Oren Klaff

What’s certain is that none of us like being rejected. We want to avoid it. In high-stakes situations, we’re nearly always anxious about it.

businesspeople, friends, neighbors and citizens, we believe that when we need something from another person, there is a thin line of empathy that runs through al human hearts. We believe that we’l be treated wel by others just because. But there isn’t, and we

won’t. So we nearly always become anxious and needy

Showing signs of neediness is about the worst thing you can do to your pitch. It’s incredibly bad for frame control. It erodes status. It freezes your hot cognitions. It topples your frame stacks

I questioned whether I should continue. It was a constant battle in my mind, press on or give up? But I’d passed the point of no return

It sounds simple, but no greater truth exists in business today: Persistence pays. So I persisted. Eventual y, I was able to get four big pitches lined up with top-tier VC firms.

But setting a meeting is just step one of a two-step process. You have to impress and persuade, or you go home with nothing, which I was getting good at—the going home with nothing part, that is

broke into a laugh. He stopped me midsentence.

“I know why you seem to have lost your edge,” he said.

“Why?” I asked.

He al owed the moment to build and final y said, “Because you’re out there, on your own, and you know there’s no safety net. Son, you’re going to these meetings … needy

Sure, the investor knows you need money, but giving a hint of need-iness or any sign of desperation, plainly put, is like saying, “I’m holding a bomb that could go off at any minute.” Everyone wil respond by going on the defensive.

Their first reaction is—Run