pitch unfairly

Cheat Codes · Team and culture

Ernest Shackleton, 1914. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

Small wages. Long nights. A story for life. Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: Recruiting deck

  • 5,000+ applied
  • 28 sailed
  • 28 came home
Play the 2026 deck Read the real story Steal the structure
1914 Recruiting deck

Ernest Shackleton

Small wages. Long nights. A story for life.

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

Ernest Shackleton's recruiting deck, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 1: Help us walk across a continent. 01Help us walk across a continent.
  2. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 2: Coast to coast, through the Pole. 02Coast to coast, through the Pole.
  3. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 3: The Pole is taken. The crossing is open. 03The Pole is taken. The crossing is open.
  4. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 4: Twenty-eight berths. Six of them walk to the Pole. 04Twenty-eight berths. Six of them walk to the Pole.
  5. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 5: We put the hard parts in the job ad. 05We put the hard parts in the job ad.
  6. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 6: Skills get you the interview. Temper gets you aboard. 06Skills get you the interview. Temper gets you aboard.
  7. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 7: Five minutes, one odd question. We listen for the laugh. 07Five minutes, one odd question. We listen for the laugh.
  8. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 8: Low pay. Long nights. A story for life. 08Low pay. Long nights. A story for life.
  9. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 9: You'd sail with people who have been south before. 09You'd sail with people who have been south before.
  10. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 10: Five thousand applied. Twenty-eight sail. 10Five thousand applied. Twenty-eight sail.
  11. Ernest Shackleton deck, slide 11: We sail in August. Bring a banjo. 11We sail in August. Bring a banjo.

Then · 1914

How it really went

Read the real storythe story, via Wikipedia (and Shackleton's own account, South)
  1. Amundsen takes the Pole in 1911; Scott dies coming back
  2. Shackleton announces a crossing of Antarctica, sea to sea via the Pole
  3. More than 5,000 people apply (the famous "Men wanted" ad is a legend)
  4. Interviews last minutes: can you sing? why the spectacles?
  5. Endurance sails from Plymouth on 8 August 1914 with a crew of 28, one a stowaway
  6. The ship is beset in the Weddell Sea within sight of the landing coast
  7. Crushed by the ice and abandoned in October 1915; she sinks in November
  8. Months on the floe, then the boats to Elephant Island
  9. Six men sail the James Caird 800 miles to South Georgia
  10. Rescue on 30 August 1916: all 28 of Endurance's men come home

Now · 2026 · 11 slides

What we changed

  • The route draws itselfA polar map of Antarctica traces the 1,800-mile crossing from Vahsel Bay through the Pole to McMurdo Sound, with the Ross Sea party's depots popping in.
  • The hard parts go firstThe legendary ad never existed, so we wrote an honest one: cold most days, dark for months, pay modest, story excellent.
  • A role-fit quizThree questions straight from the expedition (theatricals, singing, the twelve-pound banjo) and a verdict card: signed on, ship's company, or a warm winter at home.
  • Comp you can dragSlide your time away and watch wages crawl, months without the sun stack up, and glory compound to Immortal.

Steal the structure

Build your recruiting deck like Ernest Shackleton did.

  1. 01 Cover The mission as an invitation, in one line, with one picture of the work.
  2. 02 The mission What we are doing and how, shown as a plan the candidate can follow.
  3. 03 Why it matters Why now and why us: what is taken, what is still open, where we already lead.
  4. 04 The role How many seats, what each group does, and the open roles by name.
  5. 05 What it is really like The hard parts, stated plainly, so the wrong people opt out.
  6. 06 Who thrives here The temperament you hire for, as a quick self-check with a verdict.
  7. 07 How we pick people What the interview tests and why, with real examples.
  8. 08 What you get Comp and conditions honestly, plus the upside nobody else offers.
  9. 09 The team you would join Named people and their credentials: who you will spend your days with.
  10. 10 The process Applicants to hires, then the steps and dates from letter to day one.
  11. 11 The ask One action and a deadline.

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