A SPACE RISING WORKFORCE INITIATIVE
VALUE GAP™
A five-step method for turning technical work into a compelling business case.
Closing the gap between what technical teams build and what decision-makers understand.
Using a five-step framework, VALUE GAP™ helps students, researchers, and technical founders articulate the value of their work, support their claims with evidence, and make a specific ask. Participants learn to build a case their audience can understand, evaluate, and communicate to others.
WHY THIS BELONGS IN YOUR PROGRAM
Give decision-makers a reason to choose your solution
A technically sound project can still leave an investor asking why it is worth funding or a customer asking why they should choose it. Technical detail alone does not answer those questions.
VALUE GAP™ helps participants connect their solution to the audience’s priorities, support the benefit with evidence, and ask for a specific commitment. Program leads can use the framework to identify exactly where that case needs work.
DEBUTED AT ARIZONA SPACE CONGRESS
The Art of Communicating Value 101 debuted at the Defense Innovation OnRamp Hub: Arizona during the inaugural Arizona Space Congress pre-congress program. Operators, founders, and policymakers worked through how to communicate complex ideas to the people deciding whether to support them.
The Value Formula
THEIR PAIN
What problem matters
to this audience?
+
YOUR SOLUTION
How does your
work address it?
+
THE CONNECTION
Can they understand the difference it could make and explain it to someone else?
=
VALUE
The outcome your solution makes possible for them.
Their pain + your solution + how clearly you connect the two = value
Connect what you build to a problem your audience wants to solve.
THE VALUE GAP™ METHOD
Communicate value in five steps
01
Define
the audience
Identify who must act and the decision your message needs to support.
02
Specify
the problem
State the audience’s problem and the consequence of leaving it unresolved.
03
Establish
urgency
Explain why acting now matters, using real deadlines, costs, or opportunities.
04
Build
the case
Connect your solution to a relevant benefit, support it with evidence, and state your ask.
05
Test
understanding
Ask a listener to restate the problem, value, and next step. Revise what they cannot explain.
MAKE YOUR MESSAGE EASY TO REPEAT
Equip your audience to advocate for you
An investor may need to brief their partners. A customer may need to persuade their team. Learn to give them a concise, credible case they can carry into that next conversation.
Test whether a listener can explain your value proposition and the commitment you are asking for. Use what they miss to sharpen your message before the stakes are higher.
Prepare for the next conversation
Repeat the five steps as your audience, project, or decision changes. Keep the technical facts accurate while making their relevance clear.
THE COURSE THAT TEACHES THE METHOD
The Art of Communicating Value 101
Learn to explain why your solution is worth funding, buying, or adopting.
Guided exercises and before-and-after examples show how to turn a technical explanation into a clear case for support. Participants learn to connect what they’re building to what their audience needs to understand.
You’ll learn how to articulate what your work makes possible and why it matters to VCs, customers, board members, and other stakeholders. Before-and-after examples, including a pitch-deck walkthrough, put the method into practice. By the end, you’ll be able to explain your value proposition, support it with evidence, and make a clear ask tailored to your audience.
DEVELOPED BY
Angelica Sirotin
Strategic communications expert and CEO of Sirotin Ventures, recognized by Acquisition International as Best AI-Augmented Strategic Communications Firm 2026.
Author of Sirotin Intelligence’s inaugural report, Strategic Communications for Space 101, informed by 50+ interviews with space and defense professionals. The report provides the foundation for this curriculum.
Report endorsers include Dr. Joel Mozer, the first U.S. Space Force Chief Scientist; Jess Sponable, who led the DC-X (Delta Clipper Experimental) program and served as a DARPA program manager; and Major General Vladyslav Klochkov, PhD.
READ THE INAUGURAL REPORT
VIEW THE 2026 AWARD RECOGNITION PUT YOUR LEARNING TO WORK
Leave with materials for your next investor
or customer meeting
In the applied workshop and semester program, participants develop their own materials through guided exercises, before-and-after examples, and expert feedback.
VALUE PROPOSITION
Explain why your solution is worth considering
A concise statement of the value your project offers a specific customer, investor, or partner. Use it to introduce your work and open a more focused conversation.
Developed in the workshop and semester program.
STAKEHOLDER PRESENTATION
Present a case your audience can evaluate
A full presentation reviewed and refined with expert feedback, so decision-makers can understand the opportunity and consider your request. The semester program adds rehearsal and a final presentation.
