pitch unfairly

Cheat Codes · Proposals and business cases

NASA, 1961. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

Nine billion dollars to win a race nobody else can see. Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: Budget request

  • $531M in year one
  • $7B to $9B over 5 years
  • Deadline: 1969
Play the 2026 deck Read the real story Steal the structure
1961 Budget request

NASA

Nine billion dollars to win a race nobody else can see.

Legend
Original craft
Unfair

The story→12 slides

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

Play the 2026 deck

NASA's budget request, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. NASA deck, slide 1: The Moon, before this decade is out. 01The Moon, before this decade is out.
  2. NASA deck, slide 2: One decision: commit to the Moon. 02One decision: commit to the Moon.
  3. NASA deck, slide 3: The score is five all. They have every front page. 03The score is five all. They have every front page.
  4. NASA deck, slide 4: Gagarin flew 108 minutes. Shepard got 15. 04Gagarin flew 108 minutes. Shepard got 15.
  5. NASA deck, slide 5: We looked at four options. Only one is a race we can win. 05We looked at four options. Only one is a race we can win.
  6. NASA deck, slide 6: The Moon needs a 10x rocket. Nobody has one. 06The Moon needs a 10x rocket. Nobody has one.
  7. NASA deck, slide 7: Year one adds $531 million. By year four, NASA is five times bigger. 07Year one adds $531 million. By year four, NASA is five times bigger.
  8. NASA deck, slide 8: Most of it goes to the Moon. Some of it checks the weather. 08Most of it goes to the Moon. Some of it checks the weather.
  9. NASA deck, slide 9: Five gates to the Moon, with two years of slack. 09Five gates to the Moon, with two years of slack.
  10. NASA deck, slide 10: Five risks, five owners. Only one of them is Moscow. 10Five risks, five owners. Only one of them is Moscow.
  11. NASA deck, slide 11: Success is three boxes. All three, or it doesn't count. 11Success is three boxes. All three, or it doesn't count.
  12. NASA deck, slide 12: Approve year one today, and commit to the decade. 12Approve year one today, and commit to the decade.

Then · 1961

How it really went

Read the real storyPresident Kennedy, Special Message to Congress on Urgent National Needs, via the JFK Library
  1. April 12, 1961: Gagarin orbits the Earth
  2. April 17 to 20: the Bay of Pigs
  3. April 20: Kennedy asks Johnson for a space race the US can win
  4. April 29: von Braun answers: a Moon landing, "an excellent chance"
  5. May 5: Shepard flies 15 minutes, up and down
  6. May 25: Kennedy addresses a joint session of Congress in person
  7. Section IX: land a man on the Moon and return him safely, before the decade is out
  8. Four goals: the Moon, the Rover nuclear rocket, communications and weather satellites
  9. The bill: $531M in fiscal 1962, $7B to $9B more over five years
  10. "If we are to go only half way ... it would be better not to go at all"

Now · 2026 · 12 slides

What we changed

  • The scoreboard fills inTen real firsts from Sputnik to Gagarin light up one by one. The score ends five all. The front pages end five to nothing.
  • Pick your option, see the oddsToggle hold course, a lab in orbit, a robot on the Moon, or a crew on the Moon, and read the cost, the date and von Braun's own odds for each.
  • The budget draws itselfNASA by fiscal year, 1960 to 1966: year one adds $531 million, and by year four the agency is five times bigger.
  • The receipt itemizes the weatherRover, communications and weather satellites each get a line. The Moon gets "the rest".

Steal the structure

Build your budget request like NASA did.

  1. 01 Cover The outcome and the deadline, in one line.
  2. 02 The decision The one decision you need, and the first-year number, before any background.
  3. 03 Why now: the scoreboard Where you stand against the competition, counted honestly, with what the market notices marked.
  4. 04 Why now: the trigger The recent events that make waiting more expensive than acting, on a timeline.
  5. 05 Options considered Every real alternative, including doing nothing, with cost, timing and odds for each.
  6. 06 Recommendation The option you chose and the one insight that makes it winnable.
  7. 07 Cost and phasing Spend by year, so the approvers see year one and the peak.
  8. 08 Line items What the money buys, itemized like a receipt, totals that match.
  9. 09 Milestones Gates with dates, and the slack against the deadline.
  10. 10 Risks A register with an owner and a mitigation for each risk.
  11. 11 Success criteria What counts as done, and what explicitly does not.
  12. 12 The ask The numbers to approve, the commitment, and the return.

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