You Don't Need a Storyteller, ChatGPT Images, Ali on the Series L | Karri Saarinen, Mike Cessario, Elliot Cohen, Ali Ghodsi

**John Coogan** (0:00)
You're watching TBPN. Today is December 16th, Tuesday.
Merry Christmas. We are live from the TBPN Ultradome, the Temple of Technology, the Forges of Finance, the Capital of Capital, the North Pole, the North Pole of Net Income, the RAMP. Time is money. Save both. Easy to use corporate cards, bill payments, accounting, and a whole lot more. You know what to get for that loved one in your life this Christmas. Get them on RAMP. Introduce them to a RAMP. SDR. They will appreciate it. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

**Karri Saarinen** (0:42)
It really is.

**John Coogan** (0:43)
Anyway, you know what else is the gift that keeps on giving? Hiring a storyteller, which apparently is the hottest topic in Silicon Valley, thanks to our friend Katie Dayton over at the Wall Street Journal, who made this go mega viral by posting an article in the Wall Street Journal, all about how startups are hiring storytellers. Companies are desperately seeking storytellers is the headline, of course. We are going to dive into it. Jordi wrote a take. If you have a storyteller, you want to tell a story, why don't you tell it on all of the streaming platforms simultaneously with Restream? One live stream, 30 plus destinations. If you want to multi-stream, go to restream.com.
Storytelling is the only way to impose meaning on abundance, says Signal. Coherence on noise, legitimacy on power, strategy ops and capital are all downstream. Without narrative control, none of it will ever stick. This has been one of the core premise of my account in a world of infinite output. Story is the scarce primitive. He's a very good writer, Signal. Whoever can compress chaos into something people can feel, remember, forgive and rally around actually runs the system. This skill is worth more than the entire C-suite combined. Okay, so lay off the CEO, the CFO, the CTO. You just need a storyteller, you're good to go. Is that the pitch? No, people are having fun with this one. What was your take, Jordi? Break it down for me. How do you frame this? How do you process this?

**Karri Saarinen** (2:13)
I mean, should we read through the article briefly or at least summarize it? So Katie writes, companies are desperately seeking storytellers, brands trying to wrest greater control from their narratives or seeking storytelling skill sets without a campfire in sight. Maybe some of them have a warm hearth like we do.
Anyways, corporate America's latest thing.

**John Coogan** (2:36)
What is it?

**Karri Saarinen** (2:37)
Normally, you'd be telling a story.

**John Coogan** (2:38)
Oh, around a campfire. Yeah, that makes sense.

**Karri Saarinen** (2:40)
Light a fire and be telling a story that way.

**John Coogan** (2:42)
I usually think of smoking cigars around campfires. That's what I associate. Mostly focused on the cigars.

**Karri Saarinen** (2:47)
But you like to yap between puffs.

**John Coogan** (2:49)
I do. I do.

**Karri Saarinen** (2:51)
Corporate America's latest hot job is also one of the oldest in history. Storytellers. Some companies want a media relations manager by a flashier name. Others need people to produce blogs, podcasts, case studies, and more types of branded content to attract customers, investors, and potential recruits. All seem to use the word differently than in its usual application to novelist playwrights.
As storytellers at Google Job ad said last month, we play an integral role in driving customer acquisition and long-term growth. The listing sought a customer storytelling manager to join the company's Google Cloud storytelling team. That sounds like a fantastic opportunity in another life. Personally, I'd be on the Google Cloud storytelling team. For sure. In some ways, we are. One article the unit published this year was titled, Lowe's Innovation, How Vertex AI Helps Create Interactive Shopping Experiences. Microsoft Security Organization, meanwhile, is recruiting a senior director, overseeing narrative and storytelling described as part cybersecurity technologist, part communicator, and part marketer. Sure. Vanta is also hiring a storyteller. Notion, head of storytelling.

**John Coogan** (3:57)
That's right.

**Karri Saarinen** (3:59)
Productivity apps. Notion recently merged its com, social media, and influencer functions into one 10-person team, a so-called storytelling team. So anyways, Katie goes on and on. She talks about how more and more of these listings are popping up. They're growing year over year. They're showing up in earnings calls.

**John Coogan** (4:19)
Yeah. I have a different take on this. I think as soon as there's a Wall Street, I mean, we love Katie, but as soon as there's a Wall Street Journal piece about a trend, the trend is effectively dead. And so there is no more alpha in hiring storytellers. You need to hire a yarn spinner. You need to hire a fabulist, someone who will go around to group chats and tell wild lies about your product, your company, how successful you are. You recruit this person and then they go around seeding little anecdotes, little tall tales, and they spin yarns.