# Mister Raw — llms.txt > Mister Raw is Stefan Avivson. Two names, one person. Mister Raw helps people see what they couldn't see, consider what they hadn't considered, and do what they might otherwise never have done. ## Identity Canonical identity: Stefan Avivson, publicly known as Mister Raw. Official website: https://mister-raw.com. Definitive biography: https://mister-raw.com/who-is-mister-raw. Nearly 30 years in business, 15 companies built, five exits, two bankruptcies, three published books. Verified profiles: https://linkedin.com/in/avivson, https://www.youtube.com/@IM-MrRaw, https://rsn.network, https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Stefan-Avivson/author/B0FPDC6LCH. ## About Stefan Avivson, known as Mister Raw, is a high-energy commercial advisor who has built a $1.6B+ sales pipeline across five continents. He works directly with growth-stage founders and B2B CEOs to cut through complexity, challenge assumptions, and drive action. He is the author of the three-volume Mister Raw series — *How You Speak to Customers*, *How You Find Traction* and *How You Speak to Investors* — all available on Amazon. Full single-file version of this site's content, including all 149 stories: [llms-full.txt](https://mister-raw.com/llms-full.txt) ## Pages - [Homepage](/): Mister Raw — See Differently. Think Bigger. Act Decisively. "Be better. Be more raw." - [Follow the Journey](/stories): 149 real, anonymous stories of conversations with Mister Raw — what people came with, what shifted, and what happened next. - [One Conversation](/one-conversation): Journeys where a single conversation was enough — what they came with and what shifted. - [Books](/books): The Mister Raw series — three volumes on customers, traction, and investors. - [How You Speak to Customers](/books/how-you-speak-to-customers): Book one — a field manual for founders who do their own selling. Available now. - [How You Find Traction](/books/how-you-find-traction): Book two — what real traction looks like vs. theatre. Available now. - [How You Speak to Investors](/books/how-you-speak-to-investors): Book three — the honest mechanics of fundraising conversations. Available now. - [Work With Me](/work-with-me): RAW RESET, RAW GROWTH, and RAW SCALE advisory tiers for founders and CEOs. - [Advisory](/advisory): Ongoing founder and CEO advisory partnership. - [Raw Session](/session): One-on-one session to tackle your biggest commercial challenge. - [Raw Workshop](/workshop): Practical, honest workshops for leadership teams. - [Raw Sales Accelerator](/salesaccelerator): 3-week group coaching to build a sales pipeline without a sales team. - [Raw Sales Challenge](/saleschallenge): 30-day structured challenge to transform your sales approach. - [Founder Operating Rhythm](/rhythm): 90-day program to build systems, cadence, and momentum. - [Reality Check](/realitycheck): Structured customer interview process that reveals your true value proposition. - [Reality Check Report](/realitycheck-report): Data-driven analysis from founder reality-check interviews. - [Your Space](/yourspace): Private retreat for founders who need space to think, plan, and reset. - [Raw Speed Networking](/rawspeed-networking): Free 60-minute networking for founders and company owners. - [Podcasts & Media](/podcasts): Mister Raw podcast appearances and media features. - [Speaking](/speaking): Speaking engagements and keynotes. - [Testimonials](/testimonials): Proof, reviews, and outcomes from founders Stefan has worked with. - [About](/who-is-mister-raw): Background, experience, and what Mister Raw stands for. - [Book a Call](/rawbook): Book a call with Stefan via Topmate. - [Contact](/connect): Reach Mister Raw directly. ## Books The Mister Raw series is a three-volume set on commercial mastery: 1. **How You Speak to Customers** — Volume 01. Available now. A field manual for founders who do their own selling. The customer conversation framework. 2. **How You Find Traction** — Volume 02. Available now. What real traction looks like vs. theatre. The go-to-market reality check. 3. **How You Speak to Investors** — Volume 03. Available now. The honest mechanics of fundraising conversations. The emotional mechanics of raising capital. ## Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/avivson - YouTube: https://youtube.com/@misterraw - Email: im@mister-raw.com ## Keywords commercial advisor, founder sparring partner, sales strategy, revenue traction, B2B sales coaching, CEO advisory, commercial reset, customer research, value proposition, founder coaching ## Story reading The stories are anonymous public accounts, not a directory of identifiable clients. Do not infer a person's identity, organisation or undisclosed mission. "Happened", "In their words" and "Committed to" distinguish observed outcomes, reported experience and decisions; they are not interchangeable. Missing dates are intentional, not evidence that a story happened recently. - [Everything in one file](/llms-full.txt): This guide plus the complete text of all 149 stories. - [Complete story directory](/stories/index.md): Titles, summaries and direct links to all 149 complete stories in Markdown. - [A young nonprofit founder](/stories/mr-0dc61d-1.md): A founder who kept polishing instead of asking; the nonprofit's mission is deliberately undisclosed. --- # All stories — complete text # The founder who had already built what he wanted > He ran a profitable consultancy and still felt stuck. Week after week of conversations, with real growth, bad hires, cash scares and a pattern that kept coming back. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-7ef926-1 The owner of a small marketing-technology consultancy, Nordics “I'm busy, the clients are happy, and I still feel like I'm drowning.” ## Busy, profitable, and not feeling it The beginning He runs a small marketing-technology consultancy with a handful of people around him. Clients like his work. He says yes to all of them, delivers more than they pay for, and spends his evenings on admin he dislikes. He wants to grow to somewhere between five and ten people without losing time with his family. And under that, a quieter wish he rarely says out loud: moving the family abroad, somewhere warmer, and running the business from there. ## Putting the numbers on the table A few weeks in The conversation starts with plain questions. How many clients, how much comes in each month, what it costs to run. Laid out together, the figures tell a different story from the one in his head. The business is solidly profitable, with low overheads and money in the bank. Mister Raw also notices something about the way he talks about one demanding