Deckability

Building brands & decks that eyes & ears download instantly -- serving CEOs who want to translate their story into dollars

Co-Founder

Sandbox

Coaching student founders on brand storytelling, capital raising, and deck building

Expert Advisor

Leland

Coaching on brand storytelling, capital raising, and deck building

Coach

Linford Magic

Engaging, funny, and deeply confusing corporate magic shows: think conferences, summits, dinners, and luncheons

Professional Magician

Scan123

I research for, connect with, and create relationships with partners, groups and vendors

Head of Business Development

CEO calls me the "analytical Swiss-army knife." I help the strategy team make better decisions with better data, metrics, and research

Chief of Staff

Fourthwall Corporate Entertainment & Events

Classy entertainment for corporate events

Castiron

Built 79 analyses & 27 dashboards, with data housed in BigQuery, ProfitWell, Amplitude, Segment, Hotjar, & GA4

Data Analyst

RevRoad

Conducted problem interviews with business owners for a portfolio company making a pivot

Problem Interviewer

Philo Ventures

Created presentation decks (Slides), revenue models (Python & Excel), and financial pro formas (Excel) for multiple portfolio companies, used to gain new customers and partnerships.

Strategy Analyst

Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business

Utilized Python and R to build statistical models to study two-sided markets. Conducted extensive literature reviews and created qualitative surveys for analysis

Research Assistant

I build decks (sales & pitches, not patios) | professional magician | out here makin' friends

Got the best product/service since sliced bread?
You sell lights out on a call…
But struggle getting it on paper (or in a deck)?
We hear this *all* the time.

That’s why we started Deckability.

We build...
--> Brand stories that convert to dollars,
--> In decks that eyes/ears download instantly,
--> With crystalized value connected to pain points. 

So, if you’re a business executive,
Feeling like your story should pop more,
Shoot me a DM, let's talk about it. 

And me? 

I love telling stories, reading stories, and critiquing stories. 

Passion started with discovering Harry Potter (age 5). 
It grew as I worked for a pitch deck creation firm & in VC (older lol).
Reading 100+ books a year keeps the fire going in a big way (lil obsessed). 

And it’s really becoming an addiction with Deckability. 

I love talking storytelling, analytics, pitching, and art. 

If you made it this far, good on ya! 
Send a DM with your fav book, let's chat!

I am convinced the most successful people moving forward will have an inverse relationship w/ consumption. 

Less time online consuming?
Greater real life success. 

As opposed to more time online creating. 
Or creating in general.

It's never been easier to consume.
The separation is between consuming and creating.

John Linford

John Linford is a senior in statistics at BYU, training in and out of school to bring business storytelling and data analytics into YOUR business.

John is a voracious reader. He set a goal at the onset of 2022 to read 100 books in the course of the year. These principles color his worldview and the recommendations he provides to clients, managers, and customers. He creates content based around principles in books, and how that helps your business or life be better. 

With multi-faceted experience in venture capital, consulting, sales, social impact, and academic research, John is a charismatic and energetic leader who gets results. 

John's practiced application in linear modeling, data visualization, web scraping allow him to create actionable insights from complex data. This is built from a toolkit of data analysis programming languages, including SQL, Python, R, Linux, and SAS.   

These insights comes from a variety of experiences. From running several sales offices that produced hundreds of thousands in revenue, to crafting effective stories for businesses looking to raise capital, to consulting with startups from the pre-seed stage on, John understands the world of business from an experiential AND practical level. 

In addition to his vocational accomplishments, John has a range of interests including: a professional corporate magician, an avid tennis and soccer player, a singer, and, most especially, a husband, married to the very best, Avanlee Linford.

I build decks (sales & pitches, not patios) | professional magician | bibliophile | out here makin’ friends

What have you read this year that's changed your life? 

A close approximation is acceptable.

Are you haunted by the phrase that
'no one is coming to save you'?

You might be a bootstrapped founder.

From all the founders I talk to, no one is working harder, smarter, or faster than the founders who are under the gun, operating under their own power, and trying to hit their goals.

I've personally experienced both.

The feeling of having a cushion, some money under the belt, and it automatically takes the pressure/gas off. And the scarcity of NEEDING to make it happen. 

Reading On the Edge (by Nate Silver, great book on game theory, poker, and startups) rn about that 'chip on your shoulder' that the 'greats' in Silicon Valley had/have.

Bullied. 
Immigrant.
Grew up in poverty. 
Atypical gender/attraction.

Something made them outside the mainstream.

So they felt they had something to prove. 

I grew up in a privileged setting, pretty mainstream. 

And I try to learn from those that have that inner fire.

And my biggest question is how to maintain it when things go well. 

And/or maintain that fire when I don't necessarily have the chip on my shoulder. 

Can I build from a place of peace and security? If so, how do I keep the same level of intensity? 

Hit me with your wisdom. Ready to learn.

I just finished Three Body Problem.
(the book, not the show... should I watch it?)

Here's what struck me:

The entire plot hinges on one thing:
Convincing people of an impossible truth.

[spoiler alert]
Aliens are coming.
In 400 years.
And humanity needs to prepare NOW.

The challenge?

Getting people to care about a threat they'll never see.
Getting them to act on something abstract.
Getting them to believe the unbelievable.

Sound familiar?

This is the exact pain you're probably facing. 

You're trying to convince someone of a future state.
A problem they might not feel yet.
A solution that seems too good to be true.

The bridge between "I don't get it" and "I'm in"?

It's clear messaging that connects:
- their current pain
- your unique solution
- the outcome they actually want

Not features.
Not jargon.
Not walls of text.

Just clarity that makes the complex feel obvious.

That's what we do at Deckability.

We turn your impossible-to-explain idea into something people instantly grasp and want to act on.

P.S. Seriously though, is the show worth it? Or should I just move on to the next book?

P.P.S make sure your cause is more worthwhile than abandoning humanity to an alien superpower...not worth convincing people of something bad....

Most decks die in a folder somewhere.

Never opened again.
Never shared.
Never leading to that second meeting.

Why?

Because they were built without a bias towards action.

Here's what I mean:

A deck with bias towards action answers one question:
--> "What does my audience DO after seeing this?"
--> Not "what do I want to say?"
--> Not "what looks impressive?"

Ask: what action am I driving them towards?

The difference shows up in every slide:

Random decks explain features.
Action-driven decks connect outcomes to next steps.

Random decks dump information.
Action-driven decks guide decisions.

Random decks end with "thank you."
Action-driven decks end with "here's what happens next."

Before you build your next deck, ask:
--> What's the one action I need from this audience?
--> What do they need to believe to take that action?
--> What's stopping them from saying yes right now?

Then build backwards from there.

Cut everything that doesn't serve that action.

Add everything that removes friction from it.

The goal isn't a beautiful file.
It's a second date.

And second dates only happen when your deck makes the next step obvious, easy, and worth taking.

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