1. What you will learn
This lesson helps you define three measurable outcomes for the next ninety days of your pitch preparation and run a short diagnostic across eight areas of your business as a listener would see it. You will finish with an outcome map and a scored diagnostic that shows which weakness to fix before you show a deck to anyone.
2. The idea explained
Founders often say they want to raise money, get funded or close a big customer. Those are hopes and not outcomes, because the answer depends on other people. A useful outcome is something you can do and prove by a date: ten customer conversations held with notes; a baseline reconciled to your bank statements; a bottom-up market estimate with sources; a ten-slide deck tested on five listeners; a list of the ten hardest questions with honest answers. Each has a baseline, a target, an owner and a date. Prefer outcomes you influence. You cannot control whether an investor says yes, but you can control the quality of your evidence and your preparation.
The diagnostic looks at eight areas from a listener's viewpoint: problem and customer clarity, solution and product, market understanding, business model and unit economics, traction and evidence, team, financial picture and cash, and legal and readiness. Score each from one to five. A one means unknown or unmanaged. A three means partly in place but with gaps. A five means documented, checked and consistent. The evidence rule is firm: no evidence, no score above two. Evidence might be dated customer notes, a reconciled baseline, a bottom-up estimate, invoices, a signed pilot letter, a cash statement, a lawyer's written answer.
The lowest scores usually reveal what to fix first. If the problem is only your belief, no design will help. If unit economics are unknown, the model slide will fail the first question. If traction is only interest, that slide will be weak. Ask: if a sceptical listener asked me the hardest question in each area, where would I stumble? That is where to start. Remember that a ninety-day outcome is a plan and not a promise. Investors decline most pitches for reasons beyond your control, and most ventures fail. A candid diagnostic costs nothing and can save months of polishing a story that the facts do not support.
Apply it
3. How to apply it in your own business
Write your three outcomes using the pattern: from a baseline to a target by a date, owned by a named person. A first set could be: hold ten customer conversations and write a one-page problem statement in their words by day 21; complete a baseline reconciled to bank statements and a unit economics sheet by day 30; test a ten-slide draft on five listeners and record their understanding by day 75.
Run the diagnostic on a page with eight rows. Score each area with one line of evidence. Ask a mentor, an accountant or a fellow founder to score you independently and compare. Differences are useful. Total out of forty, mark the lowest two and for each write a corrective action with a date, owner and cost. Start with two actions only.
Write a constraint paragraph: the biggest thing that would make a sceptical listener stop trusting my pitch is, with two or three facts. Post the outcome map where you see it and review it every Friday. If after three weeks no number has moved, check whether your actions are aimed at the constraint. Share the map with your co-founder or a mentor. Keep the outcomes modest; three achieved are worth more than eight abandoned.
Also list what you will not do this quarter, such as approaching investors before the baseline is reconciled, or spending on design before the story is tested.
Worked example
4. Worked example
A hypothetical founder of a company that supplies safe, portable water purifiers to construction sites scores herself. Problem and customer 3, solution 4, market 2, model and unit economics 2, traction 3, team 3, financial picture 2, legal and readiness 1. The total is 3 plus 4 plus 2 plus 2 plus 3 plus 3 plus 2 plus 1, which is 20 out of 40, or 50 per cent.
Her mentor scores market as 1: she quotes a large national figure but has no bottom-up estimate. Legal readiness is 1 because she has not asked a lawyer about her structure or the rules on raising money. Actions: bottom-up estimate by the 15th; a lawyer session by the 20th.
Unit economics: a purifier rental at 900 rupees a month per site; cartridge and servicing 310, transport 80, depreciation of the unit, which costs 14,400 over 24 months, is 600 a month. Total monthly cost is 310 plus 80 plus 600, which is 990. She finds she loses 90 rupees a month per unit on a fully loaded basis, since 900 minus 990 is minus 90. On a cash basis, ignoring depreciation, she earns 510. She realises the model slide would fail the first question about payback.
Payback on cash basis: 14,400 divided by 510, about 28 months, longer than the 24-month life she assumed. She writes her constraint: the biggest thing that would make a listener stop trusting my pitch is that my unit economics do not pay back within the unit's life at the current price. She sets outcomes: hold ten site-manager conversations to test a price of 1,300; complete a corrected sheet; test the deck on five listeners. She notes that she does not know whether sites will pay 1,300.
5. Common mistakes and how to fix them
The first mistake is setting outcomes that depend on investors. Fix it by targeting evidence, preparation and tests that you control.
The second mistake is scoring high without evidence. Fix it by capping unsupported scores at two.
The third mistake is scoring alone. Fix it by asking a mentor or accountant to score independently.
The fourth mistake is avoiding unit economics. Fix it by computing payback honestly, including depreciation of equipment.
The fifth mistake is ignoring legal readiness. Fix it by booking time with a lawyer and recording the answers.
The sixth mistake is designing before the facts are ready. Fix it by delaying slide design until the baseline and economics are sound.
Key takeaways
6. Board summary
Outcomes have a baseline, target, owner and date, and you can influence them. Score eight areas with evidence; cap unsupported scores at two. Ask what a sceptical listener would stumble on. Compute payback honestly. Delay design until facts are sound.
Check your understanding
7. Practice and self-check
- Why avoid outcomes that depend on investors? Answer: You cannot control their decisions, only your preparation and evidence.
- Add 3, 4, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2 and 1. Answer: 20.
- As a share of 40? Answer: 50 per cent.
- Monthly cost: 310 plus 80 plus 600? Answer: 990 rupees.
- Result at rent 900? Answer: A loss of 90 rupees a month on a fully loaded basis.
- Cash earnings: 900 minus 310 minus 80? Answer: 510 rupees.
- Payback: 14,400 over 510? Answer: About 28 months.
- Why does that matter for a 24-month life? Answer: The unit wears out before it pays back at that price.
- What price will she test? Answer: 1,300 rupees a month.
- Why bring in a mentor's score? Answer: Differences reveal blind spots such as an unsourced market figure.