We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matt Derda a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Matt, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later

If there was a machine that would let me go back in time to start my business years ago, I wouldn’t even hesitate to use it. In my case, I would actually tell myself to keep my business going on the side no matter what. I started a company when I was in college. It was a professional improvisational theater company, which performed and taught corporate workshops and team-building. After college, I moved to Chicago to study improvisational theater at Second City and the Improv Olympic (iO). I always had planned on returning to my original company with more experience under my belt. That didn’t happen. I ended up getting a “real” career in a wide range of industries, but most of my experience is in marketing in SaaS startups.

While I’ve really enjoyed my career, my one regret is that I wish I had funneled all of my gained experience and knowledge into a side business. I found that the creative skills I honed in improv comedy were perfectly suited for marketing. It was the most important tool. However, I forgot that my plan was to return to my own business.

I learned a hard lesson: companies do not care about their employees. I was laid off during the worst job market in recent history after I had put everything I had into the company. After I was laid off, I realized I had forgotten my dream to return to my own business. I started Storymind quickly after and began providing creative services and workshops using the tools that I found success with in my career.

Matt, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Matt Derda, the founder of Storymind. My journey into this industry began in college, where I started a professional improvisational theater company. We performed and taught corporate workshops and team-building exercises. This foundation in improv comedy provided me with invaluable creative skills that later became pivotal in my marketing career.

After college, I moved to Chicago to study improvisational theater at Second City and the Improv Olympic (iO). My plan was to return to my original company with more experience, but life had other plans. I found myself with a ‘real job’, primarily focusing on marketing in SaaS startups. Despite enjoying my career, I always felt a pull towards my initial dream of running my own business.

My entry into the world of SaaS marketing was a result of being at the right place at the right time. I was able to secure an entry level role in Pepsi as a Supply Chain Analyst. Pepsi was trying to create a data and analytics practice within Supply Chain, which was mostly seen as a cost center. We wanted to find ways to provide value to the larger organization through making strategic decisions with the data we had access to. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the initial group leading this effort and was given access to new and emerging technology that Pepsi was investing in. I became a power user with a technology called Trifacta and, through relationships I built at Trifacta, was able to secure a job in Marketing there. That began a 10 year career in SaaS technology startups.

Earlier this year, I founded Storymind, which brings stories to life through video, content, and other assets. At Storymind, we also offer a variety of creative workshops designed to unlock the potential of individuals and teams. Our services range from corporate workshops to personalized creative coaching, all grounded in the principles of improvisation and creativity. We believe that the skills honed in improv—like adaptability, quick thinking, and collaboration—are incredibly valuable in the business world.

What sets Storymind apart is our unique blend of creative and professional expertise. We don’t just teach improv; we apply its principles to real-world business challenges, helping our clients enhance their communication, problem-solving, and team dynamics. We solve problems by empowering teams to think on their feet, communicate more effectively, and collaborate more seamlessly.

I’m most proud of the impact we’ve had on our clients. Seeing individuals and teams transform through our workshops is incredibly rewarding. They leave with new skills, greater confidence, and a fresh perspective on their work.

For potential clients, followers, or fans, I want you to know that Storymind is committed to helping you discover and leverage your creative potential. Whether you’re looking to improve your team’s dynamics, boost your marketing efforts, or simply explore your creativity, we’re here to support you. Our approach is not just about teaching skills but about inspiring a mindset that embraces creativity and innovation.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I started marketing in the SaaS technology world, I found that many Marketers just copy what everyone else is doing. Unfortunately, a of CMOs and other Marketing leaders want to play it safe and you have to follow their direction. I’m not kidding when I say that I’ve worked for people who took an asset they thought was good from another company and said to me, “just copy this with our branding.”

This was the opposite of how comedy works. If you do something that is obvious or that just copies someone else, it’s hacky. I remember learning early on in my comedy career, that what makes an audience groan is when you say a punchline that they could have thought of themselves. It can’t be obvious. The obvious is boring.

Being obvious is a HUGE problem in SaaS B2B marketing. Every brand for a while was doing an animated explainer video. Eventually, they became white noise and were no longer innovative. If you look at a lot of B2B websites, you have no idea what their technology does and they all sound exactly the same and use the same language.

Since I worked for so many people that played it safe, I had to get back to my roots with creativity. It’s a fine line to walk being familiar while at the same time standing out. You do have to follow things like SEO keywords in order to be found, but when your audience does find you, it’s important to stand out.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Flipping the Script by Oren Klaff is one of my favorite books. This book is mostly focused on selling, but the tactics can really be used for anything from networking, marketing, performing almost anything. It’s all about taking looking at problems from a different angle and giving yourself status alignment with whoever you are pitching. A lot of the principles used in the book I have used myself and they do work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.storymind.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storymindco/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/storymindco
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@StorymindCo
• Other: https://mattderda.substack.com/

Image Credits

Lara Benefield, John Woodruff