Eight speeches,
one story,
on stage.
The company kickoff was the first real test of the new direction. I turned eight separate executive speeches into one story and took it from my first day to the main stage in a month.
A booked event, no shared story
Eight leaders, eight talks, a mid-transition brand, and a clock already running.
Eight voices
Each exec arrived with a separate talk and no common thread.
Brand in flux
An evolving identity with no single point of reference to design against.
Short clock
The kickoff was already on the calendar, with the clock running to land it.
High stakes
The whole company in the room, watching the new direction land.
Story first, then every surface
Find the through-line, write one arc, then build the system that carries it.
Interview the execs
Pull the real story from the people telling it.
Find the through-line
One idea that every talk could ladder up to.
Write one arc
A single narrative that framed the whole kickoff.
Design the keynote
A stage and slide system that carried the story.
Brief & rehearse
Align speakers and vendors, then run it to the minute.
The kickoff, on stage
One narrative, one keynote system, one coherent event.
Delivered, on stage, on time
The kickoff shipped in a month and proved the team could deliver under pressure: a confident, coherent story from the keynote to the follow-up.
One story, delivered with confidence, in a month.Couchbase CKO · Feb 2026