#7/120 - Eight Grade syndrome - why grand narrative vision is killing your startup
If you think crafting a grand narratives of your idea is the crucial first step of building a startup, this essay is for you.
If you think crafting a grand narratives of your idea is the crucial first step of building a startup, this essay is for you.
"You sound like an 8th-grade student who is proud of having a demon eye."
This was the comment my friend made after we discussed my old startup idea, and we both burst into uncontrollable laughter. "I know, I know, right?" I admitted. It wasn’t a very clever idea, but it was wrapped in bold claims about solving massive societal issues like information overload, fragmented context, and fake news. These were hot topics in media at the time.
Like my idea, many startups claim they will disrupt and change the world for the better using their technology. Their narratives often follow this kind of lofty rhetoric:
Revolutionize blood testing by placing miniature labs in homes across the world, democratizing healthcare and making access to health information a fundamental human right.
Revolutionize the transportation industry by leading the way in sustainable and innovative solutions.
Through our revolutionary language-learning, cross platform app, we forge a bold new era where linguistic barriers dissolve, cultures converge, and opportunities abound. By unleashing our transformative solution, we’re not just teaching language—we’re shaping humanity’s next triumphant chapter.
The first two examples are from Theranos and Nikola Motor (I’ll save the last one for later). Both companies were exposed as fraudulent, swindling hundreds of millions of dollars. And they are just the tip of the iceberg—there are hundreds, if not thousands, of startups hiding behind grand narratives. Not all of them are fraudulent, of course, but many miss the chance to truly connect with their audience and authentically share their vision.
Reflecting on my conversation with my friend, my personal experiences, and my observations, I’ve started to think more deeply about this. Why do we feel compelled to sugarcoat our startup ideas with grand narratives?
Tell me your vision
The tendency to say a story
Years ago, a prominent researcher studied successful businesspeople, hoping to uncover the secrets to their success. However, the research didn’t go as planned. While the subjects appeared cooperative, what they shared were mostly stories. They rarely discussed metrics, mindsets, or strategies for seizing opportunities. Instead, their journeys were woven into narratives, shared in the form of anecdotes. Just as the researcher was about to abandon the study, he had an epiphany: they couldn’t help but frame their experiences as stories. It was human nature to narrativize lived experiences (R. Hogan, personal communication, 1987). Humans have been creating and sharing stories long before the invention of written language.
On the other hand, people are naturally drawn to listening to stories. A theory called "Temporarily Expanding the Boundaries of the Self" explores this phenomenon. It posits that no matter how skilled, fulfilled, or free a person feels, they are never fully free from the constraints of their personal identity or the lingering presence of opportunity costs.
However, when we emotionally and imaginatively connect with a character or idea, we experience a temporary reprieve. In those moments, we are no longer burdened by the maintenance of our personal and social identities. We step beyond the roles, unrealized potentials, and limitations that define us. In essence, we temporarily expand the boundaries of who we are.
Storytellers and listeners are naturally drawn to one another. Like when people gathered around a fire, they share a connection that echoes through history.
A brave new world
We have a natural tendency to listen to stories and mimic the actions of others. Many role models in the startup world present their vision using grand narratives. Because we often interpret the world through stories, it's no surprise that we also tend to shape our startup ideas in this way.
But what exactly is a "grand narrative"? You might ask. It's a vague and often overused term. However, I find inspiration in a quote from Jean-François Lyotard's famous essay, The Postmodern Condition:
"The narrative function is losing its functors, its great hero, its great dangers, its great voyages, its great goal."
The construction of grand narratives in startups often includes these elements. Let’s break them down with some examples.
Great Hero
Startups often build their founders’ origin stories into the core of their business. These stories are not only effective marketing tools but also help people rationalize and connect with the startup’s journey.
Witnessing the suffering caused by misdiagnosed patients, Dr. Luke founded HealthAI, an app that detects deadly diseases faster than any doctor on Earth.
Great Danger
Startups frequently position themselves as solutions to pressing global threats—problems like food insecurity, information overload, fake news, climate change, and inflation. Each of these challenges poses a serious risk to humanity and the planet.
Plastic pollution is choking our oceans, killing marine life, and threatening ecosystems. BlueEarth was created to address this crisis with a groundbreaking innovation: fully biodegradable packaging that mimics the functionality of plastic but decomposes naturally within months.
Great Voyage
At the heart of every great story is a journey. Startups often craft their narrative around a meaningful and impactful voyage.
In rural Africa, millions live without access to electricity, forcing families to rely on dangerous kerosene lamps. Motivated by a vision to bring light to the darkest corners of the world, the founders of SolarTrail traveled to remote villages to test their affordable solar-powered lighting systems.
Great Goal
Big, transformative goals drive us forward. Startups often highlight their ambitious objectives to demonstrate how they’re fundamentally changing the way we live and work.
The world’s reliance on fossil fuels is unsustainable, but NextGenFuel is working to change that. By developing a revolutionary biofuel derived from agricultural waste, they are paving the way for a cleaner future.
These elements can easily be combined to form a larger, more compelling narrative.
