pitch unfairly

Cheat Codes · Launches and keynotes

The Trojan Horse, c. 1184 BC. Pitched unfairly, 2026.

A gift they can't refuse. Same story, same numbers. Rebuilt the way we'd pitch it today.

Template: Product launch

  • 1 horse
  • 30 soldiers
  • 10-year siege
Play the 2026 deck Read the real story Steal the structure
c. 1184 BC Product launch

The Trojan Horse

A gift they can't refuse.

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 Trojan Horse's product launch, slide by slide

Every slide opens the live deck right where it is.

  1. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 1: A gift Troy can't refuse. 01A gift Troy can't refuse.
  2. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 2: Ten years of siege. Zero walls breached. 02Ten years of siege. Zero walls breached.
  3. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 3: Troy won't open for an army. It will for a gift. 03Troy won't open for an army. It will for a gift.
  4. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 4: One hollow horse. Thirty seats. All taken. 04One hollow horse. Thirty seats. All taken.
  5. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 5: We sail home. Home is behind Tenedos. 05We sail home. Home is behind Tenedos.
  6. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 6: Our PR team is one man with a very sad story. 06Our PR team is one man with a very sad story.
  7. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 7: Not a weapon. A thank-you to Athena. 07Not a weapon. A thank-you to Athena.
  8. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 8: Trust climbs every beat. Laocoön is a dip, not a trend. 08Trust climbs every beat. Laocoön is a dip, not a trend.
  9. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 9: Three people see through it. None of them is a problem. 09Three people see through it. None of them is a problem.
  10. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 10: Launch is night one. The gates open from the inside. 10Launch is night one. The gates open from the inside.
  11. The Trojan Horse deck, slide 11: One horse, one carpenter, and thirty of your bravest. 11One horse, one carpenter, and thirty of your bravest.

Then · c. 1184 BC

How it really went

Read the real storythe story, via Wikipedia (Aeneid 2, Odyssey 4 and 8)
  1. Ten years of siege; Troy's walls never fall
  2. Odysseus proposes a hollow wooden horse
  3. Epeius builds it, with Athena's help
  4. The best heroes climb inside
  5. The Greeks burn their camp and hide the fleet behind Tenedos
  6. Sinon, "captured", sells the horse as an offering to Athena
  7. Laocoön warns Troy and strikes it with a spear
  8. Sea serpents kill Laocoön; Troy takes it as a sign
  9. Troy breaches its own wall to bring the horse in
  10. Cassandra predicts the fall; nobody believes her
  11. At night the heroes climb out and open the gates

Now · 2026 · 11 slides

What we changed

  • The capacity fills upA black-figure cross-section of the horse boards thirty soldiers, seat by seat, as the count climbs to "At capacity".
  • Trust is a live metricClick through the gift, the retreat, Sinon, Laocoön and the serpents and watch Troy's trust climb, dip, and max out.
  • Launch night counts downA clock runs to nightfall, the sky goes from ochre to moonlight, and the gates swing open from the inside.
  • The risk register is realLaocoön, Cassandra, and Helen doing your wives' voices: every risk happened, every mitigation worked, all straight from Virgil and Homer.

Steal the structure

Build your product launch like The Trojan Horse did.

  1. 01 One-line promise Name the product and the outcome in five words.
  2. 02 Problem One brutal scoreboard: how long you have tried, and the zero.
  3. 03 Insight The reframe: what the buyer refuses, next to what they welcome.
  4. 04 Product Specs and capacity, shown filling up.
  5. 05 Go to market The route, drawn on a map, including the part nobody sees.
  6. 06 PR The story the market will repeat, written as the release.
  7. 07 Positioning What the buyer reads on the label versus what it is.
  8. 08 Leading indicator One metric across the story beats, dips included.
  9. 09 Risks A register with an owner and a mitigation for each.
  10. 10 Launch timeline A countdown to the moment it goes live.
  11. 11 The ask Three line items and the return.

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