#159 – Storytelling, COVID-19, and Viral Startup Growth with Tomas Pueyo of Course Hero
Apr 24, 2020
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Tomas Pueyo, author of the mega-viral article 'Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now,' and VP of Growth at Course Hero, discusses the universal structure of stories, the importance of starting with the problem, empowering customers through storytelling in marketing, understanding customer problems with examples from Wave and Coursera, and the context, impact, and factors contributing to the success of his viral article on COVID-19.
Understanding the problem first is crucial in storytelling and startup growth.
Stories and growth strategies follow a problem-solution structure, applicable to both narratives and startups.
Deep dives
The Power of Storytelling
Tomas Puyo discusses the importance of storytelling and its structure. He explains how storytelling follows problem-solution structure and how understanding this structure helps in creating meaningful stories.
Personal Influence of Filmmaker Father
Tomas talks about how growing up with a filmmaker father influenced his interest in storytelling and his approach to analyzing movies. Conversations with his father focused on the meta-level aspects of storytelling, contributing to his passion for understanding the underlying structure of stories.
The Theory of Problem-Solving Stories
Tomas shares his theory that stories are essentially problem-solving narratives. He explains the ring structure of stories, where the problem is introduced, a key insight is revealed, and the solution is ultimately reached. This structure applies not only to stories but also to growth strategies in products and startups.
Applying Storytelling to Startup Growth and Marketing
Tomas discusses how storytelling can play a role in startup growth and marketing. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the problem first before jumping into solutions, and highlights how this approach applies to various aspects of startups, such as product development, roadmaps, and pitches.
Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) is the author of the the mega-viral article "Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now," which was shared by over 40 million people in a single week after it was published in March. He also happens to be an expert on storytelling, and the VP of Growth at a unicorn startup called Course Hero. In this episode, Tomas and I discuss the universal structure of stories as problem-solving devices, why founders and makers should always think about problems first, and how he applied his storytelling and growth marketing skills to write one of the biggest articles of the year.
Transcript, speaker information, and more: https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast/159-tomas-pueyo-of-course-hero
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