The Narrative Scoring Framework: A Guide for Marketing Leaders
How to Measure and Strengthen Your Company's Authentic Story
Most marketing narratives fail before they start.
Not because of poor messaging or weak creative execution, but because they’re built on a foundation that can’t support a compelling story.
The question isn’t “What’s our positioning?”
The question is: “Do we have the authentic elements required to build a narrative that resonates?”
Based on the Narrative Generation framework (which I co-wrote with fellow design thinkers) this guide helps marketing leaders evaluate their company’s narrative foundation across four critical components: Friction, Lived Stake, Distinctive Qualification, and Real Aspiration.
Each component receives a score (0-10), revealing whether you’re building from authentic experience or aspirational fiction.
Why Narrative Scoring Matters for Marketing Leaders
The Problem with Traditional Positioning
Traditional brand positioning assumes you can craft your way to a compelling story. Pick differentiators, identify your audience, write a value prop, and execute creatively.
But audiences—especially B2B buyers—detect inauthenticity immediately. They’ve heard a thousand companies claim to be “transforming” their industry or “empowering” customers.
What actually breaks through: Stories rooted in an authentic founder or organizational experience. Not what you want to be known for, but what you actually came from.
What This Framework Reveals
For marketing leaders, narrative scoring shows:
Whether you have a story to tell - Some companies simply don’t (yet)
Where your narrative strength lies - Which components to lean into
What gaps need addressing - Where research/repositioning can help
How to prioritize - What elements matter most for your category
When to pivot your approach - Observer vs. participant narratives
This isn’t about creating better marketing materials. It’s about diagnosing whether you have the authentic ingredients needed to craft a narrative that drives belief.
The Four Components
Component 1: Friction (0-10)
What problem did you name?
Friction measures the problem you’ve identified—not your solution, but the pain, gap, or dysfunction you recognized in the world.
For marketing leaders, ask:
Can you articulate this problem in one sentence?
Do people immediately nod when you describe it?
Is it urgent or merely inconvenient?
Does it affect enough people to matter?
The Friction Scale
9-10: Crisis-Level Friction Non-discretionary, urgent, broadly experienced
Characteristics:
Binary outcome (solve it or face serious consequences)
Affects survival, safety, or a critical business function
No viable workaround exists
The problem compounds if unsolved
Examples:
Medical emergencies requiring immediate diagnosis
Climate change is threatening ecosystems
Financial exclusion blocks economic participation
Broken systems are preventing business operations
Marketing implication: Lead with the crisis. Your audience already feels the pain urgently.
Less education needed, more “we understand” signaling.
8.0-8.5: High-Stakes Friction Urgent, broad impact, clear consequences
Characteristics:
Creates significant opportunity cost (lost revenue, time, efficiency)
Affects a large population or a critical business function
Workarounds exist, but are painful/expensive
Problem clearly understood inthe market
Examples:
Airbnb: Couldn’t afford rent + hotels sold out = binary crisis
Stripe: Payment integration took months, blocked business launches
Harvey: Broken apprenticeship model in Big Law
Socure: Credit-invisible populations locked out of the financial system
Marketing implication: Frame as urgent business/personal problem. Quantify impact. Show what’s at stake. Your audience knows the pain but may not realize the scale.
7.0-7.5: Clear, Validated Friction Real problem with demonstrated pain
Characteristics:
Clear inefficiency or gap
Affects a specific but significant population
Market validates the problem exists
Urgency is moderate but real
Examples:
Legacy systems create manual work
Regulatory compliance burden
Information overload requiring filtering
Access barriers to services/tools
Marketing implication: You’ll need to provide some education. Not everyone feels this pain acutely yet. Case studies and proof points are critical.
5.0-6.5: Moderate Friction Real but not urgent
Characteristics:
Inefficiency that’s annoying, but not blocking
Workarounds exist and are tolerable
Affects niche population
Low switching motivation
Examples:
Process improvements that save time but aren’t critical
Better UI/UX on existing tools
Incremental cost savings
Marketing implication: You’re fighting inertia. Focus on cumulative impact, competitive advantage, or regulatory forcing functions. Long sales cycles expected.
