Ben Williams, author of Command Mindset and co-founder of Loopin

In episode 14 of the Pitch Masters podcast, I talk to the inspirational, former Royal Marines Commando, Ben Williams. Ben’s life has been an emotional, adventurous, tumultuous journey. He’s dealt with drug addiction, suicidal thoughts, frontline combat in Afghanistan, the loss of friends, and starting a business from scratch…but, of course, what I wanted to know is, how does he pitch?

Ben is absolutely one of my all-time favourite guests. The episode is packed with anecdotes about his successes and failures in pitching, and he honestly made me laugh until I cried with some of his stories. I found out about the time he booked himself and his business partner into an eleven-pound-a-night ‘crack den hotel’, the time that Gary Lineker stole his thunder by using a joke that he was about to tell, the time that he made a pitch to acquire England’s football manager Gareth Southgate, and his almost-sadistic method of unnerving an audience through his ‘Suspicious Minds’ routine.

The biggest lesson that I learned from this episode, though, is to be authentic. The world can be a cruel place, and we all suffer from imposter syndrome, a negative voice, and nervousness about speaking in front of an audience. Still, with some simple breathing techniques, a smattering of self-confidence, and the courage to fail, we can all achieve big things.

Pitching can be incredibly stressful, and we also discuss the topic of well-being and mental health, which is the foundation of Ben’s company Loopin, an app that helps teams to monitor, talk about, and support each other in this space.

If you’d like to know more, I’d highly recommend picking up a copy of Commando Mindset – the thrilling true story of Ben’s life and how we can all adopt a way of thinking that will help us get through life’s challenges and achieve greatness.

As always, check out the @Pitchguy socials for video clips from the podcast, or find the full episode, ad-free, on all podcast platforms. Just search for ‘Pitch Masters’. If you enjoy listening, consider leaving me a review – it’s always greatly appreciated.