Your 60-second story
Lesson 4 of 12 · Part 1 of 4
"Tell me about yourself" is your cold call opener. If it takes longer than 60 seconds, sounds like a Wikipedia article, and ends with no curiosity gap, it's broken. Let's fix it.
from sales · the cold open5 min
The opener buys you 90 more seconds, or ends the call
In sales, the first 20 seconds of a cold call either create interest or get you hung up on.
"Tell me about yourself" works exactly the same way. A strong opener makes the interviewer lean in. Three minutes of resume recap puts them on their phone.
If your pitch sounds like a Wikipedia article about yourself, rewrite it until it sounds like you talking to a smart friend.
The formula: present → past → future
60 seconds, max. Time yourself.
PRESENT (2 sentences):"I'm currently [role] at [company], where I [key focus] and recently [strongest receipt]."PAST (2 sentences):"Before that, [most relevant prior experience with your best number]."FUTURE (1–2 sentences):"I'm excited about this role because [specific reason tied to THIS company or THIS team]."HAND-OFF: "Happy to go wherever is most useful." (Invites them in. Shows you're not performing.)
Full example, Product Manager
58 seconds. Specific. Curiosity gap at the end.
I'm a PM at Notion, where I led the templates marketplace launch, which drove 40% user engagement growth in Q1.Before that, I spent three years at Spotify building discovery features for emerging artists, where we increased playlist saves by 28%.I'm interested in this role at Stripe because your focus on developer experience is exactly where I want to build, tools that remove friction for people who build things.Happy to go wherever is most useful.
Write your pitch
Prompt 1 of 4
Pull your strongest receipt from lesson 3. Who you are, where you are, one specific accomplishment with a number.Prompt 2 of 4
The experience that makes you the right person for your target role. One number minimum.Prompt 3 of 4
Why THIS type of role, at THIS type of company. Specific enough that it couldn't apply to anyone else.Prompt 4 of 4
Read it out loud. Time it. If it sounds like a Wikipedia entry, rewrite it until it sounds like you.
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