Lessons From 5,000 Hours of Startup Pitches | EIC of Second Opinion Christina Farr
Some founders win support because of their product, others because of their story. In healthcare, where trust is everything, the ability to tell a compelling and authentic narrative can make or break a company.
On this episode, Halle talks with longtime friend and colleague Christina Farr—reporter turned investor and now author of The Storyteller’s Advantage. Chrissy has spent thousands of hours hearing startup pitches, advising founders, and studying what makes certain stories resonate while others fall flat. She shares insights from her years as a journalist and investor, and lessons from her new book on how narrative power shapes companies and industries.
We cover:
📝 The three types of founder stories and why “personal experience” dominates in healthcare
📉 Why failure stories are scarce in healthcare—and how that holds founders back
🏆 The psychology of the underdog and how startups can use it to their advantage
📰 The double-edged sword of media attention, especially for women leaders
🎤 Why founder-led communications matter more than ever in an era of spammy PR pitches
About our guest:
Christina Farr is an editor-in-chief of the health-tech newsletter Second Opinion, which has 40,000 subscribers. She advises startups as a national advisor with Manatt, and she's a GP with the fund Scrub Capital. Prior to that, she worked as an investor at OMERS Ventures and a journalist with CNBC, Fast Company, and Reuters News. Her debut book "The Storyteller's Advantage" hits the shelves on September 23. She was born and raised in London, U.K., and resides in New York with her husband and two children.
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