The creation of a compelling Investment narrative
Generative AI and a content-overloaded internet
In my spare time, I like to dissect trends and what the future might look like with other founders. And it’s on one of those sessions with a close friend who happens to be a founder that we dabbled into the possible future of content in the era of generative AI and the possible challenge of a content-overloaded internet. My friend posed an interesting question: “What do you think is the future of content with the advent of generative AI and the increasing saturation of content on the internet?”
Our conversation was intellectually stimulating, leaving me curious about the future of a content-overloaded internet. I felt it so interesting that I decided to use our conversation as the foundation for the creation of a compelling investment narrative.
But before we get started, let’s set some parameters for the game we’re about to play.
What is an investment narrative?
An investment narrative is the careful framing of the past, the now, and the future to create a compelling case for “what you are doing” and “why now”.
In my experience, a compelling investment narrative has 3 interlinked components.
- An investible opportunity story
- Competitive advantages
- Experience and capabilities (the story of YOU)
But we’ll be focusing on crafting an investible opportunity story, as this can make or break your entire investment narrative. You need it to be convincing, compelling, and relevant to your investors objective. And to do this, it needs to be backed by the right research, data, and stories.
Before a chef starts cooking, he/she needs to first make sure their ingredients are organized and in reach. So, let’s not be that chef who keeps looking for where he kept the ginger mix whilst cooking (I am that chef any time I attempt cooking a DIY potion :))
#1. The situation: What is the challenge/goal/change?
#2. Characters Involved: Who are the characters involved in this narrative?
- Main character: Who does the challenge/goal/change directly impact?
- Climax character: Who should take action? In this case it’s the investor.
- Antagonist character: Who or what is agitating the main character?
#3. Knowledge objectives: What key data, research, and stories does the TA need to know and believe to engage or take action?
#4. Theme Message: In one short, declarative statement, what message do you hope to implant in the TA’s mind?
Great work sous-chef, now that we’ve gotten our ingredients organized and within reach, it is time to learn the recipe (I know you wanted to jump straight to cooking, but like a great chef once said…)
Use this simple recipe to create your investment narrative: Context (market overview) + Connected events (past, or recent) + Catalyst (relevant trends) + Conviction (the revelation).
The moment you have been waiting for (I am glad you’ve come this far)
Context (market)
As generative AI improves, more businesses and individuals will adopt this technology to create content at scale, thereby accelerating what we call a “content-overloaded internet”. This could lead to a decline in consumer trust and make it harder for consumers to find what they need. What is the future of a content-overloaded internet?
Connected events (past, or recent)
The invention of the steam-powered press in the 19th century made it easier, cheaper, and faster to produce and distribute print media and it is analogous to what generative AI will do to the internet.
The abundance of print materials made it even more difficult for consumers to filter through and find the what they needed. In response to this challenge, strategies were developed to help readers manage the flow of information. Libraries were first established to solve the distribution problem, and later indexing and cataloging systems were developed to solve the discovery problem.
More recently, Netflix faced a similar problem, and while they had a search function with recommendation engines, users still found it overwhelming to sift through the sheer amount of content. Like Netflix’s search function, modern search engines might not be enough to solve this problem as the most advanced search engine can struggle to accurately filter through the noise, and can be manipulated by content creators using keyword stuffing and link schemes to boost their ranking in search results.
Both events faced two challenges, distribution first, then sophisticated discovery next.
Catalyst (relevant trends)
As the internet becomes more overwhelming, we’ve seen an increase in;
The use of voice assistants: With the rise of smart speakers and voice assistants, users are increasingly using voice commands to search for and discover content.
Personalized recommendation engines: Many companies (like Netflix) are using sophisticated AI-powered recommendation engines to provide personalized content and experiences to their users.
The rapid advancements in AI, and Machine Learning (ML) has yielded the opportunity to create a more sophisticated discovery solution that can meet this growing demand.
Conviction (the revelation)
The explosion of information is first met with a distribution problem, followed by sophisticated discovery. Since the advent of the internet, the focus has been on the distribution of more content without enough attention to how the user will actually find and consume that content.
The rise of voice assistants, recommender systems and other AI and ML based technologies sets the scene for a more sophisticated content discovery experience for users.
Now it’s your turn!
About Wilfred Alfred:
I help founders and VCs build compelling investment narratives and strategic brands so they can be heard by the stakeholders that matter most. Connect with me on LinkedIn: Wilfred Alfred
