Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

There is one foundational aspect of storytelling that isn’t highlighted enough—the truth. 

In other words, the accuracy and verifiability of a narrative, and the accountability of the storyteller to the audience. 

What differentiates storytelling in the real world from telling a story set in a fictional universe? The short answer is this: truth, or the ability to convince the audience of a truth, is integral to the success of a ‘real-world’ story. Being entertaining and engaging are prerequisites for both types of stories. 

The world of fiction is not relevant to our topic of choice today. 

But when it comes to stories constructed for the real world, there is a fine line between a compelling story that possesses the audience, but is also followed up with great products and services (think Apple), and one that intrigues, charms, and excites, but in the end fails to get audiences on board (think Theranos). 

Audiences exposed to the second kind of narrative may find it entertaining and even engaging, but they may not ever truly believe in it. If a strong business proposition can fail without a strong story backing it, then a strong story can fail when it is not backed by a strong business proposition.

This week, food delivery major Zomato’s founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal showed us that while his storytelling prowess may have taken him to (what appeared to be) a successful IPO in the middle of last year, he may be losing his touch. I had already written in an edition of this newsletter in February that Goyal’s audiences, including investors, have evolved. They are now a sceptical bunch who want more from him than just carefully curated, theatrical narratives. 

This week, the message from many of Zomato’s users was basically the same thing. His latest 10-min delivery pitch? They don’t buy it. And they don’t think Zomato should be doing it.

Bells and whistles have stopped working for Zomato

Once upon a time, Zomato was the poster child of new-age Indian tech startups, and one of the first to have become a listed company. Some of this success, Zomato managed due to its founder’s narrative skills. 

Back in 2020, The Ken published a story that went into Goyal’s cherry-picking of data in his efforts to build a compelling brand story. And in February, like I mentioned above, I had written about how Goyal’s earlier narrative strategies were no longer effective after Zomato went public.