Into love and out again, the silent killer

There are times as I am working on my start up that I am waiting to hear back from people- anxious to keep my phone with me, anxious to close a deal, make a hire, get a new customer, the list goes on and on and the phone doesn't ring.

Sometimes there are super talented people or potential investors who just don’t get back to me- sometimes for weeks. It is always hard for me to wait, to gently nudge but not to stalk people into answering. But often, the “non answer” is enough.

They may be considering my offer, they may like my idea, or me but they are not in love. People in love always call- usually more than you want them to.

This is what I call the “silent killer.” When radio silence goes down, your deal is likely to go with it. But sometimes, by staying calm and being smart, everything goes back on track.

More often than not, I have found that a well timed call and asking the right questions is usually what is going to resuscitate a situation like this, or get the final no you need to move on.

When staring at a blank wall, you get no answers- but when you begin to ask the right questions you often hear concerns (which you can address) or feedback (which you need to take seriously).

People fall in and out of love- with each other, with ideas and with businesses. And I am finding that the process of building these business relationships is the same as any other- I need to be attentive, responsive, empathetic, and I need to let people go when they are not in love.

Into love and out again,
Thus I went and thus I go.
Spare your voice, and hold your pen:
Well and bitterly I know
All the songs were ever sung,
All the words were ever said;
Could it be, when I was young,
Someone dropped me on my head?

------Dorothy Parker

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