Can Your Brand Pass This Test?!! (Brand Story Challenge)

All right, congratulations everybody from making it today. I do not envy you in your positions. I'm here to help you in this journey, this so-called business life. My name is Chris. I'm a loud introvert. I'm a serial dreamer and entrepreneur. My goal today is to help the entrepreneurs find creative ways of being able to communicate their core message, tell their brand story so that they can stand out. So for the rest of your business life until you're a billionaire, you're going to have the same challenge over and over again to communicate your message to investor, to a partner, to your team, to enroll them in your mission, your vision, and also to communicate across social channels through your marketing. So the first thing I want to ask you is what did you learn from yesterday's challenge? — The word that comes to me is concise. You have to condense years into 30 to 60 seconds. — I also think know your audience. There's a bunch of information that you have in your mind about your business, but they don't care about all of that. Know what to say and how to say it in 30 seconds. — This is a concept I learned from my business coach is you have to tell a story that's so easily packaged that when you're not in the room, they can take that and share it with someone else. It's a lot of work for you to be telling every single person what it is that you do. The goal is to tell a repeatable story. And what gets in the way is you feel compelled to tell the whole story, not just the part that's memorable, different, and unique. So the first problem with telling your story is, is it too complicated? So if you make something too complicated, I won't be able to tell that story. That makes sense, right? So what we have to do is what's the opposite of making it complicated? — Easy, simple. — Easy. Perfect. Okay. Easy and simple. — Like straight to the point, — like very direct, a lot of adjectives. — Yes. — Okay. Where are you from? — Pittsburgh. All right. Is that how you guys do it in Pittsburgh? — Yes. Very direct. — I went to school in 2018. And although I'm very grateful that I finished school, when I graduated, I haven't been able to get a job. And I just didn't know what I was supposed to be doing. Like I didn't know what my purpose in life was. And I really had to sit down and think about what do you want to do? Even if that means starting back from scratch or going back to the blueprint and that's where I started the idea of entrepreneurship which is now airport. This is not a robot who puts these things together. I do it by hand. So I appreciate all my patient people because I'm working as hard as I can. — This is going to work like it just has to. So as we talk about story there's a character that's your audience that's the customer or somebody right you need to be very clear with who the character is. So with each one of you think about the character what is it that they want and what is the obstacle I help people who are tired of their socks sliding off cuz there are millions who actually have this problem and I give them a sock that does not slide off your feet. — Can we refine that? Make it clear and punchier. I make socks that don't slide off your feet. — Yeah. And add style. I kind of go to facts because of the fact that I speak to so many different people about something that everybody does. Like everybody in this room drinks something. — The problem with that is you if you bombard me with facts, it's overwhelming. Stories are the most natural way that we communicate. Facts or not? — So, should I stick with the fact route or go with the story route? — What is your interesting fact? — Over half of the plastic that's produced today in the whole world goes towards packaging. — How much is that in volume? — That's a good question. That's the more interesting fact you could say like which is the equivalent to three empire states. — You make a fact more interesting by making it visual. Make it something I can relate to. — I like that a lot. — When I was 13, I went fully plant-based. I knew the plant-based way of eating was not only good for me, but the planet and animals. And I was doing things for rooted living in high school. I had a blog. And so it wasn't going to be a company or anything, but it's just a recipe blog of plant-based foods. But I didn't tell anyone in high school. My dream was so small at that point because I never had anything shown to me that it could be anything greater than that. And it was my dad who was really like just do it. Put yourself out there and you create your own luck in life. I was like I can do that. And that was what really started things going. The company is me and it's a reflection of me and it's much more than granola. Rooted living is about being empowered and being rooted to yourself and rooted to morals that make you feel empowered. Okay, look, let's just be real. You have a challenge today. Now, the one thing that you're going to do is you're going to try to tell them too much. Resist that instinct, please. It's much more effective for you to say last and for them to remember with a really strong hook. Make it easy to understand. Make your story repeatable. Best of luck to all of you. — Thank you so much. — Hello, Chris. How'd they do? — They did great, I think. — Thank you. — So guys, you've got one hour. 1 hour to prepare yourself before you come in

front of the judges. Remember, this is a big moment. Put everything into this. Good luck. You know, it's funny because you think about your business all the time, but when you're put under pressure like this, you totally look at your business in a completely different way. — I know my product. I know the industry. I know what sets us apart. I know our customers. And I need to explain that more. — I do not feel good about another elimination day, but it's okay. I'm just going to do the best I can and make the best of it. I was practicing having paragraphs written down and key points and all of this stuff like going over and over because I can't go home. — All of those dark nights I got them breaking my back to make it out feeling like — my name is RZswan Kasim. I am co-founder of Mint Mobile. Our business was the fastest growing company in America in 2015. We started with eight people and in 2024 we sold the business for $1. 3 billion to T-Mobile. — I'm Ann McFaren. I'm the founder and CEO of Glametic. I actually started Glametic out of my one-bedroom apartment. I had $5,000 to my name. The Shopify at that time was gaining awareness and I felt like it was a perfect time to start my own personal business. We ended up doing over $40 million in revenue the first year and we are the number one premium press on nail brand in North America. — All right. Well, here we go again. 10 entrepreneurs and joining me today, the panel of judges deciding the outcome. So, I hope you took note earlier communicating your brand in a crystal clear manner to anyone. So, not only can they understand it, but also remember it because guess what? That's exactly what you're going to be judged on today. So, here's the twist. Today you will not be communicating your brand and messaging to this panel of judges. You'll be communicating it to a total stranger and then they will come out one by one and present on your behalf. Now based on how well they communicate to this panel of judges, two of you will be going home. 10 people just went home and now two more are going to go home. Crazy. I was not ready. — Please head out and get ready to meet this stranger. — Good luck, guys. — They don't know what's going to happen next. — Where's the person? — Feel like I'm in an interrogation room. Feel like I have a time bomb behind me.