The power of strategic narrative | Andy Raskin

**Andy Raskin** (0:00)
The way I learned how to pitch in business school, I think the way most people did it, is what I call the arrogant doctor. So you have a problem, a pain, I have a solution, a treatment, and I'm going to tell you why it's better than all the other treatments. And the structure that I read about in these movies was different. Every movie starts with some kind of shift in the world. And I call this shift, the shift from old game to new game. And the archetypal example of this, I think in the business world, is what Benioff did with Salesforce. So he comes in and he says, hey, software is over. And there's this new world called the cloud, a new game, new rules.
That's the new way to win. And we're going to help you if you're in there.
This structure really is about defining a movement. And that's very different from, hey, I'm going to solve your problem.

**Lenny Rachitsky** (0:54)
Welcome to Lenny's podcast, where I interview world-class product leaders and growth experts to learn from their hard-won experiences building and growing today's most successful products. Today, my guest is Andy Raskin. Andy helps CEOs and company leaders align their teams around something he calls a strategic narrative, which, as you'll learn all about in this episode, is essentially a simple story that helps people understand why they need your product, and with that, helps you align your sales, marketing and product teams, along with your fundraising and even your hiring efforts. Andy has worked closely with some of the most successful founders and companies out there, including companies like Gong, Dropbox, Uber, Salesforce, Square, IBM and many others. In our conversation, Andy explains why most people are pitching their product completely wrong, why focusing on the problem you're solving for people is no longer an effective pitch, and how the strategic narrative helps you frame your solution in a much more effective way. Andy also shares a ton of examples of the framework of action, why focusing on categories and category creation is so limiting, signs your narrative needs work, and so much more.
Enjoy this episode with Andy Raskin after a short word from our sponsors.
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Andy, welcome to the podcast.

**Andy Raskin** (4:18)
Oh, thanks Lenny, so great to talk to you.

**Lenny Rachitsky** (4:21)
So you're quite known as someone that helps CEOs optimize their pitch, their story, their strategy, which we're gonna get deep into. But before we do that, can you just give us a little glimpse into how you found your way into this line of work?