Thrisha Brand Voice & Writing Guidelines
Who is this for?
Purpose: This guide helps anyone writing for Thrisha capture the authentic voice that readers trust. Use this as a reference when writing blog posts, emails, social media, or any content.
Table of Contents
- Voice vs. Tone
- Core Voice Principles
- Writing Framework
- Do’s and Don’ts
- Common Patterns
- Examples: Good vs. Needs Work
Voice vs. Tone
Voice = Who we are (constant) Tone = How we adapt to context (changes)
Our Voice (Never Changes)
Think of it as: “Thinking out loud with someone you trust over coffee”
We’re the friend who:
- Tells you the truth even when it’s uncomfortable
- Shows you how they think, not just what they concluded
- Admits when they’re unsure
- Gives credit to others
- Uses their own experiences as proof
Our Tone (Adapts to Context)
- Teaching moment → More structured, step-by-step
- Sharing vulnerability → Raw, honest, reflective
- Making a point → Direct, even challenging
- Telling a story → Narrative, specific details
- Giving advice → Practical, “here’s what worked for me”
Core Voice Principles
1. Radically Honest
What it means: Say what you actually think, even if it makes you look uncertain or conflicts with popular opinion.
Why it matters: Trust is built on honesty, not perfection.
In practice:
- Admit when you don’t understand something
- Share internal conflicts and difficult decisions
- Say “I was wrong about X” when you were
- Don’t pretend to have all the answers
Examples:
- ✅ “To be honest, I did not understand it. Not even close.”
- ✅ “That’s sad. Very sad.”
- ❌ “After careful analysis, the opportunity didn’t align with our thesis.”
2. Show Your Process
What it means: Let readers see HOW you think, not just WHAT you concluded.
Why it matters: People learn more from seeing the thinking process than just the final answer.
In practice:
- Walk through your decision-making
- List the questions you asked yourself
- Show the competing factors
- Explain why you chose one path over another
Examples:
- ✅ “Do I like the entrepreneurs? Yes. Do I like the market? No. Do I think I can add value? Not in the areas they’ll need help.”
- ❌ “After evaluation, we decided not to invest.”
3. Numerical Precision
What it means: Use specific numbers, not vague quantities.
Why it matters: Precision = credibility. Vague = hand-wavy.
In practice:
- Actual weights, dates, dollar amounts
- Specific timeframes
- Real metrics and percentages
- Count things (“2-3 experiments”, “4-5 entrepreneurs”)
Examples:
- ✅ “From 174 lbs to 125 lbs over 25 weeks”
- ✅ “I meet 4-5 new entrepreneurs every week”
- ❌ “I lost a lot of weight over several months”
- ❌ “I meet with many entrepreneurs regularly”
4. Credit Where Due
What it means: Attribute insights to the people who taught you.
Why it matters: Shows humility and builds on collective wisdom rather than claiming everything as original.
In practice:
- “A colleague told me this…”
- “My sister recommended…”
- “A friend mentioned…”
- Name the source when you remember it
Examples:
- ✅ “A colleague told me this – be prepared to disagree but don’t be disagreeable.”
- ❌ “Be prepared to disagree but don’t be disagreeable.” (claiming it as your own)
5. Practical Metaphors Only
What it means: Use metaphors and analogies only when they clarify complex ideas, not to sound poetic.
Why it matters: Decorative language distracts. Clarifying language helps.
In practice:
- Test: Does this metaphor make it easier to understand? If no, cut it.
- Use concrete, physical images (balloon, house, car)
- Avoid abstract or flowery comparisons
Examples:
- ✅ “Like a helium balloon, they soar quickly and burst just as fast”
- ✅ “A house built of brick and stone still withstands many years of the storm”
- ❌ “Success is a journey through the garden of entrepreneurship”
6. Embrace Contradiction
What it means: Don’t oversimplify. Show the tension and complexity in real decisions.
Why it matters: Life is messy. Pretending it’s simple makes you seem naive or dishonest.
In practice:
- Use “but” to show competing truths
- Acknowledge trade-offs
- Don’t resolve every tension with a neat answer
- It’s okay to end with “I’m still figuring this out”
Examples:
- ✅ “I really like the entrepreneur, but the opportunity is not where I will make money”
- ✅ “Will it change the world? Most likely, but only at scale.”
- ❌ “After weighing all factors, the path forward became clear”
7. Personal as Universal
What it means: Use your specific experiences to teach general lessons.
Why it matters: Readers connect with stories, not abstractions.
In practice:
- Start with your story
- Use “I” freely
- Give exact details from your experience
- Then extract the principle
Examples:
- ✅ Start with weight loss story (specific) → teach discipline (universal)
- ✅ Start with meeting clinician entrepreneurs (specific) → teach about fund constraints (universal)
- ❌ “Discipline is important for achieving goals” (abstract lesson with no story)
Writing Framework
Structure for Most Posts:
1. Hook with a specific moment
- “Yesterday I met…”
- “On June 23rd 2014, I weighed…”
- “I meet 4-5 new entrepreneurs every week…”
2. Set context quickly
- Don’t bury the lede
- 1-2 sentences max
3. Tell what happened
- Concrete details
- Real numbers
- Actual conversations
4. Show your thinking
- Questions you asked
- Conflicts you felt
- Process you followed
5. Extract the lesson
- What did you learn?
- What should readers take away?
- Often in list form with asterisks or “First, Second, Finally”
6. End with lingering questions (optional)
- If you’re still unsure, say so
- If there’s tension, leave it there
Do’s and Don’ts
✅ DO:
- Use short sentences. Punchy. Clear. Direct.
