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.
Eyes on the prize
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I start every new funding round project by asking, 'Who is our target persona?' The first answer is always vague: 'A VC.' Once I get it, I pull their profile photo and attach it to everything we create—a constant reminder to evaluate things 'through their eyes.' Founders are usually slightly apprehensive about that. I get it. The funding round is an extreme form of marketing. They feel that by focusing on a specific target persona, I am making their 'market' smaller. But here's the thing: I wish you could hit exactly where you aim. In reality you'll hit around your target in all sorts of ways. But without a sharp target, you miss altogether. The more complex the process, the smaller your target needs to be to guide your direction. And designing a coherent, compelling future for your startup? Yours, |
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...