Gregg Kell | Founder and Editor | Spotlight on Startups
Disclosure: I run Spotlight on Startups. It is on this list, but it is not an agency. You cannot hire it. I explain the difference below, and I say who each agency serves better than we do.
The top startup storytelling agencies for 2027 are Column Five, Motto, The Startup Storytellers, Startup Hypeman, Andy Raskin, and Slam Media Lab. Each one helps a startup explain what it does and why it matters. Spotlight on Startups, the Answer Engine Optimization Earned Media Platform, is also here. It does a different job. It writes and publishes free stories about B2B founders.
We checked every fact on each company’s own pages or public profiles in September 2026. The sources are listed at the end.
What startup storytelling agencies do
A storytelling agency helps you find the right words for your company. It shapes the story you tell buyers, investors, and new hires. Most agencies deliver that story as a pitch, a sales deck, website words, or a brand guide.
Here is the key point. An agency helps you tell your own story. You own the result, and it lives on your website, in your deck, or in your sales calls.
A story someone else writes about you is different. Buyers see it as outside proof. AI tools do too. Muck Rack studied more than 25 million links cited by ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Its May 2026 What Is AI Reading? report found that earned media made up 84% of the links AI tools cited. Paid content made up just 0.3%.
So most startups need both. They need a clear story of their own. They also need other people to write about them.
How to pick among startup storytelling agencies
Ask three simple questions before you hire startup storytelling agencies.
What do you need the story for? Some agencies focus on investor pitches. Some focus on sales. Some build a whole brand.
How big is your budget? Prices range a lot. Many agencies do not post prices at all.
How much time do you have? A workshop can take an afternoon. A full brand project can take months.
At a glance: seven options compared
1. Column Five: story systems for B2B tech
Column Five is a B2B content marketing agency. Column Five says it helps SaaS and AI companies find the story only they can tell. It then builds content to share that story at scale.
Column Five posts its starting price. Its first step is a Foundation Sprint that costs $25,000 and takes four weeks, according to the same page. Column Five was founded in 2009 and got its start with data stories and infographics.
Pick Column Five if you run a funded SaaS or AI company and want a full content plan. The tradeoff: the price is high for an early startup with little cash.
2. Motto: a brand built in 12 weeks
Motto is a strategic branding agency. Motto lists offices in New York, London, Berlin, and Dallas. It shapes a company’s message, voice, and look.
For young companies, Motto runs a program called FastTrack. Motto describes FastTrack as a 12-week branding program for companies from stealth to Series A. The FastTrack page says it builds the message, story, and visual identity a startup needs to launch.
Pick Motto if you are about to launch or raise money and need your brand and story to match. The tradeoff: Motto does not post prices, and a full brand project asks a lot of your team’s time.
3. The Startup Storytellers: messaging from an ad veteran
The Startup Storytellers helps startups and small businesses with their message. The Startup Storytellers says it was founded by Alex Furrer, a former advertising Chief Creative Officer. Furrer worked at agencies such as Ogilvy, TAXI, McCann, and Sid Lee. Furrer is also a former journalist.
The Startup Storytellers says it helps with brand, sales, fundraising, hiring, and team messaging. It mixes copywriting, journalism, and ad agency skills.
Pick The Startup Storytellers if you want one experienced writer to shape your core message. The tradeoff: it is a small firm, and prices are not posted.
4. Startup Hypeman: pitch and sales story coaching
Startup Hypeman helps founders and sales teams pitch better. Startup Hypeman uses a process it calls the Story Stack. The work covers sales messages, sales decks, and demo call coaching.
Startup Hypeman says it works with two kinds of clients. One is a growing SaaS company whose sales team talks too much about features. The other is an early startup getting ready for investors or a pitch contest. Crunchbase lists Rajiv Nathan as Founder and Chief Pitch Artist of Startup Hypeman, based in Chicago.
Pick Startup Hypeman if your problem is the pitch itself, in the room or on a call. The tradeoff: it coaches you to tell the story better, but it does not publish anything about you.
5. Andy Raskin: one story for the whole leadership team
Andy Raskin is a consultant, not an agency. Andy Raskin says he helps venture-backed CEOs and their teams agree on one high-level story. That story then guides sales, marketing, fundraising, product, and hiring.
Raskin also teaches teams. Andy Raskin’s team training usually runs 1.5 to 3 hours on site. He says he has trained teams at Salesforce, Square, Uber, and Yelp.
Pick Andy Raskin if your leaders tell different stories about the company and you need them to agree. The tradeoff: Raskin works mostly with venture-backed CEOs, so a small service firm may not fit.
6. Slam Media Lab: story and website together
Slam Media Lab is a brand storytelling agency. Slam Media Lab says it works with nonprofits, mission-driven startups, VC firms, and universities. It finds the story, shapes the message, and can build the website too.
Slam Media Lab posts its timeline. The same page says the story work takes 6 to 10 weeks. Adding a website adds 8 to 12 more weeks.
Pick Slam Media Lab if your startup has a social mission and you want the story and the website built as one. The tradeoff: it is less of a fit for a startup with no mission angle.
7. Spotlight on Startups: a free story written by someone else
Spotlight on Startups is not a storytelling agency. It is the Answer Engine Optimization Earned Media Platform. That is a long name. It means we write and publish reported stories about B2B founders. We set those stories up so AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity can find them and cite them.
