Mastering the Art of Pitching

Rick Rubin went on stage in Helsinki the day after my talk. Someone asked how he resolves creative differences with artists. His answer was simple: change the conversation from "I disagree" to "let's build it." Then he shared a story: An artist played him a song. The transition didn't work. Rubin told him so. The artist said, "We'll just cut that part in half." Rubin thought to himself: What a dumb idea. But he didn't say that. He said, "Let's try it." The artist played it. It worked. Rubin is a legend. He's produced everyone from Johnny Cash to Jay-Z. Instead, he bit his tongue and let the artist prove him wrong. The principle: when you make an idea tangible, it stops being the person's idea. It becomes something you can both look at objectively and improve together. Once you build it, the truth is obvious. Here's what this looks like in practice: Your designer wants to change the entire homepage layout. You think it's too risky. Instead of three meetings debating it, you say: "Let's build a prototype and test it with 50 users this week." Your sales team wants to restructure the pricing page. Instead of blocking it because you're worried about conversions, you say: "Let's run it as an A/B test on 20% of traffic for two weeks." Your engineer wants to rebuild a core feature from scratch. You think it's overengineered. But instead of killing it in the planning phase, you say: "Spike it out in three days and show me if the performance gain is real." You're not saying yes to everything. You're saying, "Let's find out." Rubin also said something that stuck with me: "If there's disagreement, I always side with the artist's vision. Because to them, it's their career. To me, it's just one piece of my portfolio." Most leaders think backing down makes them look weak. Rubin knows that siding with the person who has the most at stake makes better work happen. Your job isn't to be right. It's to create the conditions where the best idea wins. Stop debating. Start building. P.S. This insight is from this week's newsletter where I break down why Yamaha dominates while Steinway got sold to private equity: https://lnkd.in/efSqP_9K P.P.S. Access additional research links, the podcast, and the full archive in the first comment 👇 Thank you to Nordic Business Forum!

Here's how to simplify your pitch and 10x your sales: 1. Talk less, sell more. Short sentences = more sales. Hemingway once bet he could write a story in 6 words that'd make you feel something: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Your pitch should pack the same punch. 2. Complexity is for people who want to feel smart, not be effective. The worst salespeople make simple things sound complicated. The best make the complex simple. 3. Complexity says, "I want to feel needed." Simplicity limits to only what is needed. 4. Read your pitch out loud. I remember when I'd asked my COO to read the manuscript of my book. He chose to do it aloud. All 258 pages. Ears catch what eyes miss. The final version reads like butter. 5. "Be good, be seen, be gone." This was the best sales advice I ever got. - Good: Deliver value - Seen: Make an impression - Gone: Don't overstay your welcome People buy from those they remember, not those who linger. 7. Speak like your customer, not a textbook. We like to sound sophisticated. "We create impactful bottom-line solutions." But we like to listen to simple. "We help small businesses explode their sales." Which one would you buy? 8. Every word earns its place. Your pitch should be lean and mean. - Be specific - Avoid cliches - Check for redundancy - If it doesn't add value, cut it out 9. Abstract concepts bore. Concrete examples excite. ❌ "We'll increase your efficiency." ✅ "We'll save you 10 hours a week." Paint a picture. 10. People buy on emotion & justify with logic So tap into their feelings: - Fear of missing out - Desire for success - Need for security Then back it up with facts. 11. The "Grandma Test" never fails. If your grandma wouldn't get your pitch, simplify it. No jargon. No buzzwords. Just plain English. 12. Benefits > features. Dreams > benefits. ❌ "Our group hosts 10+ events per year." ✅ "Our program helps you close deals." 🚀 "Let's take back Main Street through ownership." 13. Use power words: - You - Free - Because - Instantly - New These words grab attention and drive action. Two final things to keep in mind... Simplicity isn't just for sales. Apply these principles to: - your business operations - your thinking processes - your next investment - your relationships - your to do list Sales isn't just for car dealerships. You pitch when you: - Negotiate a raise - Interview for a job - Post on social media - Hire someone for a job - Talk to an owner about buying their biz If you found this useful, feel free to share for others ♻️