- Define terms upfront (“Let’s define success as…”)
- Use “First, Second, Finally” when listing steps
- Use asterisks * for key learnings
- Start paragraphs with “Which means…” or “That’s why…” or “The problem is…” to show logical flow
- Say “I” and “you” freely
- Use contractions (don’t, won’t, can’t)
- Challenge conventional wisdom when you disagree
- Admit mistakes and uncertainty
- End sections with a single-sentence paragraph for emphasis. Like this.
❌ DON’T:
- Use hedge words (“perhaps”, “maybe”, “it might be”, “arguably”)
- Use corporate speak (“leverage”, “synergy”, “utilize”, “optimize” unless in technical context)
- Use long introductions – jump right in
- Apologize for your opinions
- Use decorative adjectives (“amazing”, “incredible”, “fantastic”)
- Write paragraphs longer than 5-6 lines
- Use bullet points in the middle of prose (use them for distinct lists only)
- Use emojis
- Try to sound smart or impressive
- Hide the hard parts
Common Patterns
Pattern 1: The Honest Admission
“To be honest, [thing you don’t know/understand]”
Example: “To be honest, I did not understand it. Not even close.”
Pattern 2: The Single Sentence Paragraph
Use for emphasis. Always at the end of a section.
Example: “That’s sad. Very sad.”
Pattern 3: The Question Stack
List questions to show decision-making process.
Example: “Do I like the entrepreneurs? Yes. Do I like the market? No. Do I think I can add value? Not in the areas they need help.”
Pattern 4: The Definition
Define terms clearly before using them.
Example: “For purposes of this post let’s define success as a company that’s growing significantly and rapidly, but does not have an exit yet.”
Pattern 5: The Attribution
Give credit when sharing wisdom.
Example: “A colleague told me this – be prepared to disagree but don’t be disagreeable.”
Pattern 6: The Numbered Proof
Use exact numbers to prove your point.
Example: “On June 23rd 2014, I weighed 174 lbs. On Dec 24th I weighed 125 lbs. It was a steady 2 lbs loss of weight each week.”
Pattern 7: The Three-Part Structure
Use “First, Second, Finally” for action steps.
Example: “First, I reduced my food intake from 2200 calories to 1500 calories. Second, I started running from 1.5 miles to 13-15 miles daily. Finally, I started to fast all day on Thursdays.”
Pattern 8: The “If-Then” Reality Check
Show logical consequences clearly.
Example: “If you mistake activity with progress, then you are just doing long hours.”
Examples: Good vs. Needs Work
Example 1: Starting a Post
❌ Needs Work: “In today’s fast-paced startup ecosystem, entrepreneurs face numerous challenges in achieving product-market fit. This article explores the key factors that contribute to startup success.”
✅ Good: “I meet 4-5 new entrepreneurs every week as part of my office hours on Go-to-market help for young startups. Most are based in Bangalore, but surprisingly some are from other parts of the world.”
Why it’s better: Specific. Personal. Immediate. No throat-clearing.
Example 2: Expressing Uncertainty
❌ Needs Work: “While the opportunity presented certain merits, we ultimately concluded it wasn’t aligned with our investment thesis at this time.”
✅ Good: “Are they solving a big problem? Possibly, again I don’t know. Do I like the entrepreneurs? Yes. Do I like the market? No. Do I think I will make money? Likely not.”
Why it’s better: Shows real internal conflict. Admits uncertainty. Walks through the actual thinking.
Example 3: Teaching a Lesson
❌ Needs Work: “Discipline is essential for achieving significant goals. By maintaining consistent effort and making strategic choices, one can accomplish remarkable results.”
✅ Good: “There’s one secret though. It was my discipline. Plain and simple. I used two apps. First, I reduced my food intake from 2200 to 1500 calories. Second, I started running. Finally, I started to fast. That’s it.”
Why it’s better: Starts with the claim. Proves it with specifics. Shows exactly what you did.
Example 4: Making a Controversial Point
❌ Needs Work: “Work-life balance can be challenging for early-stage founders to maintain.”
✅ Good: “Some ‘older’ entrepreneurs will share their ability to ‘strike a balance’ between work and life. Practically speaking (I hate to break this to them) that does not exist in a startup. If you have that balance, you are not serious enough about your startup.”
Why it’s better: Takes a stand. Doesn’t hedge. Willing to be disagreed with.
Example 5: Using Numbers
❌ Needs Work: “Over several months, I made significant progress in my weight loss journey through consistent effort.”
✅ Good: “On June 23rd 2014, I weighed 174 lbs. On Dec 24th I weighed 125 lbs. It was a steady 2 lbs loss of weight each week, more or less.”
Why it’s better: Exact dates. Exact weights. Exact rate. Verifiable. Credible.
Quick Checklist Before Publishing
Before you hit publish, ask yourself:
- [ ] Did I jump right in, or did I waste time with an introduction?
- [ ] Did I use specific numbers where possible?
- [ ] Did I show my thinking process, not just my conclusion?
- [ ] Did I admit uncertainty if I have it?
- [ ] Did I give credit where I learned something from someone else?
- [ ] Did I use short sentences? (Read it aloud – do you run out of breath?)
- [ ] Did I cut all hedge words? (perhaps, maybe, arguably, etc.)
- [ ] Did I use “I” and “you” instead of “we” or “one”?
- [ ] Would I actually say this to a friend over coffee?
- [ ] Did I end with impact rather than trailing off?
Final Note
This is Thrisha’s voice. Not anyone else’s.
It’s honest, direct, practical, and personal. It shows the work. It gives credit. It uses real numbers. It admits uncertainty.
When you write for Thrisha, write like you’re having coffee with a smart friend, walking them through:
- What happened
- What you thought
- Where you got stuck
- What you decided
- What you’re still unsure about
If it doesn’t sound like something we would say, rewrite it until it does.
This guideline is a living document. As the brand evolves, so will this guide.
