Before 2008, I had never even heard the word “pitch.”
Not once.
Then I got a new job at Ericsson - and everything changed.
Overnight, my role became this:
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Take 80 pages of dense technical documentation per product (there were hundreds)
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Digest it
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Turn it into a 5–7 minute pitch per product
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Often combine multiple pitches into a 45-minute presentation
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Adapt it live, depending on who was in the room
And the rooms were… intense.
Presidents.
Royalty.
Ambassadors.
Investors.
Universities.
Customers.
Internal teams.
Different audiences.
Different agendas.
Same requirement.
If the pitch didn’t land - nothing else mattered.
That changed my entire career.
“Pitching Is Only for Startups”
Most people still believe this.
I hear it all the time:
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“I’m not fundraising.”
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“This is internal.”
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“It’s not sales.”
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“The idea should speak for itself.”
But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
That belief creates a massive blind spot.
Because whether you like it or not -
you are already pitching.
Every single day.
But maybe ...you don’t call it a pitch?
But you do pitch. Promise you that.
What Ericsson Understood (That Most Professionals Miss)
Here’s what shocked me back then.
Ericsson didn’t treat pitching as a “soft skill.”
They invested in it seriously.
We trained in:
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Rhetoric
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Storytelling
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Sales psychology
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Stage presence
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Voice training (yes - singing, so your voice doesn’t give out at events)
We also had weekly strategy meetings with members of the global leadership team to discuss:
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Who was coming
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Who needed to attend
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What should be pitched
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And why
Why all this effort?
Because they understood one thing perfectly:
A great pitch can make - or break - everything.
Why This Still Matters (More Than Ever)
Fast-forward to today.
I get more and more requests from:
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Corporates
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Foundations
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VC firms
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Leadership teams
They all have:
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Strong products
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Solid track records
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Smart people
And still…
They struggle to:
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Tell one clear story
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Create emotion
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Sound authentic
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Move people to action
Especially now - when authenticity and being able to cut though the noice is more important than ever.
So what happens?
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Deals stall
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Partnerships fade
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Funding goes elsewhere
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Promotions go to someone else
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Great ideas die quietly
And the worst part?
Your audience will rarely ever tell you your pitch failed.
They’ll just say:
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“Let’s think about it”
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“We’ll circle back”
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“Not the right fit”
You’ll hardly hear:
“You lost me in the first 90 seconds.”
What Actually Works (The Framework)
This is what Ericsson taught me - and what I teach others today:
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Start with the audience (not your content)
Same product. Completely different angle depending on who’s listening.
Your pitch is different if it is for customers than for an investor - right? -
Build the story before the slides
A pitch isn't a data dump.
It's a narrative with a:
middle (your solution),and
end (the transformation).-
beginning (the problem),
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middle (your solution),and
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end (the transformation).
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Every piece of information you include must serve this narrative
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Know it so well you can adapt in real time
The best pitches I ever delivered felt effortless.That's because I had practiced it dozens of times.
I knew it so well I could adapt on the fly when someone interrupted with a question or when I noticed the room's energy shifting.
The Bottom Line
Pitching isn’t something you only do when you want money.
Pitching is how you:
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Create clarity
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Build trust
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Gain momentum
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Open doors you didn’t even know existed
Every meeting is a pitch.
Every presentation is a pitch.
Every negotiation is a pitch.
And the quality of your pitch
directly determines your opportunities.
So, the next time you step into a room -
don’t just be heard.
Be remembered.
That's all for today.
See you next week!