82 CREATE THE STORY
This skill, the ability to create a villain and sell the benefit
behind the hero’s solution, is a Steve Jobs messaging technique
that appears in nearly every presentation and interview he
gives. When Jobs agreed to be interviewed for Smithsonian’s
oral and video history series, he said that perseverance sepa-
rates the successful entrepreneurs from the nonsuccessful ones.
Perseverance, he said, comes from passion. “Unless you have
a lot of passion about this, you’re not going to survive. You’re
going to give it up. So, you’ve got to have an idea or a problem
or a wrong that you want to right that you’re passionate about.
Otherwise, you’re not going to have the perseverance to stick it
through. I think that’s half the battle right there.”^8
Jobs is the Indiana Jones of business. Just as great movie char-
acters vanquish the villain, Jobs identifies a common enemy,
conquers that enemy, and wins over the hearts and minds of his
audience as he walks off into the sunset, leaving the world a bet-
ter place.DIRECTOR’S NOTES
Describe the state of the industry (or product category)
as it currently stands, followed by your vision of where it
could be. Once you have established the antagonist—your cus-
tomers’ pain point—describe in plain English how your
company, product, or service offers a cure for that pain. Remember, Steve Jobs believes that unless you’re pas-
sionate about a problem that you want to make right,
you won’t have the perseverance to stick it out.