Pitch Masters

About Pitch Masters

The Pitch Masters Podcast is dedicated to helping you win more business. No matter how good your products or services are, without the right story, branding, and marketing, you might not get noticed. Danny Fontaine, AKA ’Pitch Guy’ interviews a master of pitching from industry in each episode and covers how behavioural science, psychology, storytelling, creative, and theatre all play huge roles in the success of your business.

Publisher

Danny Fontaine

Category

business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

17 Oct 2022

Latest episode

30 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

53 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Jun 2026

   S2E10: Bob Knakal & the NYC Map Room that Won 92 of 94 Pitches (Full Video)

   Bob Knakal joins Danny Fontaine inside the Knakal Map Room in Manhattan to reveal how one room helped win 92 of 94 real estate pitches. This is a masterclass in high-stakes selling, NYC commercial real estate, reputation, market presence, physical experience, AI, hard mail, storytelling and what it really takes to win trust when the stakes are enormous. Bob Knakal is the Chairman and CEO of BKREA and one of the most prolific commercial real estate brokers in American history. Across more than 42 years in New York City real estate, he has sold thousands of buildings and built a reputation as one of the great dealmakers of his generation. In this episode of Pitch Masters, I flew to Manhattan to meet Bob in the world-famous Knakal Map Room, a 24 foot by 10 foot physical map of Manhattan covered in data, post-it notes, colour codes and market intelligence. Bob explains how the Map Room began during the pandemic, why he walked every block of Manhattan south of 96th Street, why he still believes physical experience beats a screen, and how the room creates an immediate impression on clients. We also talk about: Why Bob says real estate is really the information and relationship business * How he accidentally got into commercial real estate What he learned from pitching around 10,000 times Why his career pitch win rate is around 26%, but the Map Room has won 92 of 94 pitches The billion-dollar pitch involving a brown paper bag, a mason jar and a pile of nuts and bolts Why hard mail still works when email does not Why market presence is not about ego, but helping clients How getting fired helped him see everything more clearly How Bob uses AI alongside old-school discipline and analogue research Why being different matters more than being cheaper What any salesperson, founder, broker, leader or communicator can learn from elite real estate dealmaking CHAPTERS: GUEST: Bob Knakal, Chairman and CEO, BKREA Official website: bkrea.com Bob Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/bobknakal Email: bk@bkrea.com Bob's cell: +1 917-509-9501 HOST Danny Fontaine, Author of PITCH: How to Captivate and Convince Any Audience on the Planet / Host of Pitch Masters Podcast. Find out more: Website: pitchguy.co.uk LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/ Instagram: instagram.com/dannyfontaine TikTok: tiktok.com/@pitchguy LISTEN TO PITCH MASTERS Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pitch-masters/id1650175804 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4T2HQsKwfx67CDzeUL4wTD?si=90d39222891b4931 YouTube playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYs5idRWzXZKPJYYR26MPuskp2YAaTS5o&si=bXx0OKO1jHLNZ5QO MORE PITCH MASTERS EPISODES ON YOUTUBE Daniel H. Pink: https://youtu.be/ZhwAmlg8OPA?si=9QOy5Uc2JNc4dwpU Rory Sutherland: https://youtu.be/p2Hc2gQPaSk?si=RvyAj9Ewqjbm9vdY Nancy Duarte: https://youtu.be/8_Zhmu8gxLc?si=-NF7SMz6vRjViZz0 Simon Sinek: https://youtu.be/2bLR_PbB94A?si=TqpIl1wN3yHd2rya Jeb Blount: https://youtu.be/B_S1ChPBLlM?si=qDKxah9tVK5EZtJo Oren Klaff: https://youtu.be/lAXlPyYSpZs?si=6ySPsHteD4b0CSaC ABOUT PITCH MASTERS Pitch Masters is the podcast where Danny Fontaine speaks to world-class experts in pitching, persuasion, storytelling, sales, creativity, behavioural science and business influence. The aim is simple: to understand how the best in the world win attention, build trust and convince people to act. Subscribe for more conversations with the masters of pitching. #BobKnakal #CommercialRealEstate #PitchMasters

2. 

