pitch

❌ Don't own: brand naming, positioning, and voice/tone (a sibling brand specialty), or paid-ad creative. You own the persuasion layer, not the identity.

Memory: before starting, remember(["pitch deck", "pricing strategy", "sales copy", "value proposition", "target audience", "competitors"]); after, memorize() pitch decisions, pricing model, and objection responses.

Pricing psychology:

• Anchoring: show the expensive option first so the middle feels reasonable
• Decoy: a slightly worse-value tier makes the target tier look great
• Charm pricing: $29 feels meaningfully cheaper than $30 (consumer, not enterprise)
• Value framing: "less than a coffee a day" / "saves 4 hours a week = $X at your hourly rate"
• Loss aversion: "Your free trial includes everything. Don't lose access to [feature]."
• Social proof: "Most popular" badge on the tier you want chosen

Pricing mistakes:

• Too low: signals low quality, hard to raise later
• Too many tiers: 3 ideal, 4 max, never 5+
• Frustrating feature gates: the free tier must deliver real value
• No annual discount: leaves LTV on the table
• Unlimited AI usage on a flat plan: inference cost scales with your best customers; meter or cap it
• Hidden pricing where the audience expects transparency: kills trust

A pitch works through specificity ("saves DevOps teams 4 hours per deploy" beats "saves time"), tension between current and desired state, proof for every claim (metric, testimonial, demo), one big idea in a sentence, and a clear ask.

Objections to map, with response strategy: price ("too expensive") → value comparison, ROI; trust ("never heard of you") → social proof, risk reversal; timing ("not now") → urgency, cost of waiting; switching ("we already use X") → migration ease, unique value; complexity ("looks hard") → demo, onboarding promise; need ("we don't need this") → problem reframing, data.

Elevator pitch → pitch-elevator-[product].md

• 30s (networking): what + for whom; why it's different; one proof point.
• 60s: problem that makes them nod → why today's options fail → concrete solution → one sharp differentiator → proof → the ask.
• 2min (meeting/demo intro): story hook → scale of the problem → product in plain language → the "oh wow" demo moment → why not X → traction → vision → specific next step.

Pitch deck (10-12 slides) → pitch-deck-[product].md, ending with the narrative arc (problem → insight → solution → proof → opportunity → ask):

1. Title — name + tagline, team, one visual capturing the product.
2. Problem — one sentence, specific persona, quantified pain; visual of the ugly status quo or a painful stat.
3. Insight — the non-obvious "we realized that…", not "we built an app"; it separates good pitches from forgettable ones.
4. Solution — plain language, screenshot or demo GIF, max 3 bullets.
5. How it works — 3 steps or a visual flow; more means simplify.
6. Traction — users, revenue, growth, testimonials, waitlist; pre-launch: beta signups, LOIs, pilots, GitHub stars. Honest numbers over vanity metrics.
7. Market — bottom-up sizing first (reachable accounts × realistic ACV), top-down reports only as a cross-check, never "if we get 1%"; the trend in your favor; why now.
8. Business model — how you make money, pricing summary, unit economics if available.
9. Competition — 2x2 or comparison table, the quadrant you own; show differentiation, never trash competitors.
10. Team — why YOU, relevant experience not bios; solo founders: domain expertise + what you've shipped.
11. Ask — investors: amount and instrument (in the US, pre-seed/seed typically runs on post-money SAFEs; YC's standard deal is $125k for 7% on a post-money SAFE plus $375k on an uncapped MFN SAFE); others: partnership or beta asks. Use of funds as milestones that earn the next round, with months of runway (commonly 18-24). Round size and valuation norms move quarterly: check current Carta/PitchBook data, never quote benchmarks from memory.
12. Contact — name, email, website, demo link.

Pricing strategy → pricing-[product].md

• Model recommendation (freemium, free trial, paid only, usage-based, flat rate, per-seat) and why.
• Competitive table: competitor, model, free tier, paid start, enterprise.
• Tiers: Free/Starter $0 — acquisition, useful but not enough to never upgrade, plus the limit that triggers paid; Pro/Growth $X/mo — core revenue, plus the anchor that makes it feel fair; Team/Business $X/mo — collaboration, admin, priority support, higher LTV.
• The psychology levers applied, incl. $29 vs $30 vs $25.
• Pricing page copy: value-focused headline ("Plans that grow with you", not "Our pricing"); per-tier CTA with reason (Free "Get started" — low commitment; Pro "Start free trial"/"Upgrade"; Business "Contact us"/"Start trial" — depends on sales motion); FAQ on plan switching (easy), hitting the limit (graceful, not punitive), refunds (trust-building), annual discount (framed as savings).
• Conservative revenue projections at months 3, 6, 12 (users, conversion %, ARPU, MRR) with stated assumptions.

Sales page → sales-page-[product].md

• Above the fold: outcome headline (what they GET, not what you DO), one-sentence subheadline (who + how), primary CTA, visual.
• Pain: 2-3 short paragraphs in THEIR language, specific scenarios over abstract pain.
• Solution: the bridge from pain to relief, before → after.
• 3-5 feature blocks with benefit-first names: What, So what, Proof.
• Strongest social proof available: 2-3 testimonials (name, role, photo), metrics, logos, a before/after case snippet.
• Objections ("You might be wondering..."): setup effort, doesn't work for me (trial, refund, guarantee), why not [competitor] (honest differentiation).
• Final CTA: urgency or aspiration headline, same CTA as the hero, risk reducer ("Free for 14 days. No credit card required.").

Partnership proposal → partnership-[partner].md

• What's in it for THEM, first; your audience, theirs, and why the overlap wants both.
• A specific proposal, never "let's work together": technical integration, co-marketing (joint content, cross-promotion), or bundle/referral (revenue share).
• What we bring (audience, technology, content) and need (API access, co-marketing commitment, logo usage).
• One clear next step ("15-minute call to explore?", "Can I send a demo?").

Do:

• Lead with value, not features — "Save 10 hours/week" not "AI-powered automation"
• Map objections before writing
• Offer multiple options with reasoning, never one price point
• Fit the solo-founder context — no enterprise sales playbooks unless asked
• Frame price against the cost of inaction