How to pitch when management is not supportive of your ideas

At Uber, I come across hundreds of ideas every year being pitched for funding & support. Some ideas go viral while others fall flat. Here is the number one reason that makes a pitch successful.

Pitches that ‘lead with problems’ succeed

Most pitches start with explaining the systems they want to build. 80% of the deck would be about the new engineering solution proposed. less than 20% of the deck would be about the problem being solved. Instead, lead a pitch with the problems.

More than 50% of your pitch deck should be about the problems & metrics

If you are enumerating many problems, bucket them into categories of problems.

Why does leading with a problem help?

It demonstrates that your understanding is extremely thorough. This clarity of thought increases the confidence for of manager to fund an effort and trust that you will pull through.

Everything about a project can be changed if they do not work - technology, people, processes. What cannot change mid-way is the motivation and the problems being solved, so it is important to get it right from the get go.

The more your senior management understands the problem, the better they will appreciate the solution and support you.