I recently had a fascinating conversation with Sridhar Ranganathan on storytelling’s role in building and running a tech product company. His product - B2Brain - enables trade / event exhibitors generate tremendous ROI by making it easy and efficient for them to move offline conversations (that took place during the event), to pipeline in the CRM. In short, offline → pipeline.
Poor storytelling can actually kill you.
-Sridhar, Co-founder & CEO, B2Brain
For Sridhar, the story doesn't truly exist in your deck, website, or pitch, but "in the listener's head". You have to give people something easy to grasp, remember, and recall. Making your product memorable in the right context is essentially how a brand is built.
He drew a parallel to how our earliest storytellers, like grandparents, simplifed things and created emotional journeys to make moments memorable. The frequency of "ups and downs" in a story is what makes it memorable, offering more cycles to remember. An "interesting story" involves that emotional roller coaster.
Sridhar also stressed that for your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), you need to be in the top two or top three in their mind. He firmly believes that a compelling, memorable story is the "number one instrument available to bolster an accelerated distribution".
Without a great story, distribution stalls.
Sridhar’s iterative journey of finding the right story for B2Brain (Offline → Pipeline)
Initially, based on helping exhibitors at trade shows and events, the pitch was about not missing important conversations by providing insights on attendees. The story was "never miss an important conversation/prospect".
Customer feedback revealed that while the insights reports were good, they were hard to use in the moment at the event. A customer suggested scanning badges for immediate insights. This led to a mobile app and an updated story: "scan a badge get insights have a great conversation never miss any interaction".
The pitch evolved further to include note-taking and CRM integration: "scan a badge, get insights, make notes, never miss an interaction, get it in your CRM".
A key turning point came when a founder introduced them as a solution that "helps you capture demand at boots". Sridhar realised they weren't just a "better badge scanner". Their goal was to help companies build better pipeline from events, which consume a huge chunk of marketing spend (40-70%). The story shifted to "we help you capture demand and generate pipeline".
The most impactful story, and the one that seems to be landing now, emerged from understanding the deeper problem: translating face-to-face interactions at events ("offline") into tangible results in the CRM ("pipeline"). This led to the current story: "offline to pipeline". Sridhar calls this a "big chasm" because getting data from reps meeting prospects on the road into systems like the CRM is "non-trivial". He explained that the rep is the "offline entity" and the CRM is the "pipeline entity".
The Wall → Church → Religion framework
This evolution, from feature-based descriptions to problem-centric narratives, is like building layers. Starting with the "wall" (features like scanning/notes), then building a "church" (a clearer purpose like capturing demand), and finally creating a "religion" (a compelling reason to follow, like solving the offline-to-pipeline problem). This particular evolution took about 4 months.
We also discussed how to tell if a story is working and is memorable. Sridhar looks for cues like:
People repeating or rephrasing your story when introducing you or talking about the product.
They can suggest others who might find it valuable because the story triggers connections based on commonalities.
They become more responsive and engaged in the conversation.
They might even complete your sentences, showing they are "in the story along with you".
You can feel the energy when it resonates.
Storytelling X GTM
In the context of B2Brain, different parts of the story resonate with different people. For some, it's the CRM sync. For others, it's the efficiency of leaving quick voice notes at the booth, which Sridhar described as the "most information dense medium," allowing reps to capture qualifiers in 7-12 seconds compared to 45 seconds of typing.
Sridhar views the story as deeply interconnected with the product and go-to-market (GTM) strategy. The story is how prospects imagine the product before they even see it. Refining the story is an ongoing process.
Storytelling is also a powerful tool for qualifying prospects.
By telling stories that highlight the problem – like the wasted expenditure from lost opportunities because notes aren't captured after events – you can quickly see if the prospect feels that pain.
If the problem doesn't resonate within the first minute or two, Sridhar is quite "brutal+ruthless+smart" in disqualifying them, preferring to focus energy on those who already feel the pain point.
Storytelling from a Category context
For Sridhar, a customer problem itself is the category.
Using the analogy of "thirst" as the category solved by different drinks, he suggested "offline to pipeline" could become a category label because it represents a "large secular problem". The formal label will emerge later, perhaps with the help of analysts, as the solution matures and more players enter the space. For now, Sridhar’s focus is on solving the problem and acquiring customers.
Their current ICP is specific: tech companies selling to vertical markets and enterprises that invest heavily in events. These involve non-transactional sales where detailed human interaction and capturing nuances are vital. They identify relevant events, filter exhibitors for their ICP (tech selling to enterprise, non-transactional, investing heavily in events), and reach out directly. The problem resonates with a high percentage of prospects, but inertia (using existing badge scanners, reps' resistance to change) and enablement for sales reps are current challenges.
Customer success stories
Sridhar shared stories of B2Brain customers gaining visibility into pipeline value from events they previously lacked. One of his customers identified 11 pipeline opportunities worth $1.1M from 148 conversations using the app, compared to zero visibility on $2.2M of potential value from two-thirds of conversations where manual methods were used.
My conversation with Sridhar reinforced for me that finding the right story is an ongoing, iterative process, deeply tied to understanding the customer's problem and how your solution uniquely addresses it. It's about constantly refining the narrative until it clearly resonates, makes the product memorable, and becomes a powerful engine for distribution and growth.
If you are a tech founder reading this, all the best building what you are building and may you get to tell powerful stories! Because great storytelling is good business.
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