pitch unfairly

Cheat Codes · Sales

The 2002 Oakland A's, 2002. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

103 wins at a third of the price. Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: ROI business case

  • $40.0M payroll
  • 103 wins
  • 20 straight
Play the 2026 deck Read the real story Steal the structure
2002 ROI business case

The 2002 Oakland A's

103 wins at a third of the price.

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

The 2002 Oakland A's ROI business case, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 1: 103 wins at a third of the price. 01103 wins at a third of the price.
  2. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 2: Keep buying wins where nobody's shopping. 02Keep buying wins where nobody's shopping.
  3. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 3: Every star we grow, a richer team buys. Last winter, three. 03Every star we grow, a richer team buys. Last winter, three.
  4. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 4: Three ways to replace them. One fits the budget. 04Three ways to replace them. One fits the budget.
  5. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 5: The market prices the name. We price the work. 05The market prices the name. We price the work.
  6. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 6: A marginal win cost New York 3.5 times what it cost us. 06A marginal win cost New York 3.5 times what it cost us.
  7. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 7: The league line says $40M buys 74 wins. We won 103. 07The league line says $40M buys 74 wins. We won 103.
  8. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 8: Then it won 20 straight, an American League record. 08Then it won 20 straight, an American League record.
  9. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 9: Every risk on this list already happened. We're still here. 09Every risk on this list already happened. We're still here.
  10. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 10: Grow it cheap. Buy it unloved. 10Grow it cheap. Buy it unloved.
  11. The 2002 Oakland A's deck, slide 11: Approve the plan. Keep buying on-base. 11Approve the plan. Keep buying on-base.

Then · 2002

How it really went

Read the real storythe season, via Wikipedia and Baseball-Reference
  1. After 2001, Giambi, Damon and Isringhausen leave for richer clubs
  2. Billy Beane and Paul DePodesta rebuild around on-base percentage
  3. Scott Hatteberg, a catcher who can no longer throw, moves to first base
  4. Submariner Chad Bradford anchors a bullpen bought on the cheap
  5. Opening Day payroll: $40.0M, against the Yankees' $125.9M
  6. A 20-26 start, then a 16-1 run in June
  7. 20 straight wins, an American League record
  8. Hatteberg ends game 20 with a pinch-hit walk-off
  9. 103 wins and the AL West; Zito wins the Cy Young, Tejada the MVP
  10. Out in the Division Series to Minnesota, 3-2
  11. Boston offers Beane its GM job; he says no

Now · 2026 · 11 slides

What we changed

  • The ROI model has visible assumptionsSlide replacement-level wins and the roster floor, pick a rival, and watch the cost of a marginal win: $636K for Oakland, $2.20M for the Yankees.
  • All 30 clubs on one chartPayroll against wins for every 2002 team. The league line says $40M buys 74 wins. Oakland sits 29 above it.
  • Baseball cards price the workFlip between first base and the bullpen: Hatteberg got on base for $4,245 a time, Giambi for $34,762. Bradford recorded outs at $1,040 each.
  • The streak lights the scoreboardTwenty lamps, twenty real scores, and game 20 told in three frames: 11-0, 11-11, Hatteberg.

Steal the structure

Build your roi business case like The 2002 Oakland A's did.

  1. 01 Headline outcome The result and the price on one line, before anything else.
  2. 02 The decision The one approval you need today, with the unit economics that justify it.
  3. 03 Cost of the status quo What standing still costs, in the buyer's own currency.
  4. 04 Options Every real alternative, including doing nothing, with why it fails. One recommended.
  5. 05 The insight What the market misprices, shown with like-for-like unit costs.
  6. 06 ROI model The formula, its assumptions as controls, and the result the buyer drives.
  7. 07 Proof from lookalikes Your result plotted against every peer, with the trend line drawn.
  8. 08 Results to date The moment that made it undeniable, told as a sequence.
  9. 09 Risks A register: what could go wrong, what you will do, and its status.
  10. 10 The plan Past, now and next on one line, with where we are pinned.
  11. 11 Decision and next step The ask restated, one button, and the date it is needed by.

Make yours in ChatGPT

Type your site. We'll write the prompt with The 2002 Oakland A's's structure and your brand.

Back to the cheat codes