New book · Out now
Pitching Decoded
The Entrepreneur’s Most Important Skill. Prepare, deliver, and win the room. Including how to pitch across cultures.
The problem
Most pitches do not fail because the idea is bad.
They fail for reasons that repeat, in every industry and every country. After forty years on both sides of the table, the same four keep showing up.
- The founder has not done the homework, so the first hard question makes the whole thing wobble.
- The founder is so close to the product that the room never learns why any of it matters.
- The same generic pitch goes to an investor, a banker and a customer, and none of them are satisfied.
- The pitch ends without a clear next step, so nothing happens after the polite handshake.
What this book does
A workshop, not a lecture.
You are not handed theory and wished good luck. Every chapter ends with something to do, and the three case studies show the before and the after in full.
Structure
Build a ten-slide story the room can follow, using Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule as the frame.
Value
Put every claim through the “So What?” test until it lands on a benefit the audience can feel.
Delivery
Use voice, body, eyes and preparation so the person behind the idea is easy to trust.
Look inside
Four spreads from the finished book.
The chapter that opens the book, the three audiences who hear the same pitch differently, the test that turns a feature into something the room can feel, and the chapter on Japan. Straight from the file that went to the printer.
Drag or scroll sideways · click a spread to enlarge
The object
Made to be carried, marked and used.
A5 paperback, printed on cream stock so the pages are easy on the eye and take a pen without bleeding. Small enough for a bag, sturdy enough to survive being read on the way to a meeting.
- Matte laminate cover with a foil-look spine
- Wide outer margin, so there is room to write in it
- Every appendix laid out to be photocopied flat
A5 · 142 pages
Inside the book
Seven parts, fourteen chapters, five appendices.
Mindset
Why pitching decides everything, and why the outcome is yours alone.
Preparation
Know your audience before you open your mouth. The 10/20/30 rule.
Build the deck
The first five slides, slides six to ten, and the “So What?” test.
Delivery
You are the biggest tool. Voice, body, eyes, dress. Start strong, finish strong.
Across cultures
High and low context, power distance, and pitching in Japan and the United States.
Mastery
Deliberate practice, feedback, and earning the next conversation.
Appendices
The templates and checklists you keep using after the first read.
What you can use straight away
Five appendices, built to be photocopied.
The ten-slide template
Every slide, what belongs on it, and what to leave out.
The pre-pitch checklist
Run it the morning of, so nothing is left to memory.
The cross-cultural cheat sheet
What persuades, what “yes” means, and what can kill the deal.
Ten questions investors will ask
Write your answers before someone asks them out loud.
The pitch clarity self-test
Score the pitch you have now and see where it loses the room.
Glossary and reading list
The terms investors use, and where to go next.
Three cases, worked through in full
What changed, and why.
Ten slides, one decision
Trond had twenty-seven slides and eight minutes. By slide eighteen the business model had still not been mentioned. The rebuilt pitch ran seven minutes and thirty-eight seconds, and earned the next meeting.
When the presenter became the message
Emma had customers, retention and measurable results. Investors kept saying “interesting” and nothing happened. She rebuilt the slides twice. The deck was never the problem.
When yes did not mean yes
Rolf left Tokyo certain he had a pilot. The answer he heard was closer to “yes, we understand what you are saying.” Nothing was wrong with the technology. Two months later, the pilot was agreed.
A successful pitch is not measured only by applause or an immediate yes. It is measured by movement.Pitching Decoded · Conclusion
Who it is for
Written for people who have to get a yes.
This is for you if
- You are raising money, selling an idea internally, or launching something
- Your last pitch got a polite nod and no decision
- You present to people from other countries and cannot always read the room
- You teach, mentor or coach founders and want a structure to hand them
This is not for you if
- You are looking for slide design tips and templates to download
- You want growth-hacking tactics rather than the fundamentals
- You would rather read theory than do the exercises
Online course
Prefer video?
The method is already on video.
How to Pitch: Precision in Every Detail walks through the same structure lesson by lesson, at your own pace. The book goes wider and deeper, and adds the full cross-cultural part and the appendices. Neither replaces the other.
About the author
August Kjerland
August Kjerland has more than 40 years of experience in leadership, entrepreneurship, international business, board work, and business development. He has worked across Europe, Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, North America, the Caribbean, and Brazil, and teaches entrepreneurship and innovation at BI Norwegian Business School and the University of Agder.
He has negotiated many times in Japan and lived and worked in the United States for twelve years, which is where the cross-cultural part of this book comes from.
“Because the ultimate goal of a pitch is not to close every deal. It is to earn the next conversation.”
Order
Delivered to your door.
The printed paperback, sent by August from Norway. NOK 449 in Norway, €44.90 anywhere else in Europe, delivery included. Pay by card, Apple Pay or Klarna.
Paying in Norway? Use Vipps. Send NOK 449 to Euro Marketing & Publishing AS, Vipps number #67049. Write your delivery address in the message and we send the book.
Questions
Before you ask.
Where can I buy it?
Right here: NOK 449 delivered in Norway, or €44.90 delivered anywhere else in Europe. It is also on sale at the University of Agder.
What does it cost?
NOK 449 in Norway and €44.90 in the rest of Europe, delivery included. Pay by card, Apple Pay or Klarna. In Norway you can also Vipps NOK 449 to Euro Marketing & Publishing AS, #67049, with your delivery address in the message, and we send the book.
Who ships it?
August sends every copy himself, from Norway, to the address you give at checkout.
Print or ebook?
Print, an A5 paperback in English. If other formats follow, they will be announced on the list below.
Is this the same as the online course?
No. The course, How to Pitch: Precision in Every Detail, walks through the method on video at your own pace. The book goes wider and deeper, and includes the full cross-cultural section and the appendices.
Do I need to read it in order?
The first read works best in order, because each part builds on the one before. After that, the appendices are the part most people keep going back to.
Can I order copies for a team or a class?
Yes. Write to august@augustkjerland.com and larger orders are sorted out directly.
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August’s Brief
Practical notes on entrepreneurship, pitching, and cross-cultural business. A few times a month. No hype.
Entrepreneurship. Decoded.
Practical entrepreneurship from an operator with forty years of executive and board experience. He teaches at BI Norwegian Business School and University of Agder.
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