How Founders Can Build Movements Through Comms

TL;DR

Founders creating genuinely new products should build movements by persuading people to accept a counterintuitive belief, not rely solely on traditional PR. Lulu Cheng Meservey’s approach emphasizes communicating directly, understanding unspoken cultural context, and demonstrating technology to important audiences when established media channels cannot provide a fair hearing.

Transcript

So you were born in China yet you speak Norwegian. Can you explain what occurred in your life between these two points? >> Yes. I was born in rural China. I was born in a little village where I think um my mom didn't even know whether I would come out a boy or a girl or in 6 months or 12 months or there was very little knowledge. And so I emerged a... Read More

Key Insights

• Movement building is the central communications task for founders creating something genuinely new. Because an unbuilt idea is not yet obvious, founders must overcome existing biases, persuade people to believe a counterintuitive proposition, and attract talented supporters who have many other opportunities available to them.
• Communication depends on unspoken context as much as explicit language. Meservey learned this after wearing a full rabbit costume to a Norwegian school on Halloween, correctly understanding the date and celebration but missing the unstated local convention that students did not wear costumes to school.
• Cross-cultural adaptation is a foundation of Meservey’s communications approach. Growing up in China, Germany, Norway, and Canada before moving to the United States repeatedly required her to read each environment and learn how to speak and behave in ways that people in that setting would accept.
• Fluency requires understanding how people actually use words, not merely learning formal vocabulary and grammar. Meservey’s interview phrase, “experience below the belt,” instead of “experience under my belt,” showed how a small linguistic difference can completely change meaning and affect professional credibility.
• Practical exposure was Meservey’s primary method for learning communications. Although she became a co-founder and chief operating officer of a communications firm without prior PR experience, Jim Wilkinson placed her in consequential client meetings where mistakes, feedback, and repeated practice accelerated her development.
• Political risk communications addresses problems that extend beyond ordinary business operations. Meservey’s examples include advising around a coup affecting a company entering Egypt and addressing American concerns about China and data privacy during Alibaba’s major United States IPO.
• Direct demonstration can replace unsuccessful attempts to secure favorable media attention. When reporters would not give Palmer Luckey a fair hearing during Anduril’s first year, the team stopped asking and instead showed the technology directly at Quantico, Camp Pendleton, and the CIA.
• Public advocacy can be conducted under an executive’s own name during consequential corporate disputes. Meservey stepped from Activision Blizzard’s board into the chief communications officer role, defended Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition publicly while it faced FTC opposition, and remained involved until the deal closed in October 2023.

Questions & Answers

Q: How can founders build a movement around a new product?

Founders can build a movement by identifying the counterintuitive belief behind their company and persuading others to accept it. A genuinely new product must overcome established assumptions precisely because the idea was not already obvious. Communications should rally employees, supporters, and other important audiences around the mission, especially when those people have attractive alternatives competing for their commitment.

Q: What does “go direct” mean in founder communications?

Going direct means communicating with important audiences without depending entirely on traditional media intermediaries. Anduril demonstrated this approach when reporters would not give Palmer Luckey a fair hearing. Instead of continuing to ask for coverage, the team visited Quantico, Camp Pendleton, and the CIA to show people the technology itself, allowing the product and its capabilities to support the company’s case.

Q: Why is cultural context important in communication?

Cultural context is important because much of what people expect is never stated explicitly. Meservey understood that Halloween occurred on October 31 and that costumes were associated with it, yet she did not know Norwegian students would not wear them to school. The resulting misunderstanding illustrates how shared words and facts can still conceal different assumptions about appropriate behavior.

Q: How did Lulu Cheng Meservey enter the communications field?

Meservey entered communications through political risk rather than a conventional PR career. She studied diplomacy, international security, and counterinsurgency, but could not pursue her intended government security work because she was not yet a citizen. After working on politically complex business situations, she partnered with Jim Wilkinson to co-found TrailRunner International and learned communications while doing the work.

Q: How did Lulu Cheng Meservey learn corporate communications?

Meservey learned corporate communications through direct practice, mistakes, and feedback. She entered major meetings despite having no previous communications experience and sometimes made references or suggestions that did not fit the professional context. Colleagues would explain the problem afterward, and repeated exposure helped her understand the field. She credits Jim Wilkinson with taking a chance on her and placing her in those situations.

Q: What did moving between countries teach Lulu Cheng Meservey?

Moving through China, Germany, Norway, Canada, and the United States taught Meservey to read unfamiliar environments and adapt her communication. As a child with different accents and clothing, fitting in could feel like a survival requirement. That experience trained her to notice how people speak, what a particular room accepts, and which assumptions remain unstated within a culture.

Q: Why are small differences in word choice important?

Small differences in word choice can transform meaning and shape how others judge a speaker. During a college interview, Meservey said she had experience “below the belt” when she meant “under my belt.” The phrases are structurally similar but carry very different implications. The mistake reinforced her continuing attention to the fine textures of language in each professional and cultural setting.

Q: How did Lulu Cheng Meservey advocate for Activision Blizzard?

Meservey joined Activision Blizzard’s board and then became its chief communications officer in October 2022 while Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition faced opposition from the FTC. She defended the transaction publicly under her own name, an approach the description contrasts with the reluctance of executives in deals of that size to speak personally. The acquisition closed in October 2023.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Lulu Cheng Meservey developed her sensitivity to language and context while growing up across China, Germany, Norway, Canada, and the United States. Experiences such as misunderstanding Norwegian Halloween customs taught her that communication depends heavily on unspoken assumptions, while learning English revealed the importance of subtle differences in word choice and usage.

• Meservey entered communications unexpectedly after studying diplomacy, international security, and counterinsurgency. Unable to pursue government security work before becoming a citizen, she moved into political risk and later co-founded TrailRunner International with Jim Wilkinson. She learned traditional corporate communications through direct experience, difficult meetings, mistakes, and candid feedback from colleagues and clients.

• Her current work helps founders build movements around unfamiliar or counterintuitive ideas. At Anduril, the team bypassed reporters who would not give Palmer Luckey a fair hearing and demonstrated the technology directly to relevant institutions. She later applied public, named advocacy at Activision Blizzard and launched Rostra with the Go Direct philosophy.