THE LINGUISTIC STATUS OF IDEATION IN STARTUP DISCOURSE

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the study of the linguistic status of ideation in startup discourse and its influence on the promotion of innovations in the context of digital marketing in Technology for elaborating on effective professional and marketing communication. The development of startups is the practical discipline that embraces the toolkit of methods to work out, generate, and promote ideas, and their analysis to find out the effective investment policy. Specific language means and strategies are used to present ideas, concepts, and solutions. In the startup environment, they are studied from the point of view of the interaction of verbal (startup pitch decks – information dominant in the ideation process) and visual modes (visual communication tool Venngage for Business which helps to convey complex content in a more visually appealing way – performative dominant in the ideation process). The rhetorical aura of the ideator (ethos, logos, pathos) and his synergistic enthusiasm (entrepreneurial spirit and dynamism) are determined separately, aiming at conveying innovative ideas to attract investments and build effective communications with clients. Information dominant ideation is updated with a logical presentation of arguments, facts, statistics, and persuasive evidence that confirm the idea’s value and convince the audience of the startup success.Performative dominant ideation is actualized by multimodal interactivity that activates the perception of the idea by the audience, through the interference of verbal and visual means stimulated by neurotransmitters. Among these we single out the use of emotionally colored words, metaphors, and stylistic techniques that cause emotional resonance in the audience, acting on consciousness and subconsciousness.The research is based on the platforms Techleaders Talks, Keynote developers speakers, and IT Arena startup competition. The novelty of the work consists of working out the linguistic status of ideation in the startup format, namely in the development of idea presentation tools (idea pitching). As a result of the research, it was determined that idea pitching is a rhetorical phenomenon of professional communication that works in the paradigm of design thinking and has a clear toolkit aimed both at attracting the attention of investors and the inquisitiveness and interest of the audience. Aspects of idea pitching, such as the ideator's rhetorical aura, synergistic enthusiasm, persuasive argumentation, and multimodal interactivity are highlighted and their functions in the presented startup ideas are determined. The article also analyzes Google startups from the point of view of linguistic means of presenting the startup's philosophy, mission, values, and culture.