pitch unfairly

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Lewis and Clark, 1806. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

Three green, one amber, and a passage that isn't there. Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: Quarterly business review

  • $2,500 budget
  • 8,000 miles
  • 28 months
Play the 2026 deck Read the real story Steal the structure
1806 Quarterly business review

Lewis and Clark

Three green, one amber, and a passage that isn't there.

Legend
Original craft
Unfair

The story→11 slides

It's a live deck. Press start, then scroll or use the arrow keys, or play it full screen.

Play the 2026 deck

Lewis and Clark's quarterly business review, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 1: Your orders, carried to the Pacific. 01Your orders, carried to the Pacific.
  2. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 2: Your first goal: a water route to the Pacific. 02Your first goal: a water route to the Pacific.
  3. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 3: Three green, one amber, and one passage that doesn't exist. 03Three green, one amber, and one passage that doesn't exist.
  4. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 4: 8,000 miles, 28 months, one box we couldn't tick. 048,000 miles, 28 months, one box we couldn't tick.
  5. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 5: You asked for things not known in the U.S. 05You asked for things not known in the U.S.
  6. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 6: We ran $36,222 over. Contingencies were $87. 06We ran $36,222 over. Contingencies were $87.
  7. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 7: There is no water route. There are the Rockies. 07There is no water route. There are the Rockies.
  8. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 8: One man lost, one hungry crossing, one fight we can't undo. 08One man lost, one hungry crossing, one fight we can't undo.
  9. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 9: Every hard part was solved by people who already lived there. 09Every hard part was solved by people who already lived there.
  10. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 10: Next: brief you in person, then print the map. 10Next: brief you in person, then print the map.
  11. Lewis and Clark deck, slide 11: Renew the account: pay the men in money and land. 11Renew the account: pay the men in money and land.

Then · 1806

How it really went

Read the real storyJefferson's instructions to Lewis, June 1803 (Library of Congress transcript)
  1. January 1803: Jefferson asks Congress, in confidence, to fund a western expedition
  2. Congress appropriates $2,500, Lewis's own estimate
  3. June 1803: Jefferson's written instructions set the goals: a water route, the nations, plants, animals, maps
  4. May 1804: the Corps leaves Camp Dubois up the Missouri
  5. August 1804: Sergeant Charles Floyd dies, the only death in the Corps
  6. Winter at Fort Mandan; Sacagawea joins; specimens and a map go home in April 1805
  7. August 1805: Lemhi Pass shows mountains, not a river to the Pacific; Shoshone horses carry them over
  8. November 1805: the Pacific; winter at Fort Clatsop
  9. September 1806: Lewis writes to Jefferson from St. Louis: the best route that does exist
  10. March 1807: Congress grants double pay and land; the final bill comes to $38,722.25

Now · 2026 · 11 slides

What we changed

  • The goals are graded firstJefferson's five goals, in his own words, scored green, amber and red before a single mile is mentioned. Click any one for the receipt.
  • The route draws itselfThe line crawls up the Missouri and over the Divide as goals tick off, and the all-water route gets crossed out at Lemhi Pass. Scrub it with the slider.
  • The budget zooms$2,500 against $38,722.25, to scale. Zoom into the estimate and the actual bar runs off the slide; contingencies were $87.
  • The miss is a terrain mapThe 1803 plan (one short portage) morphs into the 1805 terrain (the Rockies), with the fix beside it: 29 Shoshone horses and a guide.

Steal the structure

Build your quarterly business review like Lewis and Clark did.

  1. 01 Cover Whose account, what period, and the outcome in one line.
  2. 02 Their goals The goals the customer set, in the customer's own words, before anything you did.
  3. 03 Scorecard Each goal red, amber or green, with a click-through to what happened.
  4. 04 Results over time The period on one timeline, with goals ticking off where they were hit.
  5. 05 Value in their terms One hero number in the unit the sponsor cares about, with the proof beside it.
  6. 06 Cost against plan Budget and actual to scale, the variance named, no hiding.
  7. 07 The big miss What didn't work, why, and what you did about it, shown not told.
  8. 08 Issues register Every other problem with a date, a response and an honest status.
  9. 09 What we learned What you now know about their world that they don't, and who taught you.
  10. 10 Roadmap Past, now and next on one line, tied to their goals.
  11. 11 The renewal ask The specific renewal or expansion, in units, with a decision date.

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