Maybe you have launched something new and the old story does not stretch to cover it. Maybe you are entering a market where nobody knows your name.
I help leadership teams at moments like those build their story from their customers’ standpoint: co-created, co-owned, and impossible to scroll past.
Leadership teams from all types and sizes of organisations trust Storybuilding at their pivotal moment.
Read the book* Customer, User, Investor, Donor, Partner, Supplier, Boss
Maybe you’ve launched a product the old story was never written for. Maybe you’re entering a market where nobody knows you yet. Maybe two companies have just become one and neither story survived the merger. Maybe your brand no longer reflects what you’ve become — or your management team has just taken ownership and you’re ready to build something new.
You have something real to work with: customers who value what you do, a team that believes in it, results you can point to.
But when you try to put the story into words—for investors, for a new market, for your own leadership team—something doesn’t land the way it should.
You’ve tried to fix it. A positioning workshop. A new agency brief. Internal sessions to get everyone aligned. The output seemed logical — and it fell flat.
Most positioning starts from inside your company, from your standpoint. That’s why it doesn’t land.
❌ Old way
✅ New way
An agency asks about your company, synthesises your answers, and produces messaging that describes your offer—from your perspective. It’s professional. It’s logical. And it doesn’t land, because customers don’t buy your perspective. They recognise their own.
Start from their identity, their aspirations, their challenges, their standpoint. Co-create your story with your team. A story they built, they will understand, own, and use naturally from day one.
The methodology
Your client-facing people and your leadership team build your new brand story together—guided by a process that starts in your customers’ world, not yours.
Because you are the expert on your customer. And because a story your team co-created, they’ll own, understand, and use naturally.
No agency handoff. No document that sits on a shelf. A story that travels—because it belongs to you.
Closer to a facilitator than an agency: your team does the building. What I bring is the method and the outside eye.
“This is not a branding agency. I build the foundational story—so every future expression has something solid to stand on.”
How it works
Most teams start with the free Scan. Where it goes from there depends on what it finds.
01
Free. A reading of your story as it stands, taken from what is already public.
Who does it The machine, in a minute or two.
02
What do the machines tell your customers about you? I check.
Who does it The engines are asked, again and again. Their answers are scored against your story.
03
Your whole public presence read as one story: site, social, blog, video, and what AI says. And the verdict: is it the right story?
Who does it The machines gather the evidence. I read it and make the call.
04
Workshops where your client-facing people build the story themselves — so they actually use it.
Who does it Your team builds it. I bring the method and the outside eye.
05
Keep it true: on your site, in your team's words, in the machines. Quarterly.
Who does it Each quarter I read what has drifted, and we talk it through. A tripwire watches in between.
This isn’t my list of benefits. These are the words clients use, in the workshop debrief, when I ask: “What’s different now?”
For the first time, everyone is telling the same story—in their own voice, because they helped build it. Pitches. Investor calls. Sales conversations. Everyone sounds like one company.
“Now we work from one core storyline and shift the emphasis for each audience.”
Seeing your company the way your customers do changes what you say—and how confidently you say it. The pivot isn’t internal anymore. It’s in your language.
“I realised I was trying to communicate too much because I knew too much about every aspect of my project.”
When you test the story, something shifts. Clients lean in. “That’s exactly what we’ve been looking for.” Your story isn’t a pitch anymore. It’s a mirror.
“Since then we’ve landed three clients and two successful pitches.”
“John took us from a dry technical conversation to a story-rich investor presentation.”
I used to get tangled in the technical explanation of how we do what we do, instead of looking at it from the customer’s point of view. The turning point came when we realised we weren’t managing conference logistics, we were managing knowledge. That one shift gave us our value proposition.
Since then we’ve landed three clients and two successful pitches, and a dry technical conversation has become a story-rich investor presentation. John helps you pick the right tools for the right problems and shape your story into something you can be proud of.
“I was trying to communicate too much because I knew too much about every aspect of my project.”
I was simply too close to my business. I’d worked on it, and on the website, for so long that I knew every detail and every reason behind it, which made it hard to see what was actually clear to someone arriving for the first time. I knew something was missing, but I couldn’t say what.
It clicked when John made me look at the website as if I had never seen it before. I realised I was trying to communicate too much because I knew too much about every aspect of my project. Things I’d been overthinking for weeks suddenly became obvious, and now I know what to keep, what to cut, and what I want people to take away. Sometimes you don’t need more ideas. You need someone who can step back, ask the right questions and show you what you can no longer see yourself.
“His method helps you step back from the day-to-day and see what is really holding the customer back.”
We struggled to sum up our offer in one clear sentence. Wills, advance directives, expert guidance: several building blocks with no obvious thread running through them. And we couldn’t put our finger on what was really stopping a client from taking the step. Fear of the subject? How complicated it seemed? The price?
The click came when we filled in John’s canvas. We understood who we were really for, which pain we were answering, and what was holding our clients back. Our offer is now restructured and easier to read, and we can name the points of friction and adapt how we talk about it. If you’re struggling to explain your offer simply, or your website isn’t converting, his method helps you step back from the day-to-day and see what is really holding the customer back.
