---
title: "Elliott's pipeline rules"
description: "What to do when you keep hearing bullshit no's."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-third-door/elliotts-pipeline-rules/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Elliott's pipeline rules

> What to do when you keep hearing bullshit no's.

Alex Banayan's framework, from The Third Door, pp. 187 to 265.

Framework 11 of 11 from [The Third Door](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-third-door/index.md) by Alex Banayan. Category: Offers and pricing.

## The steps

1. **Build a pipeline.** Keep thirty or more things in motion so one no is not the end.
2. **Think bigger.** Aim at a bigger name, as Summit did with Bill Clinton.
3. **Think differently.** Change the offer, such as hosting a fundraiser so the guest has to come.
4. **Make an offer they can't refuse.** Use the yes of one person to unlock the next.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: Step 5: Take the Third Door, pp. 187–265

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-third-door/elliotts-pipeline-rules.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-third-door/elliotts-pipeline-rules-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-third-door/elliotts-pipeline-rules.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-third-door/elliotts-pipeline-rules-dark.png