15 years ago, I wrote "Write Better, Sell Better". The tagline that defined my career. Since then, I've written copy for Fortune 500 companies, projects that made millions, and taught copywriting at the university → Yep, writing is my life. But you don't have all semester long to learn. This post contains my 7 biggest writing lessons: (Save and repost this 60-second class ♻️) --- 1. Clarity is 90% of your writing Clarity beats cleverness 10 times out of 10. Remember: First, write clearly. Then, write creatively. Most focus on "creative" right off the bat = big no. (If you can do both, jackpot) --- 2. Use signposting to showcase authority I teach this technique to every single client. (This sentence you just read was a signpost) Signposts are short "signals" to your expertise and results. Think of them as signs on the side of the road, which allow you to "trust" the journey you're on. Can you notice where else I used it in this post? 😉 --- 3. Too much copy? Make it choppy. Here are 2 examples (the second one is better): Sometimes, we write super long sentences that we have no time to breathe and neither do our readers. Sometimes, we write super long sentences. We have no time to breathe. And neither do our readers. Chop it up! It's easier to read. --- 4. Write unselfishly. Edit relentlessly. Think about it. Writing is 80% editing. You are tweaking, optimizing, and making things sound perfect. One bit of advice: Don't hold back. Edit (ehm, delete) anything that isn't on-topic. I've deleted probably 40% of this post. --- 5. Use sensory words. Add texture to text. That had to hurt! → That had to "sting"! Having a bad day? → Having a "rough" day? A seamless process → A "silky-smooth" process All of the 2nd descriptions above can be "felt". It's how your readers "touch an emotion", not just "read text". --- 6. Never write to "everyone" Remember this for all time: "Everyone" is not your audience. Sales happen when your prospect can clearly "see" themselves in your writing. So how do you go about this? --- 7. The "Dear son" writing method Pick "one" person to speak to → I speak to my son. For you, it could be your best friend, the old you etc. I start everything with "Dear son" and end with "Love, Dad". In the end, I simply delete these 2 parts. Doing so creates such a powerful connection with your readers + a consistent tone of voice. With every word. Where there's connection, there's trust. And where there's trust, there's sales. Words to live by. --- Write Better, Sell Better = that's the whole game! Let me know which lesson you enjoy the most. Professor Jay, out. (Repost this for your network ♻️)

👋🏼 Founders - it's time to add the 'AI Survival Slide' to your pitch decks. It's what every investor is thinking to themselves anyway so make sure to include some version of it. This week on a long flight without wifi, I reviewed 50+ startup decks that all included the standard slides: problem, solution, team, market etc. But as I flipped through them, I realized that I was waiting for a slide that never came. Right now, how a startup is going to survive AI (and thrive) is top of mind but it's still missing from most pitches. In 2026, the "Competitive Landscape" slide with the checkmarks is no longer enough. Investors don't just want to know how you're better than your current rivals, but why you won't be steamrolled by the next LLM update or a big tech giant adding your core feature to their suite. Don't get me wrong, many startups have good answers to this concern but are not specifically addressing it in their decks. This feels like a mistake in today's uncertain market. Especially if you are building in the b2b / enterprise space, your deck needs to address defensibility through a new lens that may include: 🎯 Deep workflows, not just widgets. Features are easy to replicate but deep, messy, and sticky integrations into a company’s daily operations are not. If your AI is a sidecar chatbot, you’re at risk. If it’s the engine that runs a complex internal process, you’re building a moat. 🎯 Proprietary data loops. Investors are looking for how you are capturing unique private data, the kind of specialized industry intel that isn't available for training public models. That data loop is your fortress. 🎯 The trust layer. In regulated industries like health, finance, or even legal, human-in-the-loop and brand can be a moat. AI can generate the work, but humans still need to sign off on it. How does your product own that trust? Most of what I listed above is already top of mind for the best founders but I'm not seeing it come thru in the actual pitch decks. Don't wait for the investor to ask....Why will you survive? Make it crystal clear and part of the pitch itself.

