A founder’s guide to communication from Made to Stick
I once watched a brilliant founder lose a room in under three minutes.
The product was powerful. The vision was huge. The team was world-class. But halfway through the pitch, eyes dropped to laptops. A few people leaned back. Someone checked their phone.
Nothing was wrong with the product.
Everything was wrong with the message.
Outside the room he asked: “Why didn’t they get it?”
Because great ideas don’t win by being great. They win by being understood, remembered, and repeated. That’s the lesson at the heart of Made to Stick for founders.
Sticky ideas don’t happen by luck.
They happen by design.
Why Most Startup Messaging Fails
Founders don’t struggle with innovation. They struggle with translation. They know too much. They speak too fast. They explain instead of connect.
The Heath brothers call this the Curse of Knowledge — once you understand something deeply, you forget what it’s like not to know.
That’s when messages die: Not in the mind of the speaker, but in the mind of the listener.
What Makes an Idea Stick
In Made to Stick, Chip & Dan Heath studied what separates ideas that spread from those that disappear.
They discovered 6 traits (S.U.C.C.E.S.):
S – Simple
Cut everything that doesn’t matter.
Clarity beats complexity every time.
U – Unexpected
Break the pattern to earn attention.
Surprise wakes the brain.
C – Concrete
Make ideas tangible and visual.
If they can picture it, they’ll remember it.
C – Credible
Back claims with proof.
Trust decides belief, not logic alone.
E – Emotional
Make people feel something real.
Emotion moves action faster than data.
S – Story-driven
Turn information into a journey.
Stories spread because people repeat them.
Sticky ideas are: Easy to grasp. Impossible to ignore. Simple to repeat.
If people can explain your idea after hearing it once, you have momentum. If they can’t explain it after hearing it twice, you have a messaging problem.
Confusion is expensive.
Clarity compounds.
A Lesson from Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs didn’t say: “a 5GB MP3 player.”
He said: “1,000 songs in your pocket.”
Same technology. Different message. One forgettable. One unforgettable.
That’s made to stick for founders at its finest: Don’t describe what it is. Describe what it means. Meaning moves people. Specs don’t.
How You Can Apply This
Before sharing any idea — pitch, update, email, roadmap — ask:
- Is it simple?
- Is there surprise?
- Can someone picture it?
- Is it believable?
- Will they feel something?
- Can someone retell it easily?
If not, cut words until they can.
The best messaging is not smarter. Just clearer.
One Insight That Changed How I Lead
The Heath brothers say something I think about often: If people don’t remember it, it never happened.
For founders, attention is the most expensive resource. Every unclear message burns it. The right words can align a team, win a deal, inspire a customer, move an investor. The wrong words waste the moment.
Your idea deserves to be remembered.
Make it stick.
Want a practical tool?
I built a cheatsheet: 6 Rules to Make Your Ideas Stick — designed for founders who want messages understood, shared, and acted upon.
Use it to sharpen your pitch, align your team, or turn confusion into clarity.