I explore this question in my short, partly visual emails, crafted through my lens as a pitch designer in deep-tech. Join me for insights on effective communication, marketing, design, psychology, and the philosophy of value.
Avoid stepping on Lego
|
I'm allergic to any formulaic approaches to pitching, like the common 'problem-solution-traction-team' template. Not because it's uncreative, but because it's UNSCIENTIFIC. These top-down frameworks are too simplistic and lack the rigor tech professionals typically display in other parts of their work. Imagine you get up at night to get a sip of cold water. You have a sufficient mental map of your apartment so you don't even turn on the lights - that's top down. But as you take a step you spill over a box of Lego someone left in the hallway. Your mental map fails, and now you need to feel your way forward, step by step—that’s bottom-up. Most things, especially pitching, require both. You’re trying to find the magic words that will make an investor pick you over a 100 other startups. But nobody, not even the investor, knows what those words are. It's Lego bricks all over the place. so.. Given that this is the situation, what's your plan? Does it really make sense to follow a formula? While the uncertainty IS uncomfortable, it’s not as painful as stepping on Lego over and over again. Yours, P.S. Sharing is caring. If you enjoyed the read, please consider sharing it with a few friends who might find it useful. Thanks! |
What makes people see value in a thing?
I explore this question in my short, partly visual emails, crafted through my lens as a pitch designer in deep-tech. Join me for insights on effective communication, marketing, design, psychology, and the philosophy of value.
Most deep-tech pitches are weak due to confusion about the relationship between facts and narrative.At best, people aren’t sure what a narrative is. At worst, they think facts and narrative are opposites — that narrative is something you use when your facts are lacking. A simple scenarioImagine you meet someone and they treat you kindly. You note it as a fact. You might conclude: “This person is a good person.” Then later, that same person treats you poorly. Another fact. Now you have two...
No one knows what investors are looking for Not even the investors themselves.If they did, the whole process would look very different. Investors would just ask for the specific information, compare the answers, and make decisions quickly. But the investment process in deep-tech is long, iterative, and deeply human.That’s not to say investors aren’t qualified. Seasoned investors absolutely know how to invest to achieve the outcomes they desire - but they can’t give you a formula.Knowing how...
Deep-tech startups are building transformative technologies and care deeply about what they do - yet their ideas often get trapped behind layers of complex communication. A long vacation gave me time to dig into the root causes - and how we can do better. Here are a few short, easy reads from that reflection. The belief before logic manifesto What belief keeps deep-tech professionals from communicating effectively? Read more How clinging to logic is costing you A false belief is draining your...