The EU founder case study format that lands clients — not eye-rolls
How to craft a 30-second story that sells (without sounding like a pitch).
Let’s be honest: most startup “case studies” read like internal brag sheets.
They’re way too long, full of fluff, and built around the founder’s ego — not the buyer’s reality.
But here’s the thing:
You actually do need case studies to win U.S. deals.
Just not the way you think.
You don’t need a full-page PDF, fancy graphs, or some Fortune 500 logo on your deck.
What you need is a story that feels real.
One that gets the buyer to say,
“Damn… that sounds like us.”
Here’s the simple format I teach founders to use — whether it’s on a call, in a deck, or in a cold email:
Before → Struggle → Shift → After
You’re painting a fast emotional arc.
You’re not just explaining value — you’re showing it, through someone else’s real frustration.
Here’s what that sounds like:
“We worked with a team that was onboarding customers manually — every setup took 4 hours and pulled devs off their sprint work.
It got so bad the head of ops told me, ‘We literally delay onboarding because it kills our velocity.’
We automated the whole flow in 3 weeks. Now they’re onboarding same-day, and those dev hours are back where they belong.”
That’s it.
No buzzwords.
No polished script.
Just one real story of pain → relief.
And it works because of three things:
It starts with a problem, not a product.
It uses actual human language.
It feels relatable — not performative.
Most EU founders skip all three.
They sound perfect… and totally forgettable.
Here’s your move:
Before your next sales call or investor pitch, write out 2 stories in this format.
Keep each one under 60 seconds.
Make the pain part feel sharp. The transformation clear. And the tone — casual, like you're telling a friend.
You’ll notice something wild:
The buyer leans in.
Because now they’re not listening to a pitch.
They’re picturing their own team in that same story.
And that’s the moment they start selling themselves on your product.
Bottom line?
Your story doesn’t need to be impressive.
It needs to be familiar.
That’s what lands in America.