Thank you for sharing that story. That’s definitely a very useful skill to have as it saves time and hope for better prospects.

I’ve had similar experiences where people seem very interested and set up endless meetings, but nothing concrete ever happens. I’ve started to sometimes get a sense of when a meeting is going nowhere, but personally it’s been difficult to know when I might be being realistic, vs being pessimistic/defeatist. As you put it, I might not be there yet, but will keep working on it.

Yes, I am a founder, and your point about the perception of future investors/stakeholders is very valuable and worth remembering.

Thank you very much for sharing your perspective :)