3.0-4.5: Weak Friction Questionable whether the problem is real
Characteristics:
Nice-to-have improvement
Market doesn’t clearly validate the need
Low urgency from customers
Many existing solutions
Marketing implication: Be honest—you may not yet have product-market fit. Consider whether you’re solving a real problem or creating a solution, looking for one.
0-2.5: Manufactured Friction Problem doesn’t exist or is created by the solution
Characteristics:
No clear market validation
Solution creates the “need.”
Customers don’t recognizethe problem
Marketing implication: Stop. Revisit whether you have a business. No amount of marketing fixes a non-existent problem.
Component 2: Lived Stake (0-10)
Did you personally experience the friction?
This is the differentiating component. Two companies can identify the same friction but score completely differently based on founder/organizational proximity to the problem.
For marketing leaders, ask:
Did our founders personally experience this friction?
For how long? How severely?
Were they participants or observers?
Can we tell an authentic origin story, or is it strategic analysis?
The Lived Stake Scale
9-10: Created or Deeply Suffered Maximum authentic proximity
Characteristics:
Personally created the problem (Patagonia’s pitons)
Experienced repeated personal crisis (Airbnb’s rent)
Years or decades of direct suffering
Made personal sacrifices to solve it
Examples:
Patagonia (10): Yvon Chouinard’s climbing pitons scarred the rocks he loved. He personally created the environmental damage. Killed profitable product line.
Airbnb (9.0): Chesky and Gebbia literally broke, couldn’t pay rent repeatedly. Hosted strangers on air mattresses in desperation.
Marketing implication: Your origin story IS your competitive advantage. Lead with it everywhere. The personal stakes create authenticity no competitor can replicate. Tell it in the founder’s voice, with specific details. This is Patagonia’s “Let my people go surfing” level differentiation.
Messaging approach: “We built this because we personally faced [crisis]. Here’s exactly what happened...”
7.5-8.5: Direct Personal Experience, Authentic but shorter duration
Characteristics:
Personally experienced friction for months/a few years
Direct participant, not observer
Clear memory of specific painful moments
Built a solution while experiencing a problem
Examples:
Harvey (7.5): Weinberg spent 1 year as a Big Law associate, conducting tedious research on landlord-tenant law. Brief but authentic.
Socure (7.5): Sunil Madhu personally denied US credit despite European history. Immigrant exclusion he experienced directly.
Marketing implication: You have an authentic origin story; use it. Shorter duration means less detail, but personal experience still differentiates. Specific anecdotes matter—the landlord-tenant case, the credit denial moment.
Messaging approach: “During my year at [X], I personally experienced [specific moment]. That’s when I knew...”
6.0-7.0: Personal + Observation Mix Some direct experience, supplemented by research
Characteristics:
Brief personal experience (< 1 year)
Combined with “hearing from others.”
Participant who also interviewed/researched
One co-founder is experienced, one recruited
Examples:
Stripe (6.5): Collisons built Auctomatic ~1 year, personally integrated payments. But Patrick says: “exposed ourselves directly AND hearing stories from others”—mixed sourcing.
DigitalOcean (6.5): Ran a hosting business for 8 years, experienced AWS threat. Direct experience, but reactive, not proactive recognition.
Marketing implication: Be honest about the mix. You can say, “While building our first company, we hit this wall. When we talked to other founders, they had the same experience.” Mixed sourcing is authentic if transparent.
Don’t claim deeper experience than you have.
Messaging approach: “Building [X], we ran into [problem]. Turns out we weren’t alone—we talked to [N] others who...”
5.0-5.5: Primarily Observation, Significant research, limited personal experience
Characteristics:
Deep industry experience, but as a vendor/consultant
Extensive customer interviews/research
Domain expertise without personal friction
“We spent months talking to...”
Examples:
Okta (5.5): McKinnon spent 5 years at Salesforce, interviewing 100 CIOs about identity pain. Deep research, not personal experience.
Marketing implication: Lead with expertise, not personal story. You’re an informed observer, not a participant. Frame as: “After [X] years in the industry and [N] customer conversations, we identified a critical gap.” Lean into domain credibility and research rigor.
