The Shift
The first test
A mutual connection agrees to make an introduction, but they want to understand your pitch first. You have ninety seconds to make them believe enough to spend their social capital on you.
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Part of this story
The Cold Intro
→Getting in the room is harder than the pitch. Learn to build warm paths to investors without being annoying or desperate.
Part of the quest
Fundraising
→Raising money is a skill, not a personality trait. Learn to pitch, negotiate terms, and build investor relationships while maintaining your vision and sanity. You'll navigate four escalating scenarios — from the cold intro to the no that teaches — practicing the decisions that matter most when the pressure is real and the stakes are personal. This isn't theory. It's practice for the moments that define how this chapter of your life unfolds.
What you'll learn from The Shift
This scenario focuses on The first test — a critical skill inside the broader career domain. You'll face a decision where the instinctive response is often the wrong one. After you make your choice, you'll see exactly what happened in the other person's head and why it mattered. The scenario is part of The Cold Intro, a full interactive story inside the Fundraising quest.
Skills you'll build in Fundraising
More scenarios in this quest
You stare at a list of fifty investors and know exactly zero of them. Cold emails disappear into the void — warm intros are the currency, and your wallet is empty.
The intro email lands and the investor responds within an hour — but they want to meet tomorrow. Your deck is half-finished and your data room is a mess.
You have one shot at a first impression with someone who sees a hundred pitches a month. Walk into that coffee shop knowing exactly what you need them to remember.
Ready to practice The first test?
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