Every slide covered in both the workshop and semester program.
ONE-PAGE BUSINESS CASE
Give stakeholders a case they can share
A concise document they can use to assess your project and discuss it with colleagues. Take it into a funding, customer, or partnership conversation.
Developed in the semester program.
FOR UNIVERSITIES AND TECHNICAL PROGRAMS
Prepare your cohort for investor and customer conversations
Every format includes the VALUE GAP™ five-step method and messaging worksheet, with deliverables matched to the depth of the program.
INTRODUCTORY WEBINAR
Articulate your value proposition
$0
Free · 90 minutes
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
• VALUE GAP™ messaging worksheet
• Guided five-step method walkthrough
• Before-and-after presentation examples
• Checklist to assess and refine your message
APPLIED WORKSHOP
Refine your pitch with expert feedback
$2,500
Half day - Up to 20 people
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
• Completed VALUE GAP™ messaging worksheet
• Draft value proposition for your target audience
• Full presentation review and revisions across all slides
• Feedback and a prioritized revision plan
SEMESTER INTEGRATION
Turn student projects into business cases
$8,000 per cohort
Planned around your course and cohort
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
• VALUE GAP™ materials and course-aligned plan
• Live instruction and project support tailored to your program
• A defined feedback and revision plan
• Final business case, presentation, and progress review
Now booking Spring 2027 for Arizona universities, incubators, and capstone programs.
Build the business case. Revise it. Defend it.
A semester program integrated into your existing course and led by Angelica Sirotin. We plan delivery around your cohort, academic calendar, and the investor, customer, or industry conversations participants need to prepare for.
TEACHING AND PROJECT FEEDBACK
Live instruction aligned to your course
Bring the method into your course through guided exercises, before-and-after examples, a deck walkthrough, and presentation practice.
Project support at key milestones
Schedule opportunities for participants to ask questions and work through challenges as their projects develop.
Feedback that guides revision
Agree on review milestones for the business case and presentation. Participants receive specific priorities for improving their work.
Planning with your faculty
Set learning goals, assignments, and assessment criteria together, with delivery planned around your academic calendar.
WHAT YOUR COHORT PRODUCES
A completed VALUE GAP™ worksheet
Each participant defines the audience, problem, urgency, supporting case, and a test of whether the message is understood.
A one-page business case per team
An audience-specific value proposition, a supported benefit, evidence gaps, and a specific ask.
A revised stakeholder presentation per team
Developed through practice and feedback, then presented in the final session. Each participant practices explaining the project’s value.
A documented comparison of initial and final work
The same rubric assesses both versions. Faculty receive a concise cohort summary of progress and remaining gaps.
YOUR PROGRAM ALSO RECEIVES
A course-aligned curriculum plan, VALUE GAP™ worksheets, staged assignment prompts, and the five-step assessment rubric.
We agree on session count, schedule, cohort size, and feedback before the program begins, within the $8,000 package. Remote delivery is included; in-person delivery and travel are scoped separately.
Strengthen your ability to secure funding, win customers, and build partnerships
Build a business case around the decision you need, whether that is investment, a customer pilot, or a partnership. Give stakeholders a clear reason to consider the opportunity and the evidence to assess it.
FOR PARTICIPANTS
Show why your solution is worth choosing
Translate technical features into the benefit a customer or investor cares about, and explain what sets your approach apart.
Make a credible case for investment or adoption
Match each claim to supporting evidence so VCs, customers, and board members can assess the opportunity and its risks.
Ask for the commitment your project needs
Make a specific request for funding, a pilot, a partnership, or a follow-up meeting, with a clear purpose for that next step.
FOR EDUCATORS AND PROGRAM LEADS
See progress in the work students produce
In the semester program, receive initial and final work assessed with the same rubric, plus a cohort summary of gains and remaining gaps.
Turn feedback into targeted revisions
Use a common framework to show students what to change in their problem statement, evidence, value proposition, or ask.
Prepare students to present beyond the classroom
Help students defend the value of their projects in capstone reviews, venture pitches, customer meetings, and industry showcases.
Bring VALUE GAP™
to your program
BRING THE METHOD TO YOUR COHORT
Tell us what your cohort needs to achieve, from a capstone presentation to an investor pitch. We’ll recommend a format, deliverables, and feedback plan to prepare them.