

Every startup needs a story - ryanglasgow
https://medium.com/design-startups/3e224d9c6cd9

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mkandler
Great article Ryan, I am (as I'm sure most founders reading this are) actively
working on my startup's story - so I found it very useful. One thing that
interests me is how the story changes over time. This seems to have been the
case with Instagram. Like you said, Burbn was a very different product and
over time they realized people were using it mostly for photos so they
restarted with what is now Instagram. Was the well-crafted story you described
there from the beginning, or was it developed as they worked with users and
iterated through early products? Stories definitely give a company direction,
allow designers and engineers to focus more on the few important features that
really matter, and make it easier to speak to users, but it seems that getting
to that story can be a journey in and of itself.

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ryanglasgow
Thanks! Figuring out a startups story is often the most difficult part of the
entrepreneurial journey, and can take weeks, months or even years. With Burbn,
they began with a very different story, but over time it changed into what
became Instagram. Where the trouble lies is figuring out what features are
most unique and compelling with your product, and focusing on those. In the
next article I'm going to break this process down and I think it will answer
your question on how an entrepreneur like Kevin could start with a product
like Burbn, and wittle it down into a product like Instagram.

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dtelepathy
Well done Ryan. I felt like you read by mind. We are in the middle of
incorporating many of these points into our design process.

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ryanglasgow
Thanks Chuck! I'm glad it was helpful and it was your tweet that really
provided the thesis for the article.

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ScholarGary
A very timely post, indeed! Would like to hear more...

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ryanglasgow
Thanks! Look for the next article sometime next week. I'm going to discuss
taking a products story, and turning it into a product flow.

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mkoble11
The story _is_ the message. :)

