“People are torn in so many directions these days - they’re on Facebook, checking email, trying to balance work and friends and family. Even with that background and credibility, it still took us years to establish true believability.”īeing believable isn't just convincing people you can win, it's convincing them that they want you to win.
He had come from Oracle and knew software and all its issues. “But most importantly it was believable that Marc Benioff could pull it off. “At Salesforce, when we went out there saying this was ‘the end of software,’ sure it was relevant and seemed inevitable,” Marooney says. “You can be relevant, and your product may even seem inevitable, but you still may not be believed.” You have to convince people that your company is the one that can make it happen - that you’ll be the ones to carry the ball over the line. The idea of connecting the world seemed inevitable, it just wasn’t obvious that a group of young people were going to be the ones to do it. Mark Zuckerberg has often said that even before he founded Facebook, he believed that a technology company would help connect the world he just never dreamed that he would play such a defining role. That’s what gives you momentum.” If it doesn’t seem like whatever trend or movement you’re a part of will eventually come to pass, you’ll be fighting against the wind. “If you can convince the reporter at lunch that whatever you’re doing makes intrinsic sense and that they can see it realistically happening, your journey to relevance will be that much shorter. This is like having a gust of wind at your company’s back. You want people to feel that whatever you’re developing is inevitable. The conversation went from feature checklists, “contacts” and “leads” to how an entire industry would change.
With Marc Benioff declaring the “End of Software,” it raised the relevance of the company to appeal to all those who buy, follow or care about software.
At the time, people were having bad experiences with software it was massively expensive, time-consuming and prone to failure. This made the company instantly more relevant to a bigger market and audience. But to be more relevant to a larger audience, Marc Benioff came up with the “End of Software” campaign. When Salesforce first started, it could have launched as an online CRM solution. Who is your audience, and is your company solving a problem that they care about? What matters to them about that problem? Why does your solution deserve attention? “It’s hard to get attention and it’s hard to be relevant,” says Marooney. To develop a compelling message, Marooney advises running it through the RIBS test (will your story “stick to your ribs”?). Getting strong press feeds all of these needs, too.
This is crucial not only to get press, but to raise funding from the best firms, hire the best people, and attract the best advisors. At First Round’s recent CEO Summit, Marooney boiled down this massive challenge into an execution plan and guidelines for startups to craft an image that will resonate with the public and the press, launch on a strong note, and build momentum as they grow - regardless of size and resources.Ī message succeeds when people remember it - when it sticks. Most founders set out to create something iconic but don’t know where to start. She’s seen firsthand how hard it is for young companies to capture press attention when they have zero brand recognition and limited resources. But before that, she co-founded OutCast , the elite PR agency that worked with one-time startups Amazon, Salesforce, Netflix and VMware. This is Caryn Marooney, Head of Technology Communications for Facebook. You have to convince this reporter to not only write about you, but that what you’re doing matters. You’re telling them what you do, your story, why they should care about your product. “Imagine you’re sitting across from a reporter at lunch.