I'm not investing in this company. But I wish more founders cold-pitched me like this. Last Thursday, a message landed in my LinkedIn inbox from Waseeq Ali. First line: UCL alum, previously exited founder, building B2B SaaS AI workflow for UK GPs, raising an angel round, SEIS-eligible, £XXk ARR in LOIs already signed. That was it the whole thing. No preamble.   Then he did three structured follow-ups over the next few days. First: context on their moat. Second: pitch deck and data room, unprompted. Third, four days later: "just to update you that I have a committed investor." So what made this good? Social proof first: His credentials are in the opening sentence, not buried in slide four. I receive 20+ inbound LI messages a day so I have to pattern-matching quickly. Give me the signals early. Don’t make me search for them. Showed traction: LOIs with a specific number. Not wishy-washy "strong pipeline" or similar. A figure = definitive evidence of traction. Scheme confirmation upfront: SEIS in the first message. Although it should never drive an investment decision for fellow UK angels, it’s worthwhile telling them. Every follow-up had new information vs repetition: No "just checking in". He made the most of every touch point; Momentum, materials, then a commitment signal. That's a sequence vs just spam. Most cold inbound I receive either opens with flattery or buries the key info in three paragraphs of market context. This did neither. If you're a founder preparing to raise I would study this structure, as the principles apply regardless of sector: Lead with credentials. Show evidence over assertion. Follow up with momentum rather than noise. Unfortunately can't invest in Waseeq's business because of a portfolio conflict, but I received his permission to share the above. Founders who pitch this well deserve to close quickly. I hope he does!

After creating hundreds of thousands of presentations, Nancy Duarte discovered a framework in 2010 that changed her life. She mapped it over Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone. Both aligned perfectly. She cried in her office - the pattern she'd been desperate to find was real. See, most founder pitches fail the same way. You stack all the customer pain points at the start, then demo your product at the end. By the time you reach your solution, people have already decided if they're interested. They tuned out at slide 8. Duarte's Sparkline does the opposite. You alternate between “what is” and “what could be” throughout the entire pitch. Pain, solution. Pain, solution. The pattern works because contrast commands attention and open loops create psychological discomfort. The brain needs recurring tension to stay engaged: - MLK toggled between injustice now and "I have a dream" repeatedly. - Jobs contrasted clunky smartphone limitations with iPhone capabilities throughout the 80-minute presentation. - JFK alternated between the US’s space limitations and “we choose to go to the Moon in this decade.” Each toggle made staying in the current state unbearable. The execution: 1. Make your customer the hero by using their exact words Interview five target customers or investors before you build slides. When they describe frustrations, use their language verbatim. This proves you understand their reality before pitching your solution. 2. Paint “what could be” with sensory detail Not better accommodations. Instead: a family arrives in Paris, their Airbnb host left fresh croissants and a handwritten neighborhood guide on the kitchen table. They feel like locals, not tourists. Concrete outcomes stick. Abstract benefits are forgotten. 3. Alternative problem/solution throughout - never batch Pain 1, solution 1, pain 2, solution 2, pain 3, solution 3. Never group all problems then all features. Batching lets investors and customers mentally check out before you finish. 4. End with an immediate next step (24-48 hours) For investors: “By Friday, confirm the partner meeting date and three references you want to call.” For customers: “By tomorrow, send three use cases and I'll record a custom demo by Wednesday.” Make the decision immediate and concrete. Watch for these signals mid-pitch: You're losing them when investors lean back, check phones, or pivot to questions about your burn rate and competition. You're winning when customers interrupt to describe their specific use case, ask about implementation timeline, or want to loop in their team immediately. When every startup in your category has similar features, the pitch that creates unbearable tension wins the round, the sale, and the talent.

