on.
So your outcome and yourmission, what future do you
create for your clients everysingle day?
What is that thing?
Make sure you have that.
And that's how you wrap up yourfounder's story.
So I'm gonna give you a fewquestions you can ask yourself.
As we as we wrap up thisepisode, I want to give you a
(07:18):
few questions you can askyourself to help you really get
to the main point of yourfounder story.
Ask yourself the moment thateverything changed in my world
was when?
When was that thing that youknow everything changed?
What happened?
What was were you afraid tolose?
As you were going through this,what was the the thing that you
(07:39):
were most worried about losing?
What did you choose to do?
What was your choice between Aand B?
You went with B.
And that led you to where youare now.
And then don't forget, you'vegot to tie in your offer.
So when you get to that pointwhere what where you chose what
you chose and how you chose it,then you offer those people that
are like you that same thing.
Offer them that option.
(08:00):
All right.
So that is your founder storythat they're going to remember.
All right.
Well, that is another episode ofthe Story Lab.
And I hope that you enjoyedthis, and I hope that you take
notes on this and use itwhenever you can, because your
founder story is the story thatcan change the game for you.
Create a founder story that isone that people will remember so
(08:21):
that you'll never be forgotten,so that you will be the person
that everybody's talking about.
All right.
So if you want your founderstory to become your booking
engine, then do me a favor.
Use this template.
It's gonna help you.
It's gonna change the game.
So that's another episode of theStory Lab.
I can't wait to see you againsoon.
If you haven't already, write usa review where you listen to
(08:43):
your podcast, give us somefeedback, and let me know what
you need to make your story theone they remember.
And I'll see you again soon.
Take care.
SPEAKER_01 (08:50):
Story, the one they remember, the spark in the
night, the voice in the crowd.
Some of the moment say the songin the spirit of the stand up.
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