4 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. CEOs tell stories all the time. Great CEOs are ...
Problem
The way we're taught writing in school is disconnected from the skills necessary for workplace success
78% of high school students and nearly half of all college students lack the essential communication skills required to succeed in the 21st century. As a result, most millennials find themselves unemployed, underemployed, unhappily employed, and disconnected from their passions and purpose.
Solution
Storytelling: a scalable, science-based solution
“At Roanoke we help students focus on their purpose, and to connect the dots around their college experiences to build careers that match their personal and professional purpose. Story2 helped us teach our students how to build those stories and share them in interviews.”
- Melanie Tolan, Executive Director of Marketing, Roanoke College
With skill-building software and live, online group coaching, we’re teaching unemployed, under-employed, and unhappily employed millennials to connect their skills, experience, and temperament with high-impact work.
When we tell stories, three things happen in our brain: memories, emotions, and our desire to act ignite at once. The same things happen when we read or listen to stories. Neuroscientists believe that storytelling evolved over thousands of years to help humans navigate between situations and ideas we know and things that are new to us. Whatever your age or stage in life, Story2 teaches you how to tap into the science of storytelling — the human brain’s most powerful communication system.
Product
24/7 on-demand communications skill-building
Our patented, award-winning StoryBuilder platform, courses, and bootcamps help you create fresh cover letters, prepare for real interviews, and succeed in the 21st century workplace. For people who need more focused support, our specially trained coaches are available 24/7 to provide quick, reliable feedback.
Traction
Building education products at scale
Since 2014, when we launched in Techstars, Story2 has helped more than 200,000 people navigate high stakes communication -- like job interviews, college admission essays, pitching big ideas, even dating app profiles. In the college admissions space our B2B customers include NYC Public Schools, DCPS, KIPP, the Student Leadership Network, UBS, and the Heckscher Foundation for Children. In 2019 our B2B average order was $25,000 and our average DTC sale was $213.
Now we are tackling the workforce communication skills market with HirePower®. In the first 30 days of launching the HirePower® vertical, we’ve built a pipeline of over $5M in colleges and businesses eager to train and upskill young workers. We’re already working with 8 customers, including Princeton University, Roanoke College, and NC State University. We are seeing increased demand each day; our HigherEd target customer spans Career Services, Alumni Services, Veterans’ Services, equity and inclusion.
Customers
Our users build communication skills to thrive at work and in life
“I brought Story2 in to invigorate my sales team and improve the team’s communication through storytelling. Story2 was absolutely transformational. My team began to think about their business differently and sent emails that were more passionate. The next year was a record, and I would attribute an enormous amount of that change to the techniques that Story2 taught my team.”
- Lori Burgess, Publisher, Prevention Magazine
Story2 has served over 200,000 users from over 21 countries with transformative impact:
Our institutional customers include leading businesses, universities, and organizations:
Business model
Building a community of storytellers with a B2B and B2B2C SaaS model
In our college admissions business, we were able to scale to 200,000 users through our combined freemium B2B, and B2B2C SaaS model that has a 83% gross margin. We are using this customer acquisition strategy as a roadmap to launch our HirePower® workforce communications vertical.
Market
$626B+ revenue opportunity
Global demand for writing and speaking skills is substantial and growing more than 12% per year. Across the U.S., China, and India, we estimate a total addressable market of $626 billion and a total serviceable market of $279 billion. We capture that market by selling B2B to universities and businesses, and B2B2C through strategic partners.
Competition
Story2 is the only company providing science-based online storytelling services with proven results
Our competitors tend to be either free online resources, high-cost personal coaches, or ghostwriting, where someone else does the work. Only Story2 combines a scalable writing process with measurable, personalized learning outcomes.
Vision and strategy
A global community of storytellers
The Chinese name for Story2 is KanKanTu, combining the Confucian Kan Kan, a person who is easy and joyful communicating with all types of people, and Tu, the fast rabbit of technology innovation. Our vision is to empower people from all walks of life to thrive personally and professionally through storytelling and technology.
Through our digital communications skill-building platform, people learn to succeed in 21st century work and connect to meaningful economic opportunities.
Funding
$2M+ in funding raised to date
$2M+ in funding raised to date from Techstars, Kaplan Ventures, Chamillionaire, Yale Bulldog Ventures, and more.
We’re raising up to $1M here to accelerate business growth and scale globally. For a limited time, you can invest in Story2 for as little as $100, learn these communication superpowers for yourself, and help us change how the world communicates!
We are proud to be supported by Kaplan Ventures, Techstars, Edovate Capital, TWJ Capital, Yale Bulldog Ventures and angels including Chamillionaire, Jeremy Johnson, Donald Meltzer, and Walt Winshall.