Don’t cut your origin story. Make it longer.
In short: Tell your story on first calls, then ask for theirs. You’ll learn more than any discovery checklist turns up.
A founder asked me which parts of their backstory to cut from sales calls.
They felt like they were rambling: too much about how they got started, how they learned design, big company milestones, etc.
My answer: don’t cut any of it. Make it longer.
People LOVE hearing how you got here. It’s one of the most human parts of a sales conversation, and honestly, it’s usually the most entertaining. I’ve worked hard on my own version over the years, and it’s often what people remember most from a first call with me.
But here’s the bigger point: turn it around.
On first calls, I ask the other person for their story. Not about the project yet. Just: “So how did you end up where you are?”
People are almost always caught off guard. Then they spend five minutes telling you about themselves, and the whole call changes. It’s warmer and more relaxed, and you learn things a list of discovery questions would never turn up.
You still cover the project. You still ask about budget and timeline. But you’re doing it as two real human people who’ve actually met, instead of a vendor and a buyer working through a checklist.
If you’re not getting to know each other as people on that first call, what’s the point of having it?