Dayani The Unspoken Pitch

Messaging and Go to Market

Session 2 outcomes.

August 2026

Session 2

What changed in the session.

Verizon came through a sustainability consultancy, not a brand agency.
The third principle is now four to five years across every layer of local resilience, not the climate commission.
The partner filter is now three tests, not two.

Dayani  /  Where you are

A very good business with a bad pipeline.

2 to 5 wksTypical close on a warm intro
$20K to $370KVerizon, five contracts
11 · 9 · 5 · 5Contracts at Nium, Solidigm, Proofpoint, Verizon
8 of 12Engagements that came back for more

The idea underneath all of this

Stop waiting to be handed a brief.

A vendor

  • Waits for the brief
  • Answers what was asked
  • Gets compared on price
  • Is called when there's a project

The one they call first

  • Writes the brief
  • Raises what nobody asked
  • Is the only real option
  • Is called before there's a project

You stop being a supplier and become the person they call before there is a project. For Dayani that means telling partners what their clients should be exploring, because you know what is possible and they do not.

The umbrella

Dayani helps big companies show up for the communities they're already in.
Then actually gets it built.

What never goes first, either audience

AIClimateVentureExperimentation

What you operate from, and get known for

Senior only. Inside your team, not replacing it.No juniors on an execution project. It is why your first round is most agencies' third or fourth round of work.
Visionary realists. We don't pitch what can't exist.Wacky concepts, delivered with integrity. Verizon's disaster navigator, scoped with Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and United Way.
Weird expertise nobody in this category can claim.Four to five years working across every layer of local resilience. Community members, nonprofits, local government including a seat on a commission, and the corporations funding the work. That is why we know the difference between a plan and something that ships.

The point of view

The rant.

The internet is boring. Digital products have become tedious garbage. And a lot of people are selling things they don't understand.

This becomes the case study model and the website's point of view.

Body copy to come from Brian, written from his recording.

How you use it in a conversation

Four beats. Not a hierarchy.

Beat 1"So what do you do?"Put yourself in a box they already understand.
Beat 2"Like what?"One story. Not a list of credentials.
Beat 3"Why you though?"The principles. Here, and never earlier.
Beat 4"So what now?"You give them something. Never an ask.

Same four beats. Two very different conversations.

The beatTo an agency principalTo an end client
1. Place yourselfThey ask what you do. Boring, five seconds. "We're typically the digital arm for agencies whose clients want products built. You win the work, we become that division for you." "We help big companies build the digital products they know they need and don't know how to build. That's the bit we're good at."
2. One storyThey ask like what. Never a credentials list. "Verizon's the one people know. Came through a consultancy that had won the strategic work, and we helped them win it. Started at around twenty thousand, turned into five contracts." "Verizon. When a disaster hits, the people with the least take longest to recover, mostly because they don't know what help exists. We spent time in those communities, worked out what they actually needed, then designed the thing to do it."
3. Why youOnly if they're still in it. The principles land here. "Honestly we started doing this because we kept seeing agencies with brilliant brand teams and no proper tech people behind them. That's the gap we fill. Everyone our side is director level, which is why clients tell us our first round is where most agencies get to on their third." "Brian's spent four to five years working across every layer of local resilience. Community members, nonprofits, local government including a seat on a commission, and the corporations funding the work. That's why we know the difference between a plan and something that ships."
4. You giveCosts them nothing. Never a proposal. "If you've got a pitch coming up and you need help on the digital side, let me know. Or if your clients keep asking about AI and product and you're not sure what to tell them, happy to sit down and work out what's actually right for them. We white label for most of the agencies we work with, so you stay the one in front of the client." "Have you got something you've wanted to do for a while and haven't been able to get moving? That's usually the conversation worth having."

Five years of revenue, one finding

Almost everything has arrived through three doors.

A longstanding agency partnership.Most of the contracts, and most of the repeat work.
A former colleague, now inside a client.The door Solidigm opened through.
A former partner of the firm.The source of more than one introduction.