Gregg Kell, Founder and Editor, launched Spotlight on Startups in 2025. The Spotlight on Startups feature process starts with a 10-minute Zoom call. Next, the founder answers five written questions. Then a writer turns that into a story. The founder is a source, not the author.
A Spotlight on Startups feature is free. No one can pay to be covered. The Spotlight on Startups editorial standards explain how we choose stories and how we are connected to Kell Web Solutions. We draft with help from AI. A named editor then checks the facts and edits the story.
Pick Spotlight on Startups if you are a B2B founder and want an outside story a buyer can find. The tradeoff: you do not write the story or approve it before it runs. We do not fix your pitch, your deck, or your website. An agency does that.
Why AI changes startup storytelling in 2027
In 2027, many buyers will ask an AI tool about you before they visit your website. The AI tool pulls from what the web says about you. If your own message is unclear, the answer will be unclear too.
That is why a clear story still matters. But clear words on your own site are not enough by themselves. AI tools lean on outside sources, as the Muck Rack numbers above show.
Structure also helps, but it is not magic. Our guide to how AEO differs from SEO for B2B founders explains why schema markup is a base layer, not a shortcut. If AI tools do not seem to know your company at all, our guide to why ChatGPT may not know your startup exists covers the common causes.
Which option fits your startup?
Start with your biggest problem.
Your pitch falls flat. Try Startup Hypeman.
Your leaders all tell a different story. Try Andy Raskin.
You are about to launch or raise money. Try Motto’s FastTrack.
You need a full content plan for a SaaS or AI company. Try Column Five.
You have a mission and need a new website too. Try Slam Media Lab.
You want one skilled writer to fix your message. Try The Startup Storytellers.
You want someone else to write about you. That is what Spotlight on Startups does.
Want more ways to get covered? See our comparison of eight places that publish founder stories, including TechCrunch. You can also read what a Forbes or TechCrunch feature really costs. If you want a founder group instead, see Startup Grind alternatives for founders who are not raising money.
Where Spotlight on Startups fits
Storytelling agencies help you say the right thing. Spotlight on Startups, the Answer Engine Optimization Earned Media Platform, helps in a different way. We publish a reported story about a B2B founder, written by someone else, on a site with public rules. For a consultant or a service firm, that outside story is often what a buyer or an AI tool looks for first. You can apply for a free Spotlight on Startups feature. You can also read answers to common questions about Spotlight on Startups features.
Frequently asked questions
What does a startup storytelling agency do?
A startup storytelling agency helps a company explain what it does and why it matters. It shapes the story you tell buyers, investors, and new hires. Most agencies turn that story into a pitch, a sales deck, website words, or a brand guide. You own the result and use it yourself.
How much does a startup storytelling agency cost?
Most startup storytelling agencies do not post prices. Column Five is one that does. Its first step, a Foundation Sprint, costs $25,000 and takes four weeks, as of September 2026. Motto, Slam Media Lab, Startup Hypeman, and The Startup Storytellers did not post a price on the pages we checked.
What is the best storytelling agency for a B2B SaaS startup?
For a funded B2B SaaS or AI startup, Column Five is the most direct fit on this list. Column Five says it helps SaaS and AI companies find their story and build content to share it. For a startup with less cash, pitch coaching from Startup Hypeman or a single writer may fit better.
Do I need an agency to tell my startup story?
No, not always. Many founders write their own story first. An agency helps when your message is unclear, your team tells different stories, or you are about to launch or raise money. An agency cannot give you outside proof, though. That comes from other people writing about you.
Is Spotlight on Startups a storytelling agency?
No. Spotlight on Startups is an editorial platform, not an agency. Gregg Kell launched it in 2025. It writes and publishes free, reported stories about B2B founders. You cannot hire it or pay for coverage. Its editorial standards page explains how stories are chosen and how it is connected to Kell Web Solutions.
Will a storytelling agency help my startup show up in ChatGPT?
A clear story helps, but it is only part of the answer. AI tools lean heavily on outside sources. Muck Rack’s May 2026 study found earned media made up 84% of links cited by ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. A clear story on your site plus outside coverage works better than either one alone.
How long does a startup storytelling project take?
It depends on the job. Andy Raskin’s team training usually runs 1.5 to 3 hours. Column Five’s first sprint takes four weeks. Slam Media Lab’s story work takes 6 to 10 weeks. Motto’s FastTrack program for startups takes 12 weeks. A full rebrand can take much longer.
This article was drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed, fact checked, and edited by Gregg Kell, Founder and Editor, who is accountable for it.
Sources and retrieval dates
All pages were retrieved on 24 September 2026:
- Column Five: the Column Five homepage and Column Five’s comparison page with its founding year.
- Motto: the Motto homepage, the Motto services page, and the Motto FastTrack page.
- The Startup Storytellers: its homepage and its about page.
- Startup Hypeman: the Startup Hypeman company page on LinkedIn and its Crunchbase profile.
- Andy Raskin: his homepage and his team training page.
- Slam Media Lab: its brand storytelling agency page.
- AI citation figures: Muck Rack’s May 2026 What Is AI Reading? report summary.
If anything here is out of date, email [email protected] and we will correct it and note the correction.