“shepherded me to a place where my message is a lot clearer”
I’m pleased to have worked with John Elbing at Standpoint on my storytelling and strategic positioning. We conducted multiple sessions via video and that format worked above expectation, really powerful and efficient use of time. John went deep into my companies situation. He clearly understands tech, product and the business challenges that a company like mine faces.
John then has a real knack for synthesising this context, applying a couple of really powerful frameworks, and has shepherded me to a place where my message is a lot clearer and customers will find it a lot easier to listen….an easy story is a better story! Thank you John, I look forward to working with you again.
“He asks the right questions and gently challenges your perspective without judgment.”
We didn’t have one punchy story for inHotel. We had several, and together they diluted the message. What clicked was seeing John’s method at work: sticky notes connecting our product to the mindset of each audience. Watching the process reverse-engineered made it something I could actually use.
Now I keep one clear story for each audience. Before I meet a prospective partner or customer, I take a few minutes to write it down and ask myself why it should resonate with them. John listens, asks the right questions and gently challenges your perspective, without judgment. His broad experience helps you uncover your blind spots.
“Much less confusion and disengagement, much more ‘how does that work?’ and ‘tell me more!’”
We were struggling to put the real value of our products into language that was easy to digest and easy to remember, and every deck, every letter, every approach had to be reworked for its audience. It was overwhelming. What unlocked it was talking through the core of the business, the impact and the need, with an impartial third party: our thoughts came out loud, then onto paper, then into something coherent.
Now we work from one core storyline and shift the emphasis for each audience. Our pitch deck is modular, with an emotional journey built in, and the feedback shows it: far less confusion and disengagement, far more “How does that work?” and “Tell me more!” Our advice: do it. Get your thoughts out in the open, then listen, play, and budget time for interesting tangents. John is an excellent sparring partner.
“…helped us think outside the box, leading to a significant refinement of our value proposition”
Working with John at Standpoint was an excellent experience. Despite being conducted mostly through video conference, the process was seamless and highly effective. John’s expertise and innovative approach on storybuilding not only challenged us but also helped us think outside the box, leading to a significant refinement of our value proposition for our product, “Chilax!”—an innovative process documentation SaaS solution.
His insights were invaluable and we very much appreciated his dedication to support us throughout. We highly recommend John and Standpoint for anyone looking to elevate their business strategy and achieve meaningful growth.
“A clear and punchy pitch that communicates the value in just a few words.”
I wasn’t sure how to position the business, or how to explain clearly what made it different from the competition. The click came when I knew exactly what I wanted people to understand.
Now the positioning is much sharper, with a clear, punchy pitch that carries the value in just a few words. I’d recommend John to any founder who wants to sharpen their positioning, or to understand how a client actually sees their business.
“define our customers’ key challenges in a way that speaks to anyone”
John has become a valued marketing partner for BlueBotics. We worked with him to update our brand messaging. Instantly respected by our entire team, he both carefully guided and brought a fresh (but relevant) perspective to these brainstorms. He helped us to define, in particular, our customers’ key challenges in a way that speaks to anyone. We’ve since used John’s consultancy to stress-check our plans for our messaging rollout and I can imagine this won’t be the last time we enlist his expertise.
“listening and delivering valuable results”
Most consultants are good at talking, John is all about listening and delivering valuable results. Our Value proposition workshop was straight to the point and allowed the management team to agree on common goals.
Later, we contacted Standpoint to help us with our website copywriting and content creation. Once again, John delivered great content in no time.
“Even hearing myself answer John’s questions brought a lot of clarity.”
As a solo founder, I was struggling to put business priorities ahead of tech ideas, and to get real clarity on our roadmap. There was no single moment. It was the conversations over time, having a coach to think out loud with. Even hearing myself answer John’s questions brought a lot of clarity, and every session came with a piece of specific advice that helped.
That clarity has helped Inkspired move faster, and it shows across our KPIs, from growth to sales. John brings real expertise in his field, and an enthusiasm that can be hard to find on the entrepreneurial rollercoaster.
Every month you wait is another month of being underestimated—by the market, and sometimes by your own team.
Picture the moment your leadership team finishes the last workshop. You’ve spent the session in your customers’ world—their language, their frustrations, the future they’re trying to reach. You’ve built the story together, tested it, sharpened it.
“This is the first time I feel like we’re all saying the same thing.”
You take it to market. A potential client reads the deck. Leans forward. “How did you know that was exactly our situation?”
Your story isn’t a pitch anymore. It’s a mirror.
It matters to be honest about where Standpoint ends.
❌ Create taglines without strategy underneath them
❌ Skip the tough conversations about why your story isn’t working
❌ Design trendy logos or build snazzy websites
❌ Hand you a document and disappear
The methodology, in full
The book that explains the full methodology—from why most brand stories fail, to the complete Storybuilding sequence of canvases, to how to apply it across B2B, B2C, investor, and internal contexts.
Used in workshops, business schools, startup programs, and by leadership teams navigating their next chapter.
Get the bookA 30-minute conversation to understand where your company is going—and what a story built from your customers’ standpoint could do for you. No pitch. No obligation.
Book a 30-minute story conversationTell me about your pivotal moment. No pitch. No obligation.
