Most pitches lose attention in the first few seconds — not because the idea is weak, but because nothing creates immediate curiosity.
In this Tech for Founder Podcast episode, Bjorn Turmann, a Hollywood storyteller, shares how founders can hold attention by focusing on a single, well-crafted moment instead of overwhelming detail.
Why this matters
Founders often try to prove they’re different by saying more.
More features.
More claims.
More explanation.
But in practice, the opposite happens.
The more you include, the harder it is for someone to understand what matters.
Attention drops.
Curiosity disappears.
And the conversation ends before it really begins.
What comes through clearly in this conversation is that people don’t enter a pitch to process information — they enter to discover something.
If that discovery doesn’t happen quickly, they move on.
Key ideas from this conversation
Attention is decided in seconds.
People quickly decide whether something is worth discovering further.
Storytelling is problem solving.
If there is no clear problem, there is no story to follow.
One thing is stronger than ten.
Trying to communicate multiple important points weakens all of them.
Curiosity creates time.
When something feels interesting or surprising, people give you more attention.
Scenes drive understanding.
People process stories through small, concrete moments — not abstract explanations.
The core insight
If you don’t give someone one clear, meaningful thing to discover right away, they stop listening.
In practice, this means:
Not starting with everything.
Not explaining your entire product.
Not listing features.
Instead, starting with one moment — one idea — that shows how you think and what problem you’re solving.
That’s what earns attention.
A simple founder lens
If you’re preparing for a pitch or meeting, ask:
“What is the one thing I want someone to remember from this conversation?”
If you can’t answer that clearly, your audience won’t either.
And if you can, that single point becomes the entry into everything else.
A note for founders
There’s often pressure to explain everything upfront.
But this conversation suggests a different approach:
Start small.
Start clear.
Start with something that creates curiosity.
You don’t need to prove everything immediately — you need to earn the next minute of attention.
👉 Watch the full Tech for Founder Podcast episode with Bjorn Turmann on YouTube:
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