Stop asking for the sale. Start showing them the gap. Here's how I close six figure projects in under 22 minutes. Not because I'm some sales genius. It's because I focus on what clients care about most. Spoiler alert. It has nothing to do with what I do/make. Here's the formula— Don't skip the 2 B's between A and C. **A = Asking** (Discovery) **B = Baseline** (Where they are) **B = Benchmark** (Where they want to be) **C = Closing** (The decision) Here's how it plays out: Started with asking. Simple questions. "What's the reason for our call today?" Client: "I want to close more clients." "What's your current close rate on proposals?" Client: "38%." "What about your competitors?" Client: "The good ones? Probably 60-65%." "So if you could hit 60%, what would that mean for your business?" He did the math out loud while I followed along. Then I laid out the 2 B's (Baseline & Benchmarks): **Baseline (Their Reality Today)** • Win rate: 38% • Average deal: $400K • Proposals per month: 8 • Monthly revenue: $1.2M **Benchmark (Their Potential Tomorrow)** • Win rate: 60% • Same average deal: $400K • Same proposals: 8 • Monthly revenue: $1.9M "That's $700K per month you're leaving on the table. What's a reasonable amount to invest to achieve this?" Pause. "Does 10-20% sound fair?" His response? "When can we start?" No pitch deck. No feature list. No convincing. Just clarity on the gap. Here's what I've learned in running a service business for 24+ years. The sale isn't in your solution. It's in their realization. When you focus on the 2 B's, you remove all the friction. They stop asking "why should I buy?" and start asking "why haven't I done this already?" The gap sells itself. You're just the bridge. Most people go straight from A to C. They ask a few questions then jump into their pitch. That's like proposing on the first date. Slow down. Quantify their pain. Show them what's possible. Let the gap do the heavy lifting. What's the biggest gap you've helped a client see between their baseline and benchmark? What is the benchmark you help people with? Is it specific, measurable, and time bound? #salesstrategy #businessgrowth #clientmanagement

How to build premium pitch decks in Lovable 🔥 I've seen a lot of founders and agency owners recently build their slide decks with Lovable, so I created a guide for you to do the same. Here's how it works: 1/ Start by giving Lovable the full picture Before you touch a single slide, tell Lovable who you are, who you're pitching, and what you want them to feel by the end. → Prompt: "I'm building a pitch deck for an early-stage startup pitching seed investors. The tone should feel confident and credible, and the design clean and modern. Let's build it slide by slide." 2/ Set your design system before anything else This is the mistake most people make. They jump straight into content and end up with a deck that looks different on every slide. Spend two minutes on this first. → Prompt: "Define a design system for this deck. Dark background, white text, single accent color. One display font for headlines, one clean font for body copy. Generous spacing throughout." 3/ Build one slide at a time Prompting your entire deck in one go will get you something generic. Build one slide, get it right, then move to the next. You stay in control of the narrative that way. → Prompt: "Now add the next slide. The goal is to clearly explain what we do and why it matters. Should feel simple and compelling." 4/ Use feeling words to shape the vibe Instead of describing layout, describe how the slide should make someone feel. Try words like "cinematic," "editorial," "tactile," "confident," or "bold and ambitious." Add "calm and trustworthy" for investor slides, or "energetic and forward-looking" for a product reveal. 5/ Visualize data instead of listing it Whenever you have numbers, timelines, or comparisons, ask Lovable to make them visual. A wall of bullet points kills momentum in any pitch. → Prompt: "Turn this data into a clean visual. No tables, no bullet points. Easy to scan and hard to ignore." 6/ Make your most important slide impossible to miss: Every deck has one slide that carries the most weight. Don't let it get lost in a busy layout. Give it space to breathe. → Prompt: "This is the most important slide in the deck. Make it feel that way. Bold, spacious, and visually distinct from the rest." 7/ Close with a clear direction Most decks fade out at the end. Give your audience one clear next step instead whatever moves things forward. → Prompt: "Create a closing slide with one clear call to action and our contact details. Confident and direct." 8/ Do a consistency pass before you share Ask Lovable to review the full deck before you send it. It will catch things you've stopped noticing. → Prompt: "Review the full deck for visual consistency and mobile responsiveness. Check spacing, font sizes, and alignment across every slide. Fix anything that feels off." Pro tip: Write prompts like you're briefing your best designer. Give them the intent and the feeling you're after, and leave room for them to surprise you.

