How to Craft a Great Product Pitch that Sells
Use this 5-step formula to get the attention of execs, investors, and customers
Dear subscribers,
Today, I want to share five steps that you can follow to craft a great product pitch.
Learning to pitch well can help you:
Get execs to fund your product.
Get investors to back your startup.
Get customers to buy your offer.
But most people are bad at pitching.
They use complicated jargon and start with the tech instead of what their customers want. Let’s cover five essential steps to craft a great pitch with real examples.
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1. Bring the customer problem to life
People don’t care about your product, they care about themselves.
So start your pitch with:
Most (customers) struggle with (problem).
Good examples of problem statements include:
Superhuman: Most people spend hours every day trying to keep up with email.
Justin Welsh: Most professionals want the freedom to do more of what they want.
Roblox Analytics: Most creators want to focus on growing their games.
A bad example is:
Humane: Most people want innovative tech that feels familiar and human.
The difference between the good and bad examples is this acid test:
When your target customer reads your problem statement, do they nod their heads and think: “Finally, someone said this”?
Here are two great ways to bring the customer problem to life:
Tell a story. Share how you or another customer struggled with the problem. For example, “I feel tired every day because my snoring disrupts my sleep.”
Include data. Show how many people share the problem. For example, “90M Americans struggle with snoring every night.”
2. Highlight gaps in existing solutions
Show how customers are struggling to address their problem with existing solutions:
They don’t want to use (solutions) that have (drawbacks).
Continuing with our good examples:
Superhuman: Most people spend hours every day trying to keep up with email.
They don’t want to use slow email platforms that give them anxiety.
Justin Welsh: Most professionals want the freedom to do more of what they want.
They don’t want to change the world or build the next unicorn.
Roblox Analytics: Most creators want to focus on growing their games.
They don’t have time to look at too many charts and data.
Here’s the bad example again:
Humane: Most people want innovative tech that feels familiar and human.
They don’t want to use touch screens.
The above example doesn’t work for me because there’s no evidence that people don’t want to use touch screens. If it was reframed as “too much screen time” instead, it would resonate better.
3. Show how your product delivers the top customer benefit
You’ve brought the customer problem to life and highlighted gaps in current solutions. Now your target audience is primed to hear about your product:
We will deliver (most important customer benefit).
Continuing with our good examples:
Superhuman: Most people spend hours every day trying to keep up with email. They don’t want to use slow email platforms that give them anxiety.
Superhuman is the fastest email experience ever made.
Justin Welsh: Most professionals want the freedom to do more of what they want. They don’t want to change the world or build the next unicorn.
I help internet solopreneurs own their work and life.
Roblox Analytics: Most creators want to focus on growing their games. They don’t have time to look at too many charts and data.
We will guide every creator to the most important actions to grow their business.
Here’s the bad example again:
Humane: Most people want innovative tech that feels familiar and human. They don’t want to use touch screens.
Our device is beyond touch and screens.
Again, I think this pitch is bad because it focuses too much on the tech vs. a solution to a real customer problem. Here’s a great test for this step:
When your target customer hears about your solution, do they ask: “How can I get this now”?
So when pitching your solution:
Focus on the most important customer benefit.
Highlight how this benefit addresses the customer problem better than the competition.
Speak in your customer’s language.
4. Paint the customer’s dream outcome
Just describing your solution isn’t good enough. You need to follow up with:
Imagine this (dream outcome).
Continuing with our good examples:
Superhuman: Most people spend hours every day trying to keep up with email. They don’t want to use slow email platforms that give them anxiety. Superhuman is the fastest email experience ever made.
Get 4 hours back every week.
Justin Welsh: Most professionals want the freedom to do more of what they want. They don’t want to change the world or build the next unicorn. I help internet solopreneurs own their work and life.
Achieve the freedom to do everything you want and nothing you don’t.
Roblox Analytics: Most creators want to focus on growing their games. They don’t have time to look at too many charts and data. We will guide every creator to the most important actions to grow their business.
Imagine having a trusted analyst who will help you grow 24/7.
Here’s the bad example again:
Humane: Most people want innovative tech that feels familiar and human. They don’t want to use touch and screens. Our device is beyond touch and screens.
Take AI with you in an entirely new screenless form factor.
Maybe there is someone out there who is so tired of screens that this is their dream outcome. Somehow, I doubt it.
5. Explain why you and why now
Why you and why now is the icing on the cake that will bring your pitch home:
Why you: Why are you the right person or team to solve this problem?
Why now: Why is now the perfect moment for your solution?
Continuing with our good examples:
Superhuman (why now): AI helps you save time and hit inbox zero even faster.
Justin Welsh (why you): My little one-person business crossed $5M in revenue.
Roblox Analytics (why now): AI makes giving every creator a 24/7 analyst possible.
For Humane, the “why you” story is clear — the founders are ex-Apple and seem highly talented. But the “why now” story is less clear — why is now the best time to get rid of touch screens?
A case study on why pitching matters
I’ve dunked on Humane alot in this post, but my critique is with their messaging instead of their product. The point is that:
How you pitch your product can make or break its success.
To bring this point home, let’s compare Humane’s current pitch with a pitch crafted by my friend Lulu (ex-EVP Activision Blizzard):
Humane’s pitch: Most people want innovative tech that feels familiar and human. They don’t want to use touch and screens. Our device is beyond touch and screens. Take AI with you in an entirely new screenless form factor.
Lulu: Imagine you’re at dinner with friends. Humane can translate a menu, take a video, settle a debate, or prioritize incoming messages — all without interrupting the moment by having to take out your phone.
One pitch focuses on the tech while the other focuses on end-user benefits.
That’s what makes all the difference.
Wrap up
To wrap up, here are your five steps to craft a great product pitch that sells:
Bring the customer problem to life
Highlight gaps in existing solutions
Show how your product delivers the top customer benefit
Paint the customer's dream outcome
Explain why you and why now
If you enjoyed this, check out my post on the #1 equation for making irresistible products. More on this topic soon!
I truly enjoyed your take on the different aspects of marketing. Marketing was my secondary, and I've always tried to keep abreast of changes. Your article sparked many different angles/methods to grab and hold the customers' attention.
Thank you for a most thought provoking article.
Lost Coyote
Love the #4 Paint the customer's dream outcome slide. Super simple but very powerful and a very important concept for product creators to learn. I'll be saving that one.