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Woohoo - it’s up and running, ladies and gentlemen!

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Last week, I’d written about how I had grappled with starting my podcast for several months. I submitted it for approval last Friday and I was told that it might take up to two weeks for the podcast to get listed.

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Guess what, it took much lesser time (Apple was surprisingly the fastest to approve).

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And so, here goes - drumroll please!

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Ok, so before you go off listening to the first episode, here are a few thoughts on my objective and approach for the podcast.

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My objective: Learn from the best

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I’m launching this podcast with a very selfish motive - I want to learn from the best (non-fiction) storytellers in the world.

I admire good storytelling wherever I see it… whether it’s someone who creates start-up pitch decks that raise millions of dollars, or someone who simplifies complex financial news into daily stories that are consumed by several hundred thousand readers, or those who craft investment theses that form the basis for billion-dollar investment portfolios, or folks who write non-fiction in a simple yet arresting manner… (all of these are upcoming guests!)

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I feel that all of us can learn from these storytelling experts, and so I decided to pick their brains and unearth their secrets.

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My approach: 3Ps - The Personal, The Philosophical and The Practical

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A few words about the format of this podcast. In today’s age of dwindling attention spans, content creators are usually given one piece of advice: Keep things short, snappy and quick.

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I decided to do the opposite.

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I felt privileged - greedy even - to have gotten the time from such accomplished storytellers. And so, I wanted to find out everything - everything that made them the storytellers they are.

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In fact, in order to find my ‘podcast voice’, I went ahead and recorded four episodes - all with diverse and accomplished storytellers. In each episode I gave full-throttle to my curiosity - i.e. we stopped only when I had run out of interesting questions; not because there was an artificial time deadline.

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And so, when I looked back at these four long, deep and meaningful conversations, I realised that my line of questions straddles three broad areas. Let’s call them the 3Ps: The Personal, The Philosophical and the Practical.

• In the Personal Story, I get the guests to open up about their life stories… their upbringing, the early influences, the inciting incidents, the disappointments, the highs, the reflective periods … We will essentially go on a journey with the storyteller to really find their story.
• At the Philosophical level, we will explore their approach to storytelling. The ideas that make them tick. The big influences on their thinking and writing. The core beliefs which guide their work. This section is to spark new insights in your mind about the possibilities of this craft.
• In the Practical section, we will get super-tactical and dive into some of the specific techniques, rituals, practices and tools that these storytellers use to tell such great stories… This part would be all about getting actionable insights that you can apply right away to your work.

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A simpler way to describe the three sections are - we get to know the Who, the Why and the How of these expert storytellers!

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Of course, extracting these insights will not be easy - often folks don’t know how they do what they do. I guess that’s up to my skill as an interviewer to gently coax out the insights from their beautiful minds.

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Wish me luck!

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And here’s wishing you some great listening. Let’s dive right in.

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On that note, I’m THRILLED to announce the first episode with a storyteller I hugely admire: Mohit Bansal of Deck Rooster.

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Here’s a peek into what you’ll find in the first episode!

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Episode 1: The Guy who Builds Multi-Million $ Decks

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In the middle of an engagement, the CEO of Instamojo says: “You know Mohit, we have been running this business for seven, eight years, but it's only now we have understood what we really do”

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​Mohit Bansal is the Founder of Deck Rooster, a Chandigarh based company that conceptualises and creates startup pitch decks.

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Decks that get high praise from clients:
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​“Don't waste two per cent on a Banker, these folks at Deck Rooster rock!”​
- Ravish Naresh, CEO, KhataBook.
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“Deck Rooster guys not only helped bring our story to life with visuals, but were an equal thought-partner in helping me articulate the story. Strongly recommend.”
- Vikram Chopra, Co-founder and CEO, Cars24
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Deck Rooster’s clients include startups funded by investors you may have heard of: Goldman Sachs, Accel Partners, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia, IDG, Blume VC, Y Combinator and other top VCs.
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As the Founder and chief Storyteller at Deck Rooster, Mohit has had a fascinating journey - from being fired as an intern and being terrified of public speaking… to now confidently creating decks that raise millions of dollars in funding.
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In this conversation, we discuss:

• Mohit’s unique honesty and how that helps him at work
• How he uses an ‘army of referrers’ to spread the word about Deck Rooster
• His unique visual approach to crafting the pitch story
• Why it’s critical for him to find the “anchor” of the story first
• Some specific tools that he prefers to create his decks (including one by Microsoft that will surprise you!)

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Without further ado, here you go with the podcast:

​Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Podcast Addict | Pocket Casts | Browser​

(There is some delay in listing with Google Podcasts and a few other directories. Working on them!)

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Happy listening!

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Needless to add, this labour of love could do with your support. Please share this with all folks who would find it useful.

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Also, please do rate and review the podcast on your favourite platform. :)

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Excited!

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Ravi

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