Messaging approach: “We spent [time period] studying [problem] with [N] companies. Here’s what we learned...”
4.0-4.5: Abstract Observation Identified opportunity through analysis
Characteristics:
Saw macro trend or market gap
No direct experience with friction
“We believed this problem was important”
Strategic opportunity identification
Examples:
Blackbird.ai (4.0): Founders studied disinformation as an existential threat (”kept us up at night”). Never personally victims of narrative attacks. Observer analyzing a societal problem.
Marketing implication: Don’t fake a personal connection. Instead, lead with the problem’s importance and your technical solution. “Disinformation is the WEF’s #1 global risk. We built AI to detect it.” Focus on expertise and execution, not founder story.
Messaging approach: “The market faces [major problem]. We assembled experts from [domains] to solve it.”
2.0-3.5: Strategic Analysis, Pure market opportunity identification
Characteristics:
No domain experience
Identified opportunity through research/data
“We saw a gap in the market.”
No personal connection to the problem
Examples:
Tractor Supply Company (3.5): Economics PhD analyzing Depression-era farmers. Never farmed, never owned tractor, explicitly admitted ignorance.
Marketing implication: Acknowledge you’re an operator, not a founder with lived experience. Focus entirely on execution, results, and customer success. “We saw an opportunity and executed. Here’s our 86-year track record.”
Messaging approach: Focus on: market data, customer testimonials, execution proof. Avoid origin stories entirely.
0-1.5: Opportunistic Pivot or pure arbitrage
Characteristics:
Pivoted from an unrelated business
Following trend/hype
No domain connection
Marketing implication: Be honest—you’re early and learning. Either gain a lived stake (hire people who experienced friction) or acknowledge you’re building based on market signals. Transparency > faking authenticity.
Component 3: Distinctive Qualification (0-10)
What’s your unique ability to effect change?
This measures whether you can actually execute on the solution. Not just domain expertise, but proof you can build, scale, and deliver.
For marketing leaders, ask:
What makes us uniquely qualified to solve this?
What proof do we have of execution capability?
Are we credible in this domain?
Can we demonstrate traction?
The Qualification Scale
9-10: Market-Defining Excellence Category leader with decades of proof
Characteristics:
Built $50B+ company or transformed an industry
Decades of sustained execution
Created a new category or redefined an existing one
Attracted exceptional talent
Examples:
Patagonia (9.5): 50+ years, $3B+ revenue, created the outdoor retail category, B-Corp, gave the company away
Airbnb (8.0): $75B valuation, 4M hosts, 1B+ guests, transformed hospitality
Marketing implication: You’ve earned the right to lead conversations. Thought leadership, category definition, bold positions. Your track record speaks louder than any claim.
Messaging approach: Lead with impact, scale, transformation. You don’t need to prove capability—it’s evident.
7.5-8.5: Validated Execution Unicorn+ with clear market position
Characteristics:
$1B-$100B valuation
Top 3 in category
Proven customer traction at scale
Strong team and technical execution
Examples:
Stripe (8.5): $70B valuation, $1.4T processed, 50% Fortune 100. Technical prodigy founders (Young Scientist age 16, sold first company age 19).
Harvey (8.0): $8B valuation, 42% AmLaw 100, early GPT-4 access created 6-month lead
Socure (7.5): $4.5B valuation, 2,800+ customers, 18 of top 20 banks, measurable inclusion impact
Marketing implication: You have proof. Lead with customer traction, scale metrics, third-party validation (analyst reports, awards). Case studies and proof points are your strength.
Messaging approach: “We serve [impressive customers], process [big numbers], ranked [position] by [credible third party].”
6.0-7.0: Strong Early Traction Product-market fit demonstrated
Characteristics:
$100M-$1B range
Clear customer traction
Product-market fit established
Growth trajectory visible
Examples:
Blackbird.ai (6.5): ~$100M valuation, Forbes Global 2000 clients, purpose-built AI platform, Forrester recognition
Marketing implication: You need to prove you’re real. Heavy focus on customer success stories, ROI demonstrations, third-party validation. You’re past MVP but not yet dominant.
