---
id: "action-hardware-before-pitch"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["\\\"§ Show", "Don't Tell\\\""]
tags: ["fundraising", "sales"]
related: ["concept-show-dont-tell", "quote-hardware-over-powerpoint"]
action: "Bring fully functional hardware or prototypes to investor and customer meetings instead of conceptual presentations."
outcome: "Instant trust and credibility that differentiates you from competitors selling vaporware."
speakers: ["Peter Beck"]
sources: ["tail2"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail2"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-tail-119-rocket-lab-founder"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/03/the-founder-of-rocket-lab-on-competing-with-billionaires-to-lead-in-space"
sourceTitle: "The Founder of Rocket Lab on Competing with Billionaires to Lead in Space"
---
# Build Hardware Before Pitching

Do not rely on concept art, CAD drawings, or PowerPoint presentations to win clients or investors. Invest the resources to build a working prototype or finished piece of hardware and bring it to the meeting to establish immediate, undeniable credibility. This is the operational form of [[concept-show-dont-tell]] and the maxim [[quote-hardware-over-powerpoint]] — the tactic that won Rocket Lab NASA, DARPA, and Space Development Agency contracts over rivals with facilities but no flying rockets.

**Action:** Bring fully functional hardware or prototypes to investor and customer meetings instead of conceptual presentations.

**Expected outcome:** Instant trust and credibility that differentiates you from competitors selling vaporware.