pitch unfairly

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Tom Sawyer, 1876. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

Does a boy get to whitewash a fence every day? Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: Discovery call deck

  • 30 yards × 9 feet
  • 1 apple, all of it
  • 3 coats
Play the 2026 deck Read the real story Steal the structure
1876 Discovery call deck

Tom Sawyer

Does a boy get to whitewash a fence every day?

Legend
Original craft
Unfair

The story→10 slides

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

Play the 2026 deck

Tom Sawyer's discovery call deck, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. Tom Sawyer deck, slide 1: A fence like this doesn’t come along every day. 01A fence like this doesn’t come along every day.
  2. Tom Sawyer deck, slide 2: Work is what you must do. Play is everything else. 02Work is what you must do. Play is everything else.
  3. Tom Sawyer deck, slide 3: Not one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, can do it right. 03Not one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, can do it right.
  4. Tom Sawyer deck, slide 4: Ask first: what do you call work? 04Ask first: what do you call work?
  5. Tom Sawyer deck, slide 5: Three questions decide who gets a turn. 05Three questions decide who gets a turn.
  6. Tom Sawyer deck, slide 6: Gentlemen in England pay to drive the coach. Pay them wages and they quit. 06Gentlemen in England pay to drive the coach. Pay them wages and they quit.
  7. Tom Sawyer deck, slide 7: Thirty yards, nine feet high, right here on the street. 07Thirty yards, nine feet high, right here on the street.
  8. Tom Sawyer deck, slide 8: Not the core. All of it. 08Not the core. All of it.
  9. Tom Sawyer deck, slide 9: We accept most forms of payment. Dog not required. 09We accept most forms of payment. Dog not required.
  10. Tom Sawyer deck, slide 10: Your turn starts now. Bring the apple. 10Your turn starts now. Bring the apple.

Then · 1876

How it really went

Read the real storyMark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), chapter 2, via Project Gutenberg
  1. Saturday morning: Aunt Polly sets Tom to whitewash thirty yards of fence, nine feet high
  2. One streak on the topmost plank; Tom sits down discouraged
  3. His pocket treasure won't buy half an hour of freedom
  4. Ben Rogers comes by eating an apple, playing the steamboat Big Missouri
  5. Tom ignores him and keeps working with the eye of an artist
  6. "What do you call work?" and "Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"
  7. Ben asks for a turn; Tom says not one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, can do it right
  8. Ben offers the core of his apple, then all of it; Tom gives up the brush
  9. Billy Fisher pays a kite, Johnny Miller a dead rat and a string to swing it with
  10. By mid-afternoon: three coats, and Tom is rolling in wealth
  11. Twain's moral: work is what a body is obliged to do; play is what it isn't

Now · 2026 · 10 slides

What we changed

  • Ask first, then showThe transcript plays back Tom's two questions, and the tally lands: Ben asked for a turn three times, Tom asked for help zero.
  • A boy-sized BANTRun Ben, Billy Fisher, Johnny Miller or Sid through need, authority and budget. Sid washes out at Aunt Polly.
  • A deal desk with no discountFour rounds, three stamped Declined, until the offer goes from the core to all of the apple. The rate card is every treasure Twain lists, down to the dog-collar with no dog.
  • The fence fills coat by coatThe mutual action plan checks off owners on both sides while thirty yards of fence, drawn to scale, takes three coats of whitewash.

Steal the structure

Build your discovery call deck like Tom Sawyer did.

  1. 01 Upfront contract Who is on the call, how long it takes, and what a yes looks like at the end.
  2. 02 The big shift One change in the buyer's world, stated before a word about you.
  3. 03 The stakes What saying no costs, and why the chance is rare.
  4. 04 Discovery questions The questions you ask before you show anything; let the buyer talk.
  5. 05 Qualification Need, authority and budget as a flow, so a bad fit leaves early.
  6. 06 Proof from lookalikes One case study from a customer the buyer recognizes as themselves.
  7. 07 The promised land The buyer's future state, drawn concretely, not your product.
  8. 08 Terms How the price was set, and what you did not discount.
  9. 09 Pricing in their currency Price in what the buyer already has and values.
  10. 10 Mutual action plan Dated steps with owners on both sides; the first one is today. Never "Thank you".

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