This quote by Bryce Roberts on entrepreneurship and narratives stopped me in my tracks:

“In the same regards that VCs want to fund billion-dollar, monopoly-style businesses, they have themselves a monopoly on the language we use about entrepreneurship, the archetypes they highlight as the ideals for entrepreneurship. And, as a result, we’ve looked at anything that diverges from that narrative as less ambitious, less worthy.”

I couldn’t agree more. This narrative is incredibly powerful. And it’s so easy to slip into the narrative, archetypes and personas others want us to adopt - because it suits their agenda.


But here’s the thing: this doesn’t only apply to the world of entrepreneurs. It’s just about VCs.


A few that come to my mind:

  • Design.
  • Teacher.
  • Artist.
  • Brand.
  • Activist.

You can probably think of others.

It’s worth asking yourself what the narratives are… and why.

Just because you diverge from the overarching narrative, it doesn’t make you less worthy. In fact, it probably means you’re onto something interesting…

The Monopoly on Narrative

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