Three relationships, none of them written down anywhere. The plan's first job is making each one permanent. The second is opening two more.

Where the money comes from, and where the work is

HoldMake the three you have permanent
WarmThe mission channel. Slow, but it's the work you want
AddNothing here today. Two more partnerships. This is the whole job

What each lane actually means

Hold
Nine of twelve engagements
  • Matt, Meghan, Greg and qb on a real rhythm. Quarterly, in the calendar, not when you need something.
  • Meghan owned separately from Matt. Right now that's one relationship wearing two names.
  • A rate card and a one page sheet a principal can forward without editing it.
  • Decide whether qb is still a partner or a past client.
Add
Empty today. The whole job.
  • Twenty five names off your own two work histories, all three tests applied.
  • Track who's moved. When a past champion changes seats, that's a company that already trusts you.
  • Three personal notes a week from Brian or Manuel. Never a template.
  • Connect and nurture the same names on LinkedIn so you stay in view between conversations.
  • Two live partnerships by the end of the year.
Warm
Small, slow, and the work you want
  • Half an hour a week in the climate channels that already produced Onora and Stow.
  • Amanda, asked one specific question instead of a catch-up.
  • The website. Cheapest conversion work you have and it's already paid for.

Made concrete

Give before you ask.

"We'll scope and estimate your next pitch. Two hours, free, whether you win or not."

Who you're going after

Agencies and impact consultancies that pass three tests.

Mission or impact orientation.The work is pointed at communities and outcomes, not just campaigns.
A real capability gap we fill.Strong on strategy or brand, thin on digital and product.
Takes things to market.Demonstrated willingness to take something to market rather than deliver a presentation.

All three, not two. A partner can pass the capability test and still only ever produce more of the same work. The mission test is what connects the revenue work to the work you want to be known for. The third test is what separates a partner from an audience.

Every route in, judged against your own numbers

The routeWhat your own record saysVerdict
People you've already worked withRoughly every dollar of your revenue, five years runningDo this
Introductions from Matt, Greg, AmandaHow Verizon and the Stow lead both arrivedDo this
LinkedIn, connect then nurtureEvery name on your list is already reachable thereBuild it
Planting a seedGive them something before you need anythingWorth trying
Partner directories on the platforms you build onAgencies are looking for build partnersOne test
Agency owner communities and conferencesCosts money and daysOnly with a name
Cold emailA cold start with someone who has never met youTest

Getting a partnership isn't the hard part

01Show up on a rhythm, not when you need something.Quarterly, in the calendar, booked before you hang up.
02Ask what you could have done better. Then fix it.Nobody asks him that. It is the fastest route to the next piece of work.
03Bring two ideas for his clients he hasn't thought of.Every time. This is the difference between someone he calls and someone he thinks with.
04Follow the people who referred you. Watch where they go.When someone moves, that's a new company that already trusts you.

Twelve months from now

35

agency relationships that produce work.

2Partner pitches scoped free. At least one won.
<40%Revenue behind any one relationship.
1 hrPer founder, per week. More than that and it doesn't happen.

Three jobs, deliberately unassigned

Build the list.Twenty five names off your own two work histories, each with a reason. Two weeks, once.?
Track who's moved where.Every past contact who changes jobs is a company that already trusts you. Nobody is watching.?
Decide which rooms are worth it.Only answerable after Matt says which rooms produce work.?

The website. Five pages, one job each.

HomepageThe end client story. Someone lands here and understands within one screen what you build and who for.
PartnersThe agency story. The link that goes in every first contact email. Part of the go to market plan, not a nice to have.
AboutSenior only, and the weird expertise. Where the reason to trust you lives.
ServicesHow the work gets done. One page, not three offers called agency, climate and AI.
WorkThe proof. Emerging tech and AI live inside these case studies, and nowhere else.

One last thing

Don't wait to be handed a brief.

Your partners do not know what is possible with AI and product right now. You do. That gap is the widest it has ever been and it will not stay open.

Tell them what they should be building.