Messaging approach: “Leading [customer type] trust us to [outcome]. Here’s what they achieved...”
4.0-5.5: Early Stage, Limited Proof Pre-product-market fit or early traction
Characteristics:
Small customer base
Early product iterations
Limited scale proof
Unproven team
Marketing implication: Focus on vision and early believers. You don’t have scale proof yet. Emphasize the problem (friction), your unique approach, and early customer commitment. Thought leadership to build awareness.
Messaging approach: “We’re working with [early adopters] to reimagine [category]. Here’s our approach...”
0-3.5: Weak or Unproven. No clear execution capability
Characteristics:
No customers or revenue
Team lacks domain expertise
Failed pivots
Weak fundamentals
Marketing implication: Don’t market yet. Get your first 10 customers, prove the product works, then tell the story.
Component 4: Real Aspiration (0-10)
What accessible transformation do you offer?
Aspiration measures the transformational vision—not mission statements, but actual structure: who can participate, how power is redistributed, whether you’re building a movement or transaction.
For marketing leaders, ask:
Who can actually participate in what we’re building?
Are we transactional or transformational?
Does our structure enable empowerment or just commerce?
What’s the societal impact beyond revenue?
The Aspiration Scale
9-10: Movement-Building Transformation Redistributes power, anyone can participate
Characteristics:
Accessible to individuals (low/no barrier to participate)
Community-driven (not just transactional)
Integrated mission (not separate CSR)
Redistributes agency/power to participants
Examples:
Patagonia (10.0): 1% for the Planet (anyone can join), Action Works (activists use the platform), B Corp structure, gave the company to an environmental trust. Mission IS the business model.
Marketing implication: Your mission IS your differentiation. Lead with impact, show how people participate, and build community. This is permission to do cause marketing that isn’t performative because it’s structurally integrated.
Messaging approach: “Join [movement name]. [X number] people are already [participating]. Here’s how you can [take action].”
7.5-8.5: Genuine Democratization Accessible, empowering, measurable impact
Characteristics:
Enables participation from previously excluded groups
Lowers barriers meaningfully
Multiple stakeholder value
Some structural limitations (geographic, B2B, etc.)
Examples:
Airbnb (7.0): Anyone can list a spare room (democratized hospitality). Created “belonging.” But the housing crisis complexity (removing rental stock, raising rents).
Marketing implication: Lead with access and empowerment, acknowledge complexity. Don’t oversell. “We helped [N] people earn $[X] from spare space. Yes, housing policy is complex. Here’s what we’re doing...”
Messaging approach: “Before us, only [established players] could [do X]. Now anyone can [participate]. We’ve enabled [N] people to [achieve outcome].”
6.5-7.0: Positive Impact, Structural Limits: Helps customers succeed, but transactional
Characteristics:
Solves real problems for customers
Clear value creation
But: B2B only, or elite-only, or transactional
Benefits indirect or limited participation
Examples:
Stripe (6.5): “Increase the GDP of the internet”—enables millions of businesses. But B2B infrastructure only, developers pay fees. No consumer empowerment or movement.
Harvey (7.0): Fixes broken apprenticeship—real improvement for associates. But serves elite firms only (AmLaw 100). No legal access democratization.
Socure (7.0): Financial inclusion mission (founder’s immigrant exclusion). Verifies 94% hard-to-identify populations. But B2B enterprise SaaS—indirect impact, no consumer agency.
Marketing implication: Be honest about whom you serve. Don’t claim to “democratize” if you’re a B2B enterprise. Instead: “We enable [your customers] to [achieve transformation]. Here’s the impact...”
Messaging approach: “We help [customer type] [achieve outcome] so they can [serve their customers better]. [X] businesses now [result].”
5.0-6.0: Commercial with Positive Externalities: Helps customers, ethical operations, but transactional
Characteristics:
Improves customer business outcomes
Ethical, responsible operations
Some societal benefit
Primarily commercial relationship
Marketing implication: Focus on customer success and category leadership. Your aspiration is to make customers successful, not build a movement. That’s fine—own it. Lead with ROI, outcomes, and creliability.
