Two months ago, I was still stuck on Sinek. Kinetara is a FrodX product. Gorazd and Andrej prepared the market positioning and GTM strategy. I wasn't a fan - my brain was still running on "Start with Why." They tried to convince me that times have changed, that people view messages differently today because we are in the attention economy. I let them convince me. Today, I admit it: I was wrong. Last week, we landed 4 new clients. With my old approach (selling CRM or marketing automation systems), I get 4 new clients in two quarters. Kinetara hammered the reality into my head: even in B2B, we buy differently now.
Today, a brand shouldn't start with your "mission," but with the buyer's measurable pain - the mission comes only after you've earned their attention.
Imagine the director of a private clinic. On LinkedIn, you're offering him a "revolution in human communication" - your famous Sinek-style "Why." In the background, his phone is ringing off the hook, the receptionist is missing, and he is currently losing $500 due to a missed patient call. In three minutes, that patient will book an appointment with the competition. This director doesn't need inspiration. He needs a plug for the financial bleeding caused by 62% of unanswered calls.
For a long time, we sold the idea that the "Why" would create an emotional connection. Today, the reality is more brutal: if the buyer doesn't understand what you sell and what they get in 3 seconds, they won't even listen to you. And if they don't listen - there is no emotional connection. There is no relationship. There is no trust. Clarity must come first.
I see the same movie playing out everywhere. Companies spend months and thousands of dollars on workshops searching for their mission. Then they write a manifesto that nobody reads. Meanwhile, buyers scroll past because, in those first few seconds, they didn't understand what the hell the company actually sells. The problem isn't the intent. The problem is biology.
Abstraction requires System 2 - energy, focus, time. Concreteness appeals to System 1 - fast decision-making. In the attention economy, this is the difference between "aha" and "skip." If you have to explain your "Why" before telling me "What" is in it for me - you've already lost me.
Kinetara could have gone the Sinek route: "We believe in a world where every voice is heard." Nice. And completely useless to a director watching money drain away through unanswered calls. With Gorazd and Andrej, we switched to brutal concreteness: "Kinetara picks up in 2 seconds, 24/7, and turns missed calls into bookings." That's it. No translator needed. The buyer immediately understands the competence. And in a digital environment, information that is easier to process is perceived as more true. Philosophizing about your mission in 2026 doesn't build trust - it triggers skepticism.
Sinek sells aspiration - what we could become. Behavioral economics is clear: loss aversion is approximately 2x stronger as a motivator than the desire for gain. So, in B2B, don't sell a "better future." Sell the end of current pain. At Kinetara, we didn't talk about "increasing revenue." We talked about "money leaking." Fact: in the B2B sector, between 47% and 62% of calls go unanswered. When you tell a buyer, "You are losing $3,000 every month due to unanswered calls," the alarm goes off. That is language every director understands.
We used to talk about "Speed to Lead" in minutes. Today, we speak in seconds. The stats are ruthless: responding in less than 1 minute increases conversion probability by 391%. Every second you spend explaining your vision on your website is a second the buyer doesn't know if you can solve their problem. That's why today, "Show, don't tell" wins. Not a manifesto. Proof. Instead of a "Demo" as a vision chat: a "Test Your AI" button. The user enters a number - the AI calls them in 10 seconds. End of debate.
Here is the pivot that was hardest for me to swallow. I thought empathy was explaining to the buyer what we believe in. Today, I see that was often just my ego. True empathy means respecting the buyer's time and cognitive load. Clarity is the new empathy. The fastest way to a buyer's heart (and wallet) isn't sharing your dreams, but proving you can solve the problem keeping them awake at night in 10 seconds.
Before you send your next newsletter or redesign your website, ask yourself:
1. Does your main headline require thought - or does it punch you in the gut?I'm not suggesting you throw your mission in the trash. I suggest you stop using it as your primary weapon. First, measure where your clients are bleeding. Then offer them the "What" with immediate proof. Start with a "Call me" button, not a manifesto. Be the one bringing a band-aid - not the one reading poetry next to an open wound. If you want, send me your current "hero headline" and CTA - and I'll send you back 3 concrete versions the buyer will understand in 3 seconds.
Igor Pauletič
P.S. I'd rather see a client pay me because I saved them $10,000 than a client who "likes" me because I have a nice slogan.