About this site
Situation First is a free, no-login reference for people who need to pitch, present, and sell more effectively — without wading through motivational fluff, textbook theory, or advice written by people who've never been in the room.
Who this is for
The person we write for is a product manager, consultant, founder, or operator with a high-stakes conversation tomorrow. They are reading on their phone at 11pm. They need a clear framework, a worked example, and a concrete next step — not a motivational speech and not an MBA syllabus.
They might be:
- An IC trying to get budget approved for an initiative that matters
- A founder who keeps getting "interesting, let's discuss more" without a decision
- A consultant who needs to do discovery on a new client without making them feel processed
- A sales professional who wants to get better at the craft without resorting to manipulative scripts
- A manager who has 15 minutes with a VP and needs to leave with something real
How the content is written
Every article follows the same structure: who it's for, when to use it, the core framework (with the reasoning behind it, not just the steps), a worked example that shows the difference between doing it well and doing it badly, common mistakes, and a practice prompt you can actually use before your next meeting.
We deliberately avoid:
- Acronym frameworks that spell something cute but obscure the logic ("BANT," "SPIN," "AIDA" — you can learn what they mean in ten seconds on Wikipedia; we'd rather tell you why the underlying principles work)
- Advice that works in a vacuum but ignores the political and relational context of real organizations
- Scripts that sound scripted — if you wouldn't say it to a friend, it won't work with a buyer
- Success stories that are too clean to be real
Flagship guides
If you're new here and want to know if this is worth your time, start with one of these:
- The Five-Line Idea Brief — the briefest useful pitch format we know
- The 12-Minute Arc — structure for any update, demo, or talk
- Discovery Without Interrogation — the core skill in all selling
Non-goals
We do not cover:
- CRM configuration, pipeline management, or sales operations tooling
- Enterprise procurement, RFP strategy, or legal contracting
- High-pressure closing tactics, fake urgency, or manipulation
- Advice that only works in one industry, culture, or company size
- Legal, financial, or professional advice of any kind
The guide builder
The guide builder generates a tailored outline — openings, questions, objections, checklist — based on your situation: who you are, who you're speaking with, what your objective is, the context, and the stakes. It uses pre-written, curated content matched by rules — no AI, no API calls, no accounts.
Disclaimer
This site is for educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, medical, or professional advice. All examples are either fictional composites or clearly labeled. Outcomes depend on context we cannot see: your industry, your relationships, your constraints, and your judgment. We share frameworks that have worked in practice; whether they work for your situation is something only you can determine.