view500 Words Issue 103 — Storytelling

JOIE DE VIVRE

With my wife and youngest son, we were off to Spain last week to visit family there, including my daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild. The key takeaway for me was well-designed cities that put green spaces first, good food prepared with care, and a more relaxed mode of life made for happy people. Not profound! But a much needed break.

I just finished teaching a new masterclass in storytelling. The latest cohort was made up of startup founders. I’d like to celebrate a few of those founder successes.

Amantha Bagdon is the founder and CEO of RxPost, a startup that is transforming the drug supply chain by helping pharmacies stock the right prescription drugs at the right time.

Amantha’s company just turned four years old. She was a pharmacy tech when she started it (still is), and says she knew nothing abut the startup ecosystem or venture capital. But now the company’s quarterly growth rate is at +321%, and its pre-seed funding round is closed and oversubscribed, after having raised $1.36M.

When she came to the masterclass, Amantha was looking to build her storytelling confidence especially when she had to pitch on the spot.

After the Storyline Sessions, she said, “It’s a crash course in the fundamentals of storytelling, and in a short amount of time we learned the foundation, so we can continue to hone our skills in the future. It was truly wonderful!”

I’m starting up another cohort of the Storyline Sessions for Startup Founders in May. If you or someone you know would benefit, click here for more information.

I had the pleasure this week of teaching storytelling live at the FoundersBoost meeting in Playa del Rey to a group of highly motivated startup founders.

I’m also preparing special versions of the Storyline Sessions for architects and designers, and social impact changemakers. Coming soon!

WRITING NEWS

Liberation, the third novel in my science fiction trilogy, is progressing into production. My editor, Teja Watson, has given me a list of things to fix, smooth out, and repair. I expect to be done within three weeks, and then its off to a line editor and proofreader. It’s a process. You can get a look at the cover design here. I’m looking for a publicist who specializes in science fiction and will launch the book in the fall.

In the interest of joie de vivre, I’ve decided to have a glass of wine and a plate of manchego and jamón instead of finishing writing this newsletter.

See you next time,

Lee