pitch unfairly

Ocean's Eleven as a Project Kickoff Deck: The Bellagio Job

Eleven specialists, one vault, one night. Every workstream has an owner. Project kickoff deck, 2001, rebuilt as a live deck you can play and steal. More in Templates, everyday work.

Danny Ocean deck, first slide Play the deck
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  • 11 slides
  • 3 casinos, 1 vault
  • $150M+ on fight night
  • 11 owners

Steal the project kickoff deck structure

11 slides, one job each, in this order. Swap in your story and keep the order.

  1. 01
    CoverThe project's name and its outcome in one line, so nobody mistakes what this is.
  2. 02
    ObjectiveThe goal in one sentence, then what "done" means in three checks anyone can verify.
  3. 03
    Why nowThe date that matters and why it can't move. A deadline set by someone else is the strongest kind.
  4. 04
    ScopeWhat is in and, just as plainly, what is out, with anything disputed flagged for a decision.
  5. 05
    The teamEveryone on the project, their specialty, and the one workstream each one owns.
  6. 06
    Roles (RACI)Who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed for each workstream, with exactly one accountable name per row.
  7. 07
    Plan and timelineMilestones planned backwards from the date, each with an owner; dates only where they are real.
  8. 08
    Budget and fundingWho pays, why they said yes, and an owner for every line of spend. No figures you can't source.
  9. 09
    RAIDRisks, assumptions, issues and dependencies on a heat map, each with an owner, a response and a status color with a fixed meaning.
  10. 10
    How we talk and decideThe status rhythm, the colors' meanings, who calls go or no-go, and the checklist that must be green first.
  11. 11
    The decisionThe one decision you need today, who makes it, and what each person does next. Never "Questions?".
What good everyday work do, and where they fail
  • Answer first: lead with the conclusion, then the evidence (Minto). In a controlled study, sentence headlines with visual evidence beat topic titles with bullets on comprehension (Garner, Alley et al. 2013).
  • Status has fixed meanings: green is on track, amber means a risk with a fix in hand, red means we need help (Atlassian).
  • Show progress as movement since last time, not a list of activity.
  • Every risk has an owner and a date; every ask names who must decide.
  • Roadmaps show confidence by horizon (Now, Next, Later), with dates only where they are real.
  • Activity instead of outcomes
  • Everything green until it is suddenly red
  • The conclusion on the last slide
  • A roadmap of promised dates nobody believes

The deck, slide by slide

Each one opens the live deck at that slide.

  1. Danny Ocean deck, slide 1: Eleven specialists, one vault, one night to empty it. 01Eleven specialists, one vault, one night to empty it.
  2. Danny Ocean deck, slide 2: Take the casinos' fight-night cash and walk out clean. 02Take the casinos' fight-night cash and walk out clean.
  3. Danny Ocean deck, slide 3: Fight night is the one night the vault is fullest. 03Fight night is the one night the vault is fullest.
  4. Danny Ocean deck, slide 4: One vault, three casinos' cash. Nothing else leaves the building. 04One vault, three casinos' cash. Nothing else leaves the building.
  5. Danny Ocean deck, slide 5: Eleven specialists, one owner per workstream. 05Eleven specialists, one owner per workstream.
  6. Danny Ocean deck, slide 6: One name accountable for every workstream. 06One name accountable for every workstream.
  7. Danny Ocean deck, slide 7: Every workstream lands before the opening bell. 07Every workstream lands before the opening bell.
  8. Danny Ocean deck, slide 8: Reuben funds it, because Benedict pushed him out. 08Reuben funds it, because Benedict pushed him out.
  9. Danny Ocean deck, slide 9: Eight things could sink it, and each one has an owner. 09Eight things could sink it, and each one has an owner.
  10. Danny Ocean deck, slide 10: We go on fight night only when every light is green. 10We go on fight night only when every light is green.
  11. Danny Ocean deck, slide 11: One yes today: fund it, and go on fight night. 11One yes today: fund it, and go on fight night.
What really happened, and what the 2026 rebuild changes

What really happened, 2001

  1. Danny Ocean is paroled from a New Jersey prison and breaks parole almost at once
  2. He and Rusty Ryan pitch Reuben Tishkoff, a casino owner Terry Benedict forced out, who agrees to bankroll it
  3. The target: the vault under the Bellagio holding the cash of the Bellagio, the Mirage and the MGM Grand
  4. The timing: a heavyweight fight night, when Danny expects over $150 million in the vault
  5. Danny and Rusty recruit a crew of eleven, from a pickpocket to an acrobat
  6. They build a full-size replica of the vault to rehearse in
  7. Rusty learns Benedict is dating Tess, Danny's ex-wife, and wants to call it off; Danny refuses
  8. Fight night: the pinch blacks out the city and Benedict watches footage shot on the replica
  9. The crew walks out dressed as the SWAT team, with more than $160 million
  10. Danny goes back to prison for breaking parole; Tess is waiting when he gets out

Read the real story the film, via Wikipedia

What the rebuild changes

  • Deal the crew. Eleven playing cards come in face down and turn over one by one: each one's name, specialty and the single workstream they own. Click any card to flip it back.
  • Count down to fight night. The plan runs backwards from the date that can't move. Watch the clock count from T-21 days to the opening bell, or click any milestone to see it and its owner.
  • A risk heat map you can click. Eight risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies placed by likelihood and impact. Click a dot to open its owner, its response and its status, with the colors' meanings fixed.
  • Go only when every light is green. Eight gates, from Frank on the floor to Rusty's agreement, turn green one at a time. The light says No-go until the last one does.

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