Welcome to The Narrative Intel.
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Let me catch you up.

Since leaving Freshworks at the end of 2022 I've often been asked "What's next?" Well I've done nothing. Then something. The nothing part was important. I asked my wife to not let me commit to anything for at least 2-3 months. Yes, I was fortunate to be able to take that time. In the process I found some clarity in what's "next" for me.

Aside from being an investor, advisor, and consultant for startups, I rediscovered my passion for many of the topics I have explored over the years. Many of them come up often in my conversations with founders and executive leadership. That has led to where we are now. 

A newsletter.

Who's Going To Read My Newsletter?

I've been getting that question a lot. First, there's you. So, thank you. Beyond that I'm reminded of a blog post I wrote back 2010, Who's Going To Read My Blog? While I do hope you read the blog, the TL;DR is this: from my perspective asking who's going to read it is the wrong question. It's more valuable to write something people are willing to share. So a better question would be "Can you write something people will want to share?"

My hope is some things I say here will resonate and will bring to mind a friend, co-worker, manager -- anyone, really -- who you think may get value from it. That's the bar I'm shooting for. Can I write something that you will not only enjoy and get value from, but will also want to share. I hope you stick with me and let me know how I'm doing.

Conversations

Which leads me to my next point. I look at this newsletter as a conversation platform. Yes, I know I will be doing a lot of the talking, but my hope is you find other voices infused in what you see here and, eventually, you own. I know I learn best when I'm the one asking questions. At the same time I know I learn when I answer questions. I often ask those I mentor what they think I get out of it. A significant part of it is what I learn by answering THEIR questions. Whatever answer or advice I give them for the situations or questions they present, the reality is I have never thought about it quite THAT way before. Their situation is unique. So when I think it through, ask more questions, make suggestions, and give advice, I've learned something new in the process. I know this is my first issue and it's a lot to start making asks. Still here's mine:

• Please ask questions. There are no bad questions. Simple. Complex. All are welcome

• If you do apply anything you learn here, please let me know how things work out. That's how I learn as well

What can you expect?

If you've known me for any amount of time, it won't be much of a surprise what you can expect to see in this newsletter. Each week you will get an anchor article diving into some of my passions, which include:

• Marketing & Communications: This will include addressing basic questions like "What business are you in?" and how to position your business and find real competitive differentiation. I'll talk about the framework Jeff Gomez and I developed for organizations of any size and maturity -- from startups to global brands to non-profits -- how to best communicate what they have to give to the world. There is a book coming soon -- The 10 Commandments of Successful Corporate Narratives. I'll explore more details of it in action and share success (and failure) stories.

• Navigating the Information Age: I was going to call this pillar ‘The Future of Work’, but then I realized it's more than just about work. It's about essential skills, it's about models like simple/complicated/complex to help you process the impact of AI, along with networking, mentorship, creativity, improvisation...I hope you get the picture.

• Business Strategy: I think I took the easy way out by naming this pillar. Maybe someone can suggest something better. Here I will be talking about topics that include the work I did with Mike Fraietta on The Control Scale, a framework for how organizations communicate and collaborate. I will be exploring not just remote/hybrid work but management, a bigger challenge we haven’t really reckoned with yet. And I will also discuss some topics that may be familiar to some, including Minimum Viable Deployment, Vision & Ability to Execute, Howling Dog Problems, and how to win with customer experience and employee experience.

Kitchen Sink

Along with an anchor article, I will also include some regular and semi-regular features. Just a few I have in mind right now:

• What I'm reading/listening to/watching. I love podcasts, so there will be a bunch, as well as articles or social media posts I find relevant or topical. Need a good name for this section

• A Mike Ross Special. My long-time mentor Mike Ross has given me a tremendous amount of sage advice over the last 20+ years. I've actually written a lot of it down. I'd like to share some of it with you. The name comes from how he would give you a referral. He'd give you someone's name and contact info and the instructions: "Tell them you're a Mike Ross Special."

• Berkson’s Bits: Little bits and thoughts that may not be fully baked or don’t quite warrant a long form exploration (yet). 

• Guest articles. I like to say I collect smart people. From time to time I'll ask some of them to share things I'd like you to know that they are much more qualified to write.

• And more…

What I’m Listening To

The Transaction: Positioning is a Key Pillar of SaaS Growth with Bob Wright - Ep. 42

I’m a big fan of The Transaction with hosts Craig Rosenberg and Matt Amundson. They focus mostly on sales. In this episode, Bob Wright covers a topic near and dear to me: positioning. 

Quote teaser for you startup founders and challenger brands: “How are you moving the needle and the goal post for your category definition? Otherwise they go with the status quo where the market leader/brand name?”

Berkson’s Bits: “Summaries are editing. We've all read articles/books/essays that seemed to be too long. We ask AI to summarize. It loses something.”

Please be sure to read to the end of this newsletter for what I'm calling the Stan Berkson Footer. My late father was an editor back in the days when cut and paste was with an X-Acto knife and rubber cement. 

Why rubber cement? Because you could peel it off and move it if you had to. He was the editor of my elementary school newsletter of PS-134 in Queens, The Inkwell. On the last page of every newsletter he published, he had that footer.

Looking forward to continuing the conversation...

Alan