# Aim for the middle with video

By [Doug Lane](https://paragraph.com/@axalane) · 2022-03-30

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I’m a big fan of video as a storytelling vehicle for security startups.

But it only works if you can:

*   Do enough of them to tell a substantive story in bite-sized servings
    
*   Showcase the personality and smarts of your team
    

Too often startups go to one of two extremes:

1.  Engage a video agency to do one or two high-end animated explainer videos that only tell a high-level story, lack any personality, and tear through so much time and budget that doing any more videos feels daunting.
    
2.  Thinking you can turn the magic of your CTO or star sales engineer on a sales call into “lightning in a bottle” by standing them up in front of a poorly lit whiteboard to drop knowledge for 30 minutes. (Spoiler: it’s not the same.)
    

When it comes to videos, aim for the middle.

Pay for some professional help, but focus it on:

*   Getting to a tight script that still has substance
    
*   Empowering your team to get good visuals inexpensively
    
*   Doing the edit
    

Most video agencies won’t want to work with you this way.

But if you crack the code on it, you’ll strike a great balance between quantity and quality on a startup marketing budget.

\-Doug

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*Originally published on [Doug Lane](https://paragraph.com/@axalane/aim-for-the-middle-with-video)*