Copy
The Word by Sonder and Tell. Writing Worth Reading
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Sit next to a self-involved guest at a dinner party and chances are you’ll be looking for the next opportunity to get away. Noone wants to listen to someone rattling on about themselves. Now apply this scenario to a brand’s founder story. Overdo the ‘me, me, me’ and your brand will quickly become off-putting.

 

When it comes to start-ups, it’s easy to focus on the founder. In a world of faceless corporations, being able to put a face and name to a brand can give you a competitive advantage. But the best brand stories make the customer the hero, not the founder. So how can we talk about a brand’s origin story without stealing the limelight?

 

Rubies in the Rubble set up the founder’s story in relation to the customer (nicknamed do-gooders) by calling its founder ’the original do-gooder’. It’s a founder’s story that says: we’re all do-gooders here and we can all make a difference together.

 

Hiut Denim approached its origin story differently. The denim brand – founded after denim factories closed in Cardigan, Wales and left 400 Welsh craft jean makers jobless – sings the song of the townspeople. Its founder's story heroes the local makers to bring a sense of hope and community, and gets customers excited to be a part of it too.

 

The key is to pass the baton from the founder to the people. To not make the origin story about the past, but about those who’ll be shaping the future. 

 

In the third event of our series with Courier, we’re hosting a talk on how to tell your founder’s story on 20 September. Our Strategist Alex Ames will share what makes a good founder’s story, how to express it in a way that works for your brand and when it makes sense to have one. Save your spot to learn how you can get it right.

 
RSVP TO THE EVENT
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“All of your customers are partners in your mission.”

― Shep Hyken, Author
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The Interview Header
The most obvious thing founders establish is the business – what it is, what it’s selling, the company’s vision for the future. But founders also set the tone for their brand’s team culture. Our co-founders Kate and Emily brought their love of language and storytelling into the business from the very start and it's what unites the team. We do Wednesday writing prompts, we write and edit collaboratively and we’re always swapping our favourite reads and inspiring copy throughout the week. Catch up on this interview to hear about where it all began.
READ THE INTERVIEW
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This startup accelerator and venture studio’s mission reads with satisfying alliteration: ‘we power founders to go further, faster.’ As does its name – Founders Factory. It believes that entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, providing founders with everything from access to operational support, capital and investors to practical advice on creating inclusive and equitable startups, lessons CEOs learned from their failures and guides on crowdfunding.
READ ADVICE FROM FOUNDERS FACTORY
Imagine you’re writing a founder’s story for a brand that you like. Who was the founder before they started their journey? What was the world like before they started their business? What was the case for change? And how can you include the customer on the journey?

Hit reply to submit your prompt
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Browse our Bookshop.org page to see what the team is reading and a few of our favourite brand and copywriting books. When you buy from Bookshop.org you're supporting independent bookstores. And we're donating the 10% affiliate cut from our store to BookTrust, the UK's largest children's reading charity. 

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