Who or what plays the role of the Galactic Empire in your product narrative? It’s not a silly question. Your choice of a villain may mean the difference between building positive buzz for your product or having it thrown into the trash heap of discarded ideas.
Although the plot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens remains a closely guarded secret and George Lucas did not write the screenplay, it will certainly have all of the elements of classic mythology because the movie is based on George Lucas’ extraordinarily successful franchise. While Lucas was working on the treatment for the first Star Wars movie [retitled Star Wars IV: A New Hope], he was stumped for a storyline until he discovered Joseph Campbell’s groundbreaking work on mythology, The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Lucas credits Campbell for giving him the template to focus his ideas into one epic story.
Campbell describes 12 stages of a hero’s journey; stages that are consistent in myths across countries, cultures, and generations. The outline for the original Star Wars fits the template perfectly. For example, in all myths the hero is “called to adventure” (Princess Leia appearing in the hologram to request help to fight the evil empire). In all myths the hero is given a mentor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) who either dies or moves on, leaving the hero to fight alone and to trust in his newfound skills (“Use the force, Luke”). In all myths, the hero is faced with the “road to trials” where hurdles and challenges crop up (learning to use a light saber, escaping the trash compactor in the bowels of the Death Star). In every myth there’s the “ultimate boon” where the villain is vanquished (destroying the Death Star) and “the elixir” where the hero receives recognition, fame, or a treasure (Luke receiving his medal from Princess Leia) because he or she made the world a better place.
Here’s my point. For centuries we’ve known how story works and we know which stories work best. The greatest product launches in business history closely follow the structure of epic stories like Star Wars. Campbell’s 12-stage journey is divided into three acts. Stage one is called “Departure,” where the world is in equilibrium, but a catalyst prompts the hero into taking action. Stage two is called “Initiation,” where the battle between good and evil takes place. Stage three is called “Return,” where the hero returns and makes the world a better place.
Let’s apply the three act outline to the story behind one of the hottest startups in business today, the ultimate ‘unicorn,’ Airbnb. Co-founder Brian Chesky tells the story consistently in many of his interviews and public presentations. It goes like this.
Act 1: In 2007 two guys are sharing an apartment in San Francisco (equilibrium). They suddenly can’t pay their rent (catalyst). They decided to rent out three air mattresses on their floor (all mythic heroes start in humble origins. Remember, Luke Skywalker started was a farmer on the desert planet Tatooine before accepting the call to crush the evil empire).
Act 2: The co-founders endure trials and hurdles. First, they need money to create a better website and to build the company [first trial]. They start to sell “Obama O’s” cereal as a marketing gimmick before the presidential election in 2008 and raise $30,000. The next year the friends receive their first outside funding, but they continue to grow slowly, making just $200 a month [second obstacle, or trial]. They realized that the photos of rental units were not pretty. So they went door-to-door in New York City to capture more appealing photographs of the listings. Within one week, revenue grew to $400 a week. Despite the growth, they were rejected by prominent venture capitalists [third trial]. Along their journey they acquired mentors and guides (Ashton Kutcher, Sequoia Capital). There are even entertaining characters that come and go such as Barry Manilow’s drummer, who was the first to use Airbnb to rent an entire house.
Act 3: Today Airbnb is worth $25 billion, Brian Chesky is one of the Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans, and the world is a better place because Airbnb launched the “sharing revolution,” according to Chesky [mythic heroes don’t do things small; they launch revolutions].
So the next time you watch a Star Wars movie, pay attention the stages of the hero’s journey—it’s the stuff that great myths, great movies, and great product stories are made of.