What I Look for Before I Invest In A Business Having sat on both sides of the table, as a founder seeking funds and as an angel investor (and Shark 🦈) deploying funds: I’ve realized that when I invest in a startup, I’m evaluating far more than just the pitch deck numbers. Here’s what I really look for when a founder pitches to me: ☑️ Passion & Resilience: I know, everyone says “I’m passionate,” so how do I gauge it? By the sparkle in their eyes when they talk about their product and the honesty when discussing hurdles. I often ask, “What will you do if things don’t go as planned?” – a well-thought answer here shows me they’re in it for the long haul, not just the glory days. ☑️ Understanding of Customers: You’d be surprised how many pitches focus on market size but gloss over the actual customer. I love hearing a founder say, “I spoke to 100 potential users and here’s what they said.” It shows me they’re grounded and customer-obsessed. If you know your users deeply, you can pivot and iterate intelligently. ☑️ Coachability: No one has all the answers, and that’s okay. I actually appreciate when a founder says “I don’t know” and follows up with “…but I’m eager to learn or get help.” It tells me they’re open to mentorship and collaboration. An investee-investor relationship is like a partnership – I don’t want to just write a check; I want to add value. It’s easiest to help someone who’s receptive to feedback and new ideas. ☑️ Alignment of Values: This one is more intangible, but crucial. I check – does this founder’s ethos align with mine? For example, if a founder is willing to compromise on product safety or ethics for a quick buck, we’re probably not a fit. But if they demonstrate integrity (even in small anecdotes, like how they handled a customer complaint), that builds trust. I invested in one startup mainly because the founder said their first big purchase order was delayed and they chose to be transparent with clients rather than cover it up. That honesty won me over. In short, I invest in the person as much as the business. The right investor-founder fit is like finding a co-founder. So if you’re pitching (to me or anyone), remember: beyond the TAMs and P&Ls, we’re listening for your story, character, and vision. And as always, if you have a pitch that fits my areas (D2C, sustainability, etc.), I’m all ears. What qualities do you value most in a founder or an investor? #Leadership #StartupFunding #AngelInvestor #Entrepreneurship

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲 In this video, Molly Carlson experiences fear while initially standing on the bridge, yet demonstrates remarkable composure as she moves through her pre-dive routine when doing the dive. This is a great example of how a pre-performance routine can help athletes manage pressure and maintain performance standards, even when distractions or nerves are present. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝑷𝒓𝒆-𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆? According to Moran (1996), a pre-performance routine is a sequence of task-relevant thoughts and behaviours that an athlete engages in before performing a sporting skill. 𝑫𝒐 𝑷𝒓𝒆-𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌? Research suggests they can be particularly valuable under pressure. Mesagno et al. (2008) found that athletes using a pre-performance routine performed up to 29% better in high-pressure situations than those who did not use one. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑷𝒓𝒆-𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆? Mesagno and Mullane-Grant (2010) highlighted several important components: 🌬 Deep breathing Two slow, deep breaths can help athletes regulate arousal before performance. For example, inhaling through the nose for around 5 seconds and exhaling through the mouth for 9–10 seconds. 🧠 Cue words Athletes can identify task-relevant words or phrases that focus attention on important aspects of their performance. A rugby goal kicker, for example, might use cues such as “coil” and “follow through.” ⏰ Timing consistency The routine should be consistent. Coaches can time the routine during practice so athletes become familiar with its duration and sequence. 🤛 Left-hand contraction Interestingly, recent research has explored left-hand contractions as part of pre-performance preparation. Mizuno and Masaki (2024) found that contracting a ball in the left hand immediately before a tennis serve improved performance compared with a control condition. Wadhwani et al. (2024) suggested that these effects may persist for at least 15 minutes. 🧠 Visualisation Athletes can also incorporate imagery into their routine, as Molly appears to do before her dive. 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒓𝒆-𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 Perhaps most importantly, there is no single “perfect” routine. Pre-performance routines should be individualised (Mesagno & Mullane-Grant, 2010). One athlete might say their cue words while breathing; another might use them before or after their breathing routine. Some may benefit from visualisation, while others may prefer a simpler approach. The key is to experiment, establish an effective routine, and then practise it consistently. Athletes tend to perform better when they adhere to their established routine rather than deviating from it (Lonsdale & Tam, 2008). Molly's pre-dive routine is a powerful reminder that performing under pressure isn't necessarily about eliminating fear, it's about having a process that allows you to perform despite it. (🎥: Red Bull)