Messaging approach: “We’re the [category] leader helping [customer type] [achieve measurable outcome]. [Stats proving it].”
3.0-4.5: Pure Commercial Serves narrow audience, extractive value capture
Characteristics:
Benefits primarily company/shareholders
Minimal societal consideration
Serves elite only
Extractive vs. generative
Marketing implication: Don’t try to fake mission. Focus purely on product value, efficiency, ROI. B2B enterprise positioning. Avoid purpose washing.
Messaging approach: “[Product] delivers [specific value] for [customer segment]. [Proof points].”
0-2.5: Harmful or Extractive Negative societal impact
Characteristics:
Creates negative externalities
Exploitative practices
Harms communities/environment
Marketing implication: Fix your business model. No amount of marketing solves ethical problems.
How Marketing Leaders Should Use This Framework
Step 1: Score Your Company Honestly
Friction: What problem did we identify? How urgent is it?
[ ] Can I articulate it in one sentence?
[ ] Do prospects immediately recognize it?
[ ] How many people experience this?
[ ] Score: ___ / 10
Lived Stake: Did our founders personally experience this?
[ ] Did they experience it personally or observe it?
[ ] For how long? How severely?
[ ] Can we tell specific stories with details?
[ ] Score: ___ / 10
Distinctive Qualification: Can we execute?
[ ] What proof do we have?
[ ] Who are our customers?
[ ] What’s our competitive position?
[ ] Score: ___ / 10
Real Aspiration: Who can participate?
[ ] Is this B2B or B2C or both?
[ ] Can individuals participate directly?
[ ] Are we transactional or transformational?
[ ] Score: ___ / 10
Overall: ___ / 10
Step 2: Identify Your Narrative Strategy
Based on your scores, choose your approach:
High Lived Stake (8+): Lead with Origin Story
Your advantage: Authentic founder experience no competitor can replicate.
Marketing approach:
Founder story everywhere (website, pitch, content)
Specific details (not generic “we saw a problem”)
First-person narrative voice
Documentary-style content showing the journey
Content priorities:
Founder origin story (video, long-form article)
“Why we built this” narrative
Community of people with similar experience
User-generated stories echoing founder journey
Example: Airbnb’s “Belong Anywhere” works because Chesky and Gebbia literally couldn’t afford to belong (pay rent). The origin story makes the mission credible.
Moderate Lived Stake (6-7): Mix Personal + Research
Your advantage: Some authentic experience + validated through research.
Marketing approach:
Acknowledge the mix: “While building X, we experienced Y. Talked to Z others—same problem.”
Lean into research rigor and domain expertise
Combine founder moments with customer validation
Thought leadership showing deep understanding
Content priorities:
Founder experience (shorter, specific moments)
Research findings / industry analysis
Customer validation / case studies
Domain expert positioning
Example: Stripe acknowledges “directly ourselves + hearing stories from others”—authentic about the mixed sourcing.
Low Lived Stake (4-5): Lead with Expertise
Your advantage: Domain knowledge, research rigor, informed perspective.
Marketing approach:
Don’t fake founder connection
Lead with the problem’s importance
Emphasize research, interviews, data
Focus on technical solution
Customer proof becomes primary
Content priorities:
Market analysis / thought leadership
Customer success stories (let them tell the story)
Technical differentiation
Industry research / reports
Example: Blackbird.ai leads with “WEF #1 global risk” and technical AI solution, not founder story.
Very Low Lived Stake (2-3): Lead with Execution
Your advantage: Results, customer success, operational excellence.
Marketing approach:
Avoid origin stories entirely
Lead with track record
Customer testimonials are primary narrative
Focus on reliability, scale, results
Content priorities:
Customer case studies
Scale metrics / proof points
Industry positioning / analyst validation
Operational excellence stories
Example: Tractor Supply (86 years, Fortune 500) leads with execution and customer success, not founder story.
Step 3: Address Narrative Gaps
If Friction is low (< 6):
Problem: Market may not recognize the pain urgently
Fix: More customer research. Validate problem exists. Consider pivot if truly weak.
Marketing: Heavy education, case studies showing before/after, quantified impact
If Lived Stake is low (< 5):
Problem: You’re an observer, not participant
Fix: Hire people who experienced friction (gives you authentic voices). Partner with communities who lived it.
