The Story Rules Podcast
Storytelling is an ancient craft and humans are wired for story. Yet when it comes to telling the story of our work, we often fall short. My mission, through 'Story Rules', is to help you tell a better story of your work. I do that by tapping into the fascinating and wondrous world of Storytelling techniques. The Story Rules Podcast is a further step in that direction. In episodes of the podcast, we will have long, deep and meaningful conversations with some of the best storytellers in the world. We will explore their life story, discuss their storytelling philosophy and unearth the secrets of their craft. Listeners will get to learn, grow their own inner storytellers and finally, achieve better outcomes at work - by leveraging the power of story.
The Story Rules Podcast
E17: Sajith Pai - Foremost thought-leader of India's Startup Ecosystem
“Whether It’s a start-up or not, narrative building is important. I think of it in terms of ‘lines, not dots.’ Whenever you see someone do a great presentation, sell a great story, etc., I don’t feel there’s an overnight success; that person has put in a lot of work to shape something (from nothing). Typically, the people who have (good) narrative skills, (are the people who) are using it all the time. They would have had preliminary communication going out; they would have articulated it; some bit of self-selection of the audience would have happened over time.
Success happens when there’s a fit between the audience, the product, and the content.”
Sajith is a VC at Blume Ventures and arguably the most astute observer and thought-leader on India’s vibrant start-up ecosystem.
Success happens when there’s a fit between the audience, the product, and the content.”
Sajith is a VC at Blume Ventures and arguably the most astute observer and thought-leader on India’s vibrant start-up ecosystem.
So I’ve been a fan of Sajith’s writing for several years now. He has the rare gift of being able to discern patterns which are unseen-yet-obvious-in-hindsight. He’s able to then label them making them easier to discuss and analyse.
For instance, he created the Indian consumer stack as 4 parts – India 1 Alpha, India 1, India 2 and India 3. Sajith is a prolific writer on his blog, on LinkedIn and on Twitter.
Over the years as I followed his writings, I almost always found them sharing something new and insightful, in an easy-to-understand yet engaging manner.
In short, to me Sajith was a rare leader – an accomplished business executive turned successful investor, who was also a gifted storyteller.
I’d been wanting to have him on the podcast for a long time… and I must admit – it was not easy getting him. But I persevered and he was patient and receptive to my request.
I’m so glad that I put the fight – this is perhaps the most insightful conversation I’ve been a part of.
There are so many gems across such a wide range of topics. For instance, Sajith shares with us:
- Why you should ditch newspapers and instead focus on curated newsletters and podcasts
- How everyone can sharpen their thinking, learn from others and form better connections by doing one simple thing: writing online
- Why it is critical to choose the right metrics in measuring and rewarding performance and in telling data stories
- How data presentations should be about “lines and not dots”
It's a fascinating conversation - I hope you learn as much from it as I did.