What to do when you bomb a pitch?

Thank you for being a part of this experiment!

It's fun creating this newsletter each week and it makes me happy that many of you have shared that you find the content helpful.

This week, I want to share a personal story that happened in my startup journey recently.

One that produces powerful results for TeachOne.

What happens when you bomb a pitch?

This past week I had a client proposal meeting that didn’t go so well.

I thought I'd prepared well.

I thought I had a strong sales process for the company.

But when faced to faced with the potential client, they had a different opinion.

They pointed out friction we overlooked.

They pointed out the things that concerned them, and why.

In a moment like this, it’s easy for founders to get defensive.

Oh they don’t understand

Oh they are rude

Oh, they aren’t the right customer.

Those things could be true, but how do they serve you?

They don’t…instead, as tough as it might be, you need to look inward.

What went wrong for us?

We weren’t credible enough.

As a founder, you should always have social proof.

That is going to provide you with the credibility you need.

Don’t tell them, show them.

We failed to provide enough social proof, thus coming across as untrustworthy.

And no one is going to work with someone they can’t trust.

Our business model created friction.

Our business model created friction, hindering our ability to make a sale.

Before a client was able to see the value they would receive, they had a make a meaningful commitment.

I can remember the look on the prospect's face in the meeting…

So…I have to pay $5K and I don't even know what I am going to get from it?

The room fell silent for a moment.

Talk about an awkward moment 😳

I thought what I was providing was obvious, but it wasn't.

No matter how the feedback might make us feel, we have to ask the critical
question to ourselves.

Do they have a point?

This is one of the most critical elements of any startup process.

Being able to self-reflect and apply what you’ve learned fast.

Within a day we had a new model that removed the friction from the sales process.

I wrote it on a piece of paper I found while working at the gym.

Now it’s about testing it to see how the market responds and adjusting where necessary.

That is the process of going from 0-1


As a founder, you have to see failure as a gift.


If you see it as a failure, you’ll miss opportunities to get better.


You might feel down, that’s human.


But you can't let your ego get in the way of progress.


So reflect, adjust, and try again.

You might be only one pivot away…

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