   30 Jun 2026

   S2E10: Bob Knakal & the NYC Map Room that Won 92 of 94 Pitches (Audio only)

   Bob Knakal joins Danny Fontaine inside the Knakal Map Room in Manhattan to reveal how one room helped win 92 of 94 real estate pitches. This is a masterclass in high-stakes selling, NYC commercial real estate, reputation, market presence, physical experience, AI, hard mail, storytelling and what it really takes to win trust when the stakes are enormous. Bob Knakal is the Chairman and CEO of BKREA and one of the most prolific commercial real estate brokers in American history. Across more than 42 years in New York City real estate, he has sold thousands of buildings and built a reputation as one of the great dealmakers of his generation. In this episode of Pitch Masters, I flew to Manhattan to meet Bob in the world-famous Knakal Map Room, a 24 foot by 10 foot physical map of Manhattan covered in data, post-it notes, colour codes and market intelligence. Bob explains how the Map Room began during the pandemic, why he walked every block of Manhattan south of 96th Street, why he still believes physical experience beats a screen, and how the room creates an immediate impression on clients. We also talk about: Why Bob says real estate is really the information and relationship business * How he accidentally got into commercial real estate What he learned from pitching around 10,000 times Why his career pitch win rate is around 26%, but the Map Room has won 92 of 94 pitches The billion-dollar pitch involving a brown paper bag, a mason jar and a pile of nuts and bolts Why hard mail still works when email does not Why market presence is not about ego, but helping clients How getting fired helped him see everything more clearly How Bob uses AI alongside old-school discipline and analogue research Why being different matters more than being cheaper What any salesperson, founder, broker, leader or communicator can learn from elite real estate dealmaking CHAPTERS: GUEST: Bob Knakal, Chairman and CEO, BKREA Official website: bkrea.com Bob Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/bobknakal Email: bk@bkrea.com Bob's cell: +1 917-509-9501 HOST Danny Fontaine, Author of PITCH: How to Captivate and Convince Any Audience on the Planet / Host of Pitch Masters Podcast. Find out more: Website: pitchguy.co.uk LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/ Instagram: instagram.com/dannyfontaine TikTok: tiktok.com/@pitchguy LISTEN TO PITCH MASTERS Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pitch-masters/id1650175804 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4T2HQsKwfx67CDzeUL4wTD?si=90d39222891b4931 YouTube playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYs5idRWzXZKPJYYR26MPuskp2YAaTS5o&si=bXx0OKO1jHLNZ5QO MORE PITCH MASTERS EPISODES ON YOUTUBE Daniel H. Pink: https://youtu.be/ZhwAmlg8OPA?si=9QOy5Uc2JNc4dwpU Rory Sutherland: https://youtu.be/p2Hc2gQPaSk?si=RvyAj9Ewqjbm9vdY Nancy Duarte: https://youtu.be/8_Zhmu8gxLc?si=-NF7SMz6vRjViZz0 Simon Sinek: https://youtu.be/2bLR_PbB94A?si=TqpIl1wN3yHd2rya Jeb Blount: https://youtu.be/B_S1ChPBLlM?si=qDKxah9tVK5EZtJo Oren Klaff: https://youtu.be/lAXlPyYSpZs?si=6ySPsHteD4b0CSaC ABOUT PITCH MASTERS Pitch Masters is the podcast where Danny Fontaine speaks to world-class experts in pitching, persuasion, storytelling, sales, creativity, behavioural science and business influence. The aim is simple: to understand how the best in the world win attention, build trust and convince people to act. Subscribe for more conversations with the masters of pitching. #BobKnakal #CommercialRealEstate #PitchMasters

3. 

   3 May 2026

   S2 E09: Gina Balarin, Author, Advisor and TEDx Speaker

   Host Danny Fontaine interviews author Gina Balarin about how mastering language and emotion shapes influence and determines pitch success.

Who has been a guest on Pitch Masters

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Gina Balarin
• Atif Rafiq
• Melody Wilding
• Terry Szuplat
• Lorraine K Lee

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

123,158

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

4.5 / 5

10 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 49 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

45

Social presence

0

YouTube

82

Engagement

51

Contact Pitch Masters

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Pitch Masters