I Judged 21 Hackathon Pitches. Half Couldn't Even Show Their Demo

How do you pitch your idea in under 10 minutes and actually leave time for the demo? I recently judged 21 hackathon pitches in a single day. Almost half ran out of time before they could show what they built. The problem wasn't the product — it was the structure. In this video I walk through the Pyramid Principle, a framework from McKinsey's Barbara Minto, and adapt it specifically to pitch presentations. By the end you'll have a 5-step model you can use for your next demo, client review, or hackathon — plus a live PerCam pitch example to show you how the framework runs in real time. 📌 Chapters 0:00 Why 50% of hackathon pitches run out of time 0:58 Introducing the Pyramid Principle 2:02 SCQA: how to open a pitch 4:03 The three question types every pitch must answer 5:35 The Pitch Framework 2.0 8:04 Worked example: PerCam pitch deck structure 10:13 The live 90-second pitch demo 12:39 Recap and your next step 🔧 Mentioned in the video - The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto (McKinsey) - SCQA framework (Situation / Complication / Question / Answer) - Claude — used to draft the PerCam one-sentence pitch - PurrCam — a fictional cat-collar camera concept built only as a demonstration 👋 Hi! I’m Bear, a Product Designer, 10-year+ podcaster, and author of two books. Passionate about design, tech, productivity, and learning AI at https://bearwith.AI Stay updated! Subscribe to my newsletter at newsletter.bearwith.ai. • Website: bearwith.ai • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bearliu • Twitter: twitter.com/bearbig --- Boost your YouTube audience with vidIQ. Use this link to unlock 500 bonus credits when you upgrade to a premium plan: https://vidiq.com/r/?code=3vmeLx