At TerraBloom, we are on a mission to combat one of the greatest threats to our planet: the rapid spread of desertification. Led by our founder, Aisha—a visionary scientist—we harness cutting-edge biotechnology to regenerate barren lands and create fertile ecosystems.
Now, don’t get me wrong—dreaming big is not a bad thing. In fact, imagining a better future is one of our greatest strengths. It gives us purpose, fosters connections in an increasingly chaotic world, and helps us stay focused, resisting distractions that might lead us astray. Big dreams unite like-minded people to achieve what would otherwise be impossible. Without Dr. King’s dream, we wouldn’t have a renewed chapter of equality. Without Steve Jobs’ vision, we wouldn’t have the smartphone revolution. Without Einstein’s imagination, we wouldn’t have our modern understanding of the universe.
However, when it comes to startup ideas that are still in their infancy or when a founder is in the early stages of cultivating their vision, the situation is entirely different.
Why it is harmful when we are just starting it
At different stages of creation, we need to adopt different strategies to maximize our learning and better understand the challenges we face. However, grand narratives often do the opposite.
Philosophically, what grand narratives do is "simplify things to a basic level."
We live in a chaotic, complex, and unpredictable world. There is no such thing as a clear path where you can simply follow four easy steps and magically achieve good health or success. The world is filled with complexity and nuance – a world of polynomials, not monomials.
Think about it: why do grand narratives often feel so appealing and easy to grasp? It’s because they simplify the world into a function with just one parameter, making it easy for you to see yourself within them. In these stories, there’s no chaos, no uncertainty—just a narrative with a singular focus and the illusion of power to overcome any obstacle.
Here’s where the danger lies: once your brain begins to perceive your goal as a monomial—a function with only one input and no nuance—you develop a fixed view of the complex world around you. This perspective is far from accurate. In such cases, you lose the ability to learn, adapt, and grow. You become rigid in your approach to achieving your dream. To reconcile the gap between this oversimplified worldview and the painful reality, you might unconsciously project this mindset onto others, assuming they think the same way you do.
If I had to name the biggest pitfall that drives founders into frustration and misery, this would be it. The most dangerous mistake a founder can make is to create a grand narrative at the start.
Take a lighter approach. Don’t overextend your vision into a grand, abstract idea that extends far beyond the specific problem you’re solving. Focus on what you’re good at, not on the idealized version of what you dream of becoming. Structure your thinking around learning rather than merely reaffirming your beliefs. If your goal is truly ambitious, break it into smaller, actionable steps and validate them incrementally.
I’ve fallen into this trap myself. On my journey to create my previous startup, I focused too much on crafting a narrative—driven by a fear of being misunderstood and challenged. At its core, I could have simply described it as
A read-it-later app that analyzes, categorizes, and provides insights about your readings through a force graph diagram.
Instead, I presented it as:
In the digital age, we face many challenges that big companies are unwilling to solve—information overload, fake news, and polarization. To solve these problems for good, we need a radical solution. Totuslink aims to light the way with one approach: remove the list structure.
This convoluted narrative merged grand danger, voyage, and goals in a clumsy way, suggesting that removing the list structure would make the world a better place. While sharing this idea, I felt isolated and desperate, as if the world were against me. In truth, I was preventing myself from truly understanding the world. Totuslink ultimately failed because I started it in the wrong way. Rather than focusing on interviewing people and understanding their problems, I began with my own “grand vision” and built the product from there.
Let me give an example to further illustrate this:
Here’s a grand narrative:
Through our revolutionary language-learning, cross platform app, we forge a bold new era where linguistic barriers dissolve, cultures converge, and opportunities abound. By unleashing our transformative solution, we’re not just teaching language—we’re shaping humanity’s next triumphant chapter.
Now, here’s a rewritten version:
We're here to make language learning easily available to everyone. This once involved tutors, textbooks, and tons of cash. Then ___ kicked open the door. Now all you need is a screen, an internet connection, and a few minutes a day to make anything possible. Language belongs to everyone. With ___ , so does language learning.1
The ___ is Duolingo, the most-downloaded education app in App Store history—an app that has made language learning fun and accessible for all. Despite Duolingo’s scale and success, its vision statement is remarkably modest. It’s not designed to provoke strong emotional reactions. Instead, it’s a carefully crafted, grounded statement that has been sufficient to build a meaningful and successful company.
We seldom need more than that.
Thanks
Thanks Jonathan, Jimmy, Lucy, Shaka for reading the draft of this article. I can not make this far without your help.
This month’s connection: Jonathan Lee
I met Jonanthan Lee through a mutual friend, and he's been a really positive influence on my journey ever since. He has an amazing knack for quickly turning ideas into real projects, and his insights always make you dig a little deeper. Plus, he's a fantastic listener who never makes you feel rushed.
After reading one of his cool "build in public" articles, I felt inspired to start writing my own English essays. I've picked up so many valuable lessons about startup life and honest collaboration from him.
Now, as startup buddies, we bounce ideas off each other—especially around exciting tech like Large Language Models. If you're into startups and want some genuine, practical insights, I definitely recommend checking out his build in public journey on Thread.