The Ethics of Selling What Matters, Not Just What Sells

During a recent session I held with health entrepreneurs from across Africa, a founder raised a dilemma that I thought cut to the heart of ethical storytelling and marketing. His company offers a solid health service that meets a real and growing need—but when pitching to investors, he found they were far more interested in hearing a “sob story” about extreme poverty.

The pressure was clear: to get the money, shape the message. Tug at heartstrings. Frame Africa as broken and desperate.

This founder’s question was both practical and philosophical: Should I bend my messaging to fit what sells?

This question doesn’t just apply to health startups—it’s a tension felt across sectors. When we feel pressured to frame a solution in a way that "sells," even it takes us away from our original focus or reinforces problematic narratives (i.e. that Africa is a monolith of poverty, that the only stories worth telling are of tragedy, and that the only solutions worth funding are those that serve “the poorest of the poor"), there is an ethical dilemma that arises.

Just because a story does not “sell” in the traditional sense doesn’t make it less worthy of being told. On the contrary, many of the most essential stories are not inherently catchy.

And that’s where our responsibility as communicators and marketers comes in. Yes, part of our job is to understand what sells. But the higher calling is this: To change what sells.

To reframe narratives. To expand the scope of stories that gain traction. To make space for complexity and nuance. To help audiences—including investors—recognize value even when it’s not immediately wrapped in the overly-simplistic tropes they are familiar with.

This isn’t easy. It takes creativity, courage, and sometimes a willingness to take the harder, longer road. But in the long run, it’s how we build more honest, dignified, and sustainable ecosystems.

So the next time you're tempted to shape your message to fit a cliché that no longer serves, ask yourself: Am I telling the story that sells, or the story that matters?

Better yet—how can I help make the story that matters start to sell?