Marketing: Shift to expertise-driven narrative, use customer voices, acknowledge your role as facilitator
If Qualification is low (< 6):
Problem: You can’t prove execution yet
Fix: Get first 10 customers, create case studies, build proof
Marketing: Thought leadership and vision while you build proof. Emphasize founders’ backgrounds and approach.
If Aspiration is low (< 6):
Problem: You’re transactional, not transformational
Fix: This may be structural (B2B enterprise = inherently limited participation). Own it rather than fake mission. OR: Add genuine participatory elements (community, open access tier, movement)
Marketing: Focus on customer success, don’t purpose-wash with fake mission
Step 4: Communicate Authentically
For high-stakes companies (lived stake 8+):
✅ Do:
Tell founder story in first person with specific details
Show vulnerability (Airbnb sold cereal boxes)
Use documentary-style content
Build community around shared experience
Let the mission drive messaging
❌ Don’t:
Generic “we saw a problem” language
Corporate mission-speak
Hiding founder background
Separating story from brand
For moderate-stakes companies (lived stake 6-7):
✅ Do:
Acknowledge the mix of experience + research
Tell specific founding moments
Show domain expertise journey
Validate through customer voices
Balance personal + professional
❌ Don’t:
Overstate depth of personal experience
Claim lived stake you don’t have
Ignore the research component
Separate founder from company
For observer companies (lived stake 4-5):
✅ Do:
Lead with problem importance, not founder story
Emphasize research and expertise
Use customer voices as primary narrative
Focus on technical/operational execution
Be transparent about your role
❌ Don’t:
Fake personal connection
Create fictional origin stories
Ignore that you’re observer, not participant
Try to build movement without authentic stake
For execution companies (lived stake 2-3):
✅ Do:
Lead with results and customer success
Focus on operational excellence
Use customer testimonials exclusively
Emphasize scale and reliability
Own your role as professional operators
❌ Don’t:
Attempt origin storytelling
Create fake founder mythology
Purpose-wash with hollow mission
Pretend to have lived stake
Common Marketing Mistakes by Score Range
Mistake 1: “Faking High Lived Stake When You Have Low”
Example: B2B SaaS company with founders who interviewed customers (lived stake ~5) creating origin story about “experiencing the pain ourselves.”
Why it fails: Audience detects inauthenticity. When pressed for details, story falls apart.
Fix: Own your researcher/expert role. “We spent two years interviewing [N] companies and identified...”
Mistake 2: “Hiding High Lived Stake with Corporate Speak”
Example: Founder who personally experienced severe friction (lived stake 9) but company uses generic corporate positioning.
Why it fails: You’re hiding your biggest competitive advantage.
Fix: Put founder story front and center. Use first-person narrative. Show the vulnerable human experience.
Mistake 3: “Claiming ‘Democratization’ When You’re B2B Enterprise”
Example: Enterprise SaaS selling to Fortune 500 (aspiration ~6) claiming to “democratize access.”
Why it fails: You don’t democratize anything—you sell expensive software to large companies.
Fix: Frame as enabling your customers to serve their customers better. “We help [banks] approve [30% more underserved populations].”
Mistake 4: “Confusing Problem Identification (Friction) with Personal Experience (Lived Stake)”
Example: “We identified that small businesses struggle with X” (friction identification) presented as “We experienced this struggle” (lived stake claim).
Why it fails: Identifying ≠ experiencing. Audience knows the difference.
Fix: Be precise. “As consultants, we saw dozens of small businesses struggling with X. Here’s what we learned...”
Mistake 5: “Leading with Mission When You Have Pure Commercial Model”
Example: B2B enterprise software (aspiration ~5) with lofty mission statement about “transforming society.”
Why it fails: Structure doesn’t support claims. You’re transactional, claiming transformation.
Fix: Focus on customer success and operational excellence. Mission-washing backfires.
