0:00 Introduction

Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, it’s nice to be in a different studio today. You’re the founder of Storytail. I know nothing about Storytail and nothing about you so I’m going to learn along with the audience. Give us a very quick synopsis. Storytail is an online platform for people to deliver their live content differently. Everyone’s Zoom fatigued, we’ve had the pandemic, and Storytail is our fresh solution. We’re helping a new generation of creators to actually deliver content differently, so they can engage and make their content worthwhile.

4:00 Two-way versus one-way content

There are one-way conversations and two-way conversations. Your typical live stream going live on Instagram, talking to what says 30 people watching you, is very awkward with no feedback. We’ve hacked together our own event platforms since before the pandemic. But it was very much a one-way conversation. One of the big things we focus on with Storytail is how you can actually deliver content by what we call breaking the screen: creating two-way conversations and getting people interacting. Mirror boards, whiteboards, forms, actual collaboration. People don’t just want to consume content, they want to engage with it and build a deeper level of trust.

7:00 Ryan’s background in design and Pitch Proof

My background’s in design. Even before I knew what entrepreneur meant I was doing graphic design gigs online and built a freelance business at 14. I started Pitch Proof at 17, initially a software tool for designers to present logos to clients online, which evolved into a content business. We grew a large social media following. In 2019 we held the first online virtual design conference even before the pandemic. Australia is a terrible time zone so we ran from 10am to 3am and had 400 people live on YouTube. That was the first time Storytail sparked any real interest as an online event space.

11:00 What Storytail is and who it is for

We call our target users experienced creators. Not just people who create social media content to be consumed. They want to run masterclasses, webinars, and live video content that builds deeper relationships. They’re already creating content online. Their intention is to teach or for people to actually learn. We’re designed for them, not for video meeting platforms. We’re seeing a new vertical of creators forming who want genuine engagement, not just a thumbs up emoji in the chat.

14:00 12 months of R&D and the private beta

We started Storytail about 12 months ago. We’ve done a lot of research and development, built a couple of different versions, and we’re now in private beta with about 100 users. We’re working closely with them to master their use cases before we do a public launch and introduce pricing. One of the users is a major retail hardware brand, which I never would have predicted. The concept of being able to teach whether practical or theoretical is opening up use cases I didn’t anticipate.

17:00 The communication challenge

Our biggest problem the past 12 months is how to communicate about our product to the right people. We’ve told the story in two or three different ways. The vision has stayed the same but the communication has been different. I think we’re finally starting to get to the stage where what we’re saying is landing with people. My co-founder Tom didn’t know how to code 12 months ago. He’s very tech-switched on and just jumped in and learned on the go. That’s been a huge plus because we can build without being constrained by money.

20:00 Seed round and goals for the year ahead

We’re coming into a seed round early next year. We’ve been talking to investors and VCs throughout this year to warm them up. The biggest goals for the next 12 months: unlock the seed financing, roll out publicly, get people using it regularly, start to monetise, and build out the product features we know users want. I want to enable people to do their best work in the way that suits them, not nine to five. That’s what I’ve always wanted as a founder and it’s what I want to give to everyone who joins us.