
storytelling with data podcast: #85 what founders can teach us about storytelling & resilience
storytelling with data podcastShow Notes
NEW SERIES: The Founder’s Journey – Stories of Building, Scaling & Storytelling We’re launching something new on thestorytelling with data podcast! In this special series, we’ll sit down with founders who are building something remarkable—diving into their journeys, the lessons they’ve learned, and the storytelling strategies that fuel their success. In this episode, Randy is joined by Doni Priliandi, founder of HappyFive, an employee engagement and performance management platform. Doni’s path is one of persistence, risk-taking, and strategic storytelling. From cold-emailing Google’s Laszlo Bock to hopping on a last-minute flight from Jakarta to Silicon Valley, Doni’s story is filled with bold moves and valuable insights. He shares how being an underdog can be a superpower, why storytelling is crucial for founders, and the lessons he’s learned while expanding into the U.S. market. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a leader, or simply someone looking for inspiration, this episode offers a fascinating look at the intersection of data, storytelling, and startup success. Related Links: Check out Happy5's performance management software platform Link up with Doni on LNKD Read Work Rules by Laszlo Bock
More from storytelling with data podcast
“We’ve already tried that.” “Those numbers don’t look right.” “I’m not convinced.” What do you do when your audience pushes back on your data or recommendations? In this episode, Alli and Simon tackle eight common questions from storytelling with data workshops about winning over a tough audience. From handling disagreement and challenging questions to presenting unpopular findings, they share practical strategies to build trust, navigate resistance, and turn tense presentations into productive conversations.
Bump charts are great at showing who's rising, who's falling, and who's staying on top—but they don't tell you the whole story. In this episode, Alli explains what a bump chart is, when to use one, and what to watch out for when comparing rankings instead of actual values. Plus, she highlights three creative examples from the storytelling with data community that use color, added context, and an unexpected layout to make changes in rankings easier to see and understand.
Does telling a story with data introduce bias? In this episode, Cole explores the tension between objectivity and perspective—and why simply “showing the data” isn’t as neutral as it may seem. If you’ve ever worried that storytelling could compromise rigor, learn how to bring your expertise and point of view to the data while still communicating uncertainty, limitations, and alternative interpretations responsibly.
Cole recently appeared on the Analytics Power Hour, and this was such a great conversation, we're rebroadcasting it here! ———— There’s a version of this episode where AI replaces the data visualization expert entirely, and there’s a version where it’s useless without one. Neither is quite right, according to Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic of Storytelling with Data, who joined Tim, Moe, and Julie to sort out where AI genuinely earns its keep in data storytelling and where it’s just producing a shinier first draft of the same shitty slide. Cole—admittedly a skeptic-turned-convert who once joked she’d retire before having to deal with any of this—walks through why the humans who benefit most from AI are the ones who already have the foundation to know when to ignore it, why “let me look at some options” beats “give me the final chart” as a prompt, and why the analog, pencil-and-paper parts of the process might be the most valuable friction in the whole workflow. Bring your own opinions on whether Claude should ever be handed “the rules” and told to just go.
What can AI help us see, try, or explore that we couldn’t easily do before? Alli shares three standout talks from the 2026 Outlier conference—and three lessons for using AI in data visualization: - Use AI to expand your options without outsourcing your judgment. - Give AI the information it needs to critique its work. - Use AI to find what’s worth visualizing in the first place.