“The Startup Visa videos that Micro-Documentaries did for our GeeksOnaPlane trip to Washington DC were brilliant — and they were game-changers for innovation and job creation in America. In less than 48 hours, we were able to shoot, produce, and deliver a high-quality video documentaries on how citizen-led, grassroots legislation can empower startup entrepreneurs to change the world, create jobs, and make our lives better.”
Dave McClure, Co-Founder/Organizer at StartupVisa.com
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Background: To support continued innovation and job growth in the US, a major shortcoming in American visa policies must be overcome. If you are not a citizen and would like to work in the US, there’s an employee visa. If you’d like to come invest, there’s an investor visa. But if you are a foreigner and would like to come to the US to start a company, like the founders of Yahoo, Google, eBay, and many other global innovators, there’s no startup visa. Startup Visa is working to change this.
Goals:
- Appeal to Senators of the US Congress to make the case for a new law
- Provide specific details and perspective through the voice of the investor and the entrepreneur on the importance of a Startup Visa
- To inspire Congress and their constituents to take action
What We Did:
- To maximize the relevance for Congress, the individuals’ personal stories were presented within the context of the benefit to the Senators’ stakeholders
- In order to increase the chances that the 50-page report outlining the proposal was reviewed, we produced 1-2 minute micro-documentaries that would help the proposal stand out while quickly educating the audience on the topic at hand
- To drive rapid response and immediate action the micro-documentaries were distributed directly to Senators
Results:
Within weeks of production:
- The bill was introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN).
- The micro-documentaries were described as being “critical” in helping them understand the issue and gain support from other Senators
- The micro-documentaries were screened at the White House
- StartUp Visa received 2,000 letters of support and 150 top VC signatures
- Generated 2,800 tweets.
Points to Ponder:
- What does your audience care about most? How can you present each story in the most relevant way for them?
- What information does your audience usually reveiw before making a decision? Is there an opportunity to increase their likelihood of considering the material by complementing it with a well-produced micro-documentary?
- In this case the largest impact was not from the number of views but instead from who saw the videos. Startup Visa achieved significant results by showing these videos to a targeted audience rather than just trying to get them out to as many people as possible. How can you best target your audience for greater results?