Tech startups that tell beautiful stories

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This week we’re quoting Natalia Brzezinski (Founder and CEO at Absolute Strategies)

What Brzezinski said: 

“I believe the best tech companies capture the hearts and cultural zeitgeist of the moment through storytelling. This separates the good from the great, and the ‘profitable’ from the iconic and world-shaping.” 

It was part of a conversation about storytelling

We asked Brzezinski how important she thinks storytelling is when it comes to communication in the tech industry – and in a nutshell, she said very important. 

“I found my way into tech and entrepreneurship in Stockholm, Sweden in the early 2010s. I was part of the U.S. Embassy in Sweden and quickly discovered the yet undiscovered story of Nordic entrepreneurs and the rising tech ecosystem in Europe,” she said. 

“With no background in engineering or technology, I began to engage with Swedish founders and tell their story to America” 

“This is also when I discovered that most tech leaders focused on the algorithms and strategy, and not the story and the community. This is a space I enjoyed filling and which grew in importance as tech leaders need to tell their story effectively to so many stakeholders- consumers, employees, investors, government officials and regulators.” 

So what does it look like when a tech brand does storytelling really well? 

When we’re thinking about tech companies that have captured the zeitgeist of the moment and used storytelling to reshape the world, some obvious examples of tech giants spring to mind.

But instead of highlighting them here, we want to talk about smaller companies that also do this beautifully in more confined spaces – using stories to capture the hearts of their specific market, and drive real change in that space. 

Like…

• Rubedo Life Sciences. Rubedo is a Latin word that represents the final stage of an alchemist’s work to create the universal medicine that cures all disease and allows people to live long, youthful lives. And this biopharmaceutical startup is striving to develop transformative medicines along those lines – with longevity and youth built into the brand storytelling at every turn.

When we interviewed the company’s Co-Founder and CEO Marco Quarta, he said:

“I had my first inspiration when I was five years old, that’s when I decided I wanted to study ageing and find a way to change how we age. A year later, I put together my first lab…I started to play science back then, but I never stopped.”

Quarta’s lifelong passion and dedication reflects the company’s deeper mission to enable long and healthy lives – and that story of longevity is told in small details across every aspect of the brand.

• Space Perspective. The space industry is changing. It was once a guarded sector, where only major players could gain traction, and only highly trained astronauts could dream of travelling beyond Earth’s atmosphere. But access to space is beginning to shift – and Space Perspective is using finely tuned storytelling to tap into that transition and push it forwards.

The company will offer space travel experiences in its SpaceBalloon – enabling tourists to enjoy a gentle ride and even a cocktail among the stars.

We spoke to Co-Founder and CEO Jane Poynter, and she said:

“We are driven by a desire to share the transformative power of space travel with as many people as possible. We know that looking down on planet Earth from the deep blackness of space – the quintessential astronaut experience – will radically shift one’s perception of our world and our place within it.”

“Astronauts often return from missions with a fire inside them; many get involved in environmental and societal causes. Often referred to as the overview effect, we call this the Space Perspective. And we think it can change the world and create a better future for our planet.”

• Team Vitality. A leading esports club in Europe, made up of nine teams playing across eight different games, Team Vitality set out to transform its market – and storytelling was central to that transformation.

The club’s Co-Owner and Executive Chairman, Febien Devide, said:

“When we arrived 10 years ago, our mission was to modernise the esports of the 2000s. Team Vitality's strength was our transparency, and our desire to create good storytelling with entertainment, and finding the right balance between creating entertaining experiences for fans and winning esports competitions.”

By dismantling and then rebuilding the narrative around esports, the brand has catalysed a transformation not just for their own business, but for the entire market that surrounds it. 

So consider this your reminder…

…that giants aren’t the only ones who tell important stories. 

No matter the size of your tech company (or even if it’s only the seed of an idea in your mind at this moment in time), you can put stories at the heart of your brand world – and if you do, you’ll have the potential to change the real world. 

Read our full interview with Natalia Brzezinski: How tech talks to the world

Have an idea for a topic you'd like us to cover? We're eager to hear it! Drop us a message and share your thoughts.

Catch you next week,
Richard McKeon
Group Marketing Director

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