pitch unfairly

Cheat Codes · Strategy and planning

Apollo 11, 1969. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

The Moon landing, written up eight years early. Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: Narrative memo and PR/FAQ

  • May 25, 1961
  • July 20, 1969
  • 1 speech never read
Play the 2026 deck Read the real story Steal the structure
1969 Narrative memo and PR/FAQ

Apollo 11

The Moon landing, written up eight years early.

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

Apollo 11's narrative memo and PR/FAQ, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. Apollo 11 deck, slide 1: We wrote the landing first. 01We wrote the landing first.
  2. Apollo 11 deck, slide 2: Four tenets settle every argument. Coming home is the first. 02Four tenets settle every argument. Coming home is the first.
  3. Apollo 11 deck, slide 3: Written in May 1961. Dated July 20, 1969. 03Written in May 1961. Dated July 20, 1969.
  4. Apollo 11 deck, slide 4: For all of history, the Moon was a thing to look at. Apollo makes it a place to go. 04For all of history, the Moon was a thing to look at. Apollo makes it a place to go.
  5. Apollo 11 deck, slide 5: We wrote the leader's quote in 1961. The customer's came from the Moon. 05We wrote the leader's quote in 1961. The customer's came from the Moon.
  6. Apollo 11 deck, slide 6: Turn on a TV. No ticket required. 06Turn on a TV. No ticket required.
  7. Apollo 11 deck, slide 7: Everyone will ask the same six things. Answer them first. 07Everyone will ask the same six things. Answer them first.
  8. Apollo 11 deck, slide 8: Inside, the questions get harder. So do the answers. 08Inside, the questions get harder. So do the answers.
  9. Apollo 11 deck, slide 9: The worst case has a written answer. Nobody ever had to read it. 09The worst case has a written answer. Nobody ever had to read it.
  10. Apollo 11 deck, slide 10: Nine things had to be true first. Then the tenth. 10Nine things had to be true first. Then the tenth.
  11. Apollo 11 deck, slide 11: Splashdown, July 24, 1969. Every clause came true. 11Splashdown, July 24, 1969. Every clause came true.

Then · 1969

How it really went

Read the real storyIn Event of Moon Disaster, National Archives (with NASA's Apollo 11 press kit)
  1. May 25, 1961: Kennedy asks Congress for a man on the Moon, returned safely, before the decade is out
  2. Mercury and Gemini prove orbit, spacewalks, rendezvous and docking, 1962 to 1966
  3. January 1967: the Apollo 1 crew dies in a launch pad fire
  4. Saturn V flies; Apollo 8, 9 and 10 rehearse every step but the landing
  5. July 6, 1969: NASA issues the Apollo 11 press kit: "Perform a manned lunar landing and return"
  6. July 16: launch, 9:32 a.m. EDT
  7. July 18: Safire writes "In Event of Moon Disaster" for the President
  8. July 20: Eagle lands at 4:17 p.m.; the first step goes out live at 10:56 p.m.
  9. July 24: splashdown in the Pacific; the speech is never needed

Now · 2026 · 11 slides

What we changed

  • The release stamps itselfDrag the date from May 25, 1961. The press release stays a draft for eight years, then slams down ISSUED on July 20, 1969.
  • Present it or read itOne switch (or the M key) turns every slide into the typed six-page memo, so the same deck works in the meeting and in silence before it.
  • An internal FAQ you openCost, people, the lunar orbit bet, Apollo 1, and the worst case: open each question and get the answer, $25.4 billion and all.
  • What must be true, tickedTen prerequisites from Friendship 7 to Apollo 11 check themselves off in the order they flew, with the year counting up beside them.

Steal the structure

Build your narrative memo and pr/faq like Apollo 11 did.

  1. 01 Memo header Name the document, the author, the date drafted and the date of the release, and how to read it.
  2. 02 Tenets Three to five rules that settle the arguments before they start; one is the hero.
  3. 03 Headline and subhead The press release for launch day, dated: who gets what, and the one-sentence result.
  4. 04 Problem and solution The customer's problem in one line, the solution in three, with a picture of how it works.
  5. 05 The quotes One quote from the leader on why, one from the customer on what it's like.
  6. 06 How to get it Where, when and what it costs the customer: the call to action.
  7. 07 External FAQ The five or six questions customers and press will ask, one line each.
  8. 08 Internal FAQ Cost, people, the hard technical bet and what it has already cost, one answer at a time.
  9. 09 The worst case What we will do and say if it fails, written down before launch.
  10. 10 What must be true The prerequisites in the order they must be proven, ticked off as they are.
  11. 11 Result Close on the goal, clause by clause, and what came true.

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