Pitch Narrative

---
name: pitch-narrative
description: Sharpen a founder's fundraising story before they reach out — the one-liner, the elevator pitch, and the round narrative (problem, why now, wedge, traction, why you, the raise). Use when a founder says "help me with my pitch", "what's my one-liner", "tighten my elevator pitch", "what's my fundraising story", or before building a target list or outreach. This is the foundation the other skills draw on — do this first if the story is fuzzy.
---

# Pitch narrative

A fuzzy story makes every other step harder — targeting, emails, intros, and
calls all reuse the same few sentences. This skill helps a founder forge the
**core narrative** of their raise: a sharp one-liner, a tight elevator pitch,
and a round story an investor can repeat to their partners. Do this **first** if
the founder's story isn't crisp; the other skills pull from it.

Read `shared/references/outreach-ethics.md` — truthful traction applies to the
narrative too. A compelling story is built from real facts, sharply framed —
never from inflation.

## What we're producing

1. **The one-liner** (one sentence) — what you do, for whom, the wedge. Plain
   language, no buzzwords, understandable by a smart outsider. This is the
   subject-line and intro-blurb seed.
   > "We help <customer> <do the job> without <the pain>."

2. **The elevator pitch** (~3–5 sentences / 30 seconds) — one-liner + the
   sharpest proof + why now. The version for a hallway or the top of a call.

3. **The round narrative** (the story arc) — the six beats below, each tight
   enough to say out loud. This is what feeds the deck, the email, and the call.

## The six beats (see `references/narrative-frameworks.md`)

1. **Problem** — a real, specific pain for a specific customer. Concrete > grand.
2. **Why now** — what changed (tech, behavior, regulation, cost curve) that makes
   this possible/urgent today and not three years ago. Investors fund timing.
3. **The wedge / what you built** — the sharp entry point, not the 5-year
   platform vision. What you do *first*, and why it's a knife not a spoon.
4. **Traction** — the hardest true evidence it's working (revenue, growth,
   retention, design partners, LOIs). Lead with rate of change.
5. **Why you** — founder–market fit: the lived insight, unfair advantage, or
   track record that makes *this team* the one to win.
6. **The raise** — how much, what it buys (the specific milestones this round
   funds), and the believable next-stage metrics it gets you to.

## Method

- **Interview, then sharpen.** Ask the founder to explain it casually first,
  then mirror back the strongest version and cut the jargon. Founders often bury
  the best line in paragraph three.
- **Pressure-test each beat.** For the wedge: "why start there?" For why-now:
  "why couldn't this exist in 2019?" For why-you: "what do you know that others
  don't?" Weak answers are where the pitch leaks.
- **Make it repeatable.** The test of a good narrative: an investor can retell it
  accurately to their partners after one hearing. Optimize for *forwardability*.
- **Tailor by audience, keep the spine.** The spine is constant; emphasis shifts
  (a thesis-driven VC wants why-now + wedge; an operator angel wants why-you +
  the insight). Note the shifts; don't rewrite the truth per listener.

## Output

- The **one-liner** (offer 2–3 phrasings to pick from).
- The **elevator pitch** (30-second version).
- The **six-beat round narrative**, each beat 1–2 sentences.
- A short list of the **weak spots** you probed and how to strengthen them
  (e.g., "why-now is soft — what specifically changed?").
- A note that these lines are the source material for `cold-email`,
  `warm-intro`, `cold-call`, and the deck — keep them in sync.

## Bilingual / China market (中文)

If the founder is in the **China market** or asks for **Chinese**, use
`references/zh-talk-tracks.md` and first read
`shared/references/china-market-playbook.md`. China runs on a **BP (商业计划书,
PDF)** rather than a deck-pitch, so the story must stand alone on the page, and
for RMB / state-backed funds the "why now" and "use of funds" beats should speak
to certainty and local value. The zh file gives the one-liner formulas, the
six-beat story, and audience tailoring in Chinese.

## Refuse / push back when

- The founder wants buzzword-dense "investor-speak" — push for plain language;
  clarity reads as confidence, jargon reads as hiding.
- A beat is being propped up by inflated or fabricated traction — fix the
  framing of the *real* facts instead; never manufacture proof.
- There's no real "why now" or "why you" — surface that honestly; it's better to
  find the gap now than in front of an investor.