Putting It All Together: Narrative Archetypes
Based on scores, companies fall into narrative archetypes. Understanding yours guides strategy:
The Missionary (Lived Stake 8+, Aspiration 8+)
Profile: Founder experienced problem deeply, built transformational solution
Examples: Patagonia, Airbnb
Narrative strategy: Lead with founder origin story, build movement, integrate mission into everything
Marketing priorities:
Founder documentary content
Community building
User-generated stories
Mission-driven campaigns
Key message: “I personally experienced [crisis]. Built [solution]. Now [X people] can [transformation].”
The Insider (Lived Stake 7-8, Qualification 8+)
Profile: Industry veteran who experienced friction, built expert solution
Examples: Harvey, Socure
Narrative strategy: Combine personal experience with domain expertise, focus on authentic insight
Marketing priorities:
Founder story with credentials
Industry thought leadership
Customer case studies
Technical differentiation
Key message: “After [X years] in [industry], I personally hit [wall]. Built [solution] based on real experience.”
The Builder (Lived Stake 6-7, Qualification 8+)
Profile: Mixed personal experience + observation, strong execution
Examples: Stripe, DigitalOcean
Narrative strategy: Balance personal moments with research validation, lead with technical excellence
Marketing priorities:
Technical thought leadership
Developer/customer community
Scale and reliability messaging
Brief founder context
Key message: “While building [X], we experienced [Y]. Validated with [community]. Built infrastructure for [everyone].”
The Expert (Lived Stake 4-5, Qualification 7+)
Profile: Domain expertise through observation/research, strong execution
Examples: Blackbird.ai, Okta
Narrative strategy: Lead with problem importance and research, use customer voices, focus on technical solution
Marketing priorities:
Market research and thought leadership
Customer success stories (primary)
Industry analyst validation
Technical/operational proof
Key message: “After [researching/working with] [N] companies, we identified [critical gap]. Built [solution].”
The Operator (Lived Stake 2-3, Qualification 7+)
Profile: Strategic opportunity identification, operational excellence
Examples: Tractor Supply (86-year execution)
Narrative strategy: Lead with track record, customer success, operational excellence. Avoid origin stories.
Marketing priorities:
Customer testimonials exclusively
Scale metrics and proof points
Operational reliability
Industry position/longevity
Key message: “[N years] serving [customers]. [Scale metrics]. [Customer success].”
Final Framework for Marketing Leaders
Your Narrative Audit Checklist
□ We’ve honestly scored our four components
□ We’ve identified our narrative archetype
□ Our marketing approach matches our actual scores
High lived stake → origin stories
Moderate lived stake → mix experience + research
Low lived stake → expertise + customer voices
Very low lived stake → pure execution/results
□ We’re not faking stakes we don’t have
□ We’re not hiding stakes we do have
□ Our mission claims match our structural reality
□ We have specific stories/proof for each component we lead with
□ Our content priorities align with our archetype
□ We’ve addressed any critical gaps
□ Our founder/company voice matches our authentic position
The Core Truth
Marketing leaders can’t create lived stake that doesn’t exist. But you can:
Honestly assess where you are on each component
Choose the right narrative strategy for your scores
Execute authentically rather than aspirationally
Address gaps through research, hiring, partnerships, or structural changes
Own your position rather than fake a different one
The companies with the strongest narratives aren’t always those with the highest scores. They’re the companies whose marketing matches their authentic reality.
A 6.5 lived stake company that leans into expertise and research beats an 8.5 lived stake company that hides behind corporate speak.
The framework doesn’t tell you what to be. It tells you what you are, so you can communicate it authentically.
And in a world where audiences detect inauthenticity immediately, that might be the most valuable marketing insight available.
How to Get Started
This week:
Score your company on all four components
Identify your narrative archetype
Audit your current marketing against your scores
Find one major misalignment to fix
This month:
Gather specific stories/proof for components you’ll lead with
Adjust messaging framework to match archetype
Create content priorities aligned with scores
Begin authenticity alignment across channels
This quarter:
Address one major gap in your narrative foundation
Build content library matching your authentic position
Train team on narrative framework
Measure resonance of authentic vs. aspirational messaging
The companies that win don’t have perfect scores across all components. They win by understanding their authentic narrative position and communicating it with clarity and conviction.
Start with honesty. Build from there.