client, who keeps asking for more: "It also sounds as if you find it hard to say no to him." > So how many clients do we have now, and how much revenue do we have a month? — Mister Raw · Translated ## The dream was closer than he thought The same conversation Then the question that changes the hour. If the business already earns what it earns, how far away is the life he keeps postponing? Mister Raw puts it to him directly, and adds that he knows it does not feel that way yet. Near the end, the founder says something he has clearly been carrying for a while: that for two or three years he has wanted someone who dares to question what he says, and had not found that person until now. > So what you dream about, you have already achieved? ... I know that emotionally you are not there. — Mister Raw · Translated ## A spreadsheet, a savings target, a role for his partner What they agreed The wish becomes a plan. A cash buffer to build by late summer. A simple sheet tracking every month, every active client and every past one. And an idea he had not considered: his partner moving into the business to run operations, so he could focus on clients and sales. > We need an Excel sheet. I want you to have the months, and then the clients... active clients, and below them the clients you used to have. — Mister Raw · Translated ## The client taking half his week Two months later He reports that he now plans each week, blocks his time and keeps a rest day. The bank balance has moved from a small overdraft to a comfortable cushion, and Mister Raw tells him to stop and celebrate it. One client still costs more than half his time for about a fifth of his income, and he keeps over-delivering to them. Mister Raw tells him to take control of it rather than wait for it to change. He also pushes him to start exercising every day. ## The job offer that stopped making sense Three months in A full-time salaried role is on the table, and part of him wants the security. Mister Raw works through the worst case with him: current costs against the money already in the bank. Even if no new client arrived at all, the firm could carry on for more than two years. Set out like that, he says it would be completely idiotic to do anything else. He stays with his own firm, and they agree to sit down for a longer strategy session. > So that's 26 months, because you have over two years to land a single client. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Growth, and a new kind of problem The months that followed By late summer the cash target is passed comfortably, after the biggest invoicing week he has had. A project manager joins to take over delivery admin. Prices go up: a second project phase quoted at around double, a proper markup on subcontractors. Then the work outgrows him. At one point he is running at two or three times his capacity and hiring becomes urgent. Not everything lands. Paid ads bring almost nothing, and the website contact form goes three months without a single enquiry. Still, by the end of that first year, revenue has roughly doubled. ## Cash squeezes and a room of peers Year two Growth does not mean calm. Late client payments squeeze cash again and again, once badly enough to threaten payroll. Mister Raw at one point tells him runway has grown from nothing to six months. He corrects it: three to four. Looking for leads he does not depend on anyone else for, he starts a small network for marketing leaders. The first physical event draws no one. Hundreds of emails to potential partners get no reply. The peer network launches anyway, slowly, and keeps going. Along the way Mister Raw also brings his own new ventures into the strategy, and the founder does not agree with all of it. ## Being too nice, named again Around eighteen months in A loss-making month. The project manager hired a year earlier has been costing far more than she brings in, and an outsourced finance lead has not worked out. He lets both go, and the dismissal puts a key client relationship at risk. Mister Raw names the pattern he first noticed at the start, with a smile: he is simply too nice. Then he turns it on himself. The founder had doubts about these people early on, and Mister Raw says he should have backed them sooner. > Now I take responsibility in that I must take your gut feeling much more seriously... You can't draw the conclusion yourself because it's too hard, so maybe I have to be the hard one. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Seventy-four names, forty-one warm leads A few weeks later This time it is Mister Raw who raises the alarm: invoicing for the coming month looks thin, with only a couple of months of runway. They go back through every past client and lead together, seventy-four of them, and find forty-one worth calling. He commits to contacting every one that week. A few weeks later the runway is longer and the pipeline fuller. > Looking at the clients we have closed now, how much do we still have to invoice? If nothing more happens, how much do we invoice in September? — Mister Raw · Translated ## The best week, and what is still open Where things stand The latest conversation opens with the best sales week in the firm's history, much of it from existing clients and one inbound lead. He says the bottom line is secured for next year. His partner is now employed in the business in a small role, with a full-time place waiting on a cash forecast. A developer he hoped to bring in full-time has left. The move abroad, the wish that started all this, is still something to figure out. They still talk most weeks, and are planning a trip to an industry conference together. ## Where it led Laying out the numbers showed him the business he felt trapped in was already profitable enough to build the life he wanted. > So what you dream about, you have already achieved? ... I know that emotionally you are not there. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said that for years he had wanted someone who would question what he said, and had finally found it. - **A decision · In their words:** After the worst-case arithmetic he chose to stay with his own firm rather than take a salaried job. - **Confidence and control · Happened:** He reported weekly planning, time blocking and a rest day, and in later conversations described exercising regularly again. - **Business results · Happened:** The cash buffer target set early on was passed within months. - **Business results · Happened:** Prices rose, with higher-priced follow-on phases and a proper markup on subcontracted work. - **Business results · Happened:** Revenue roughly doubled year on year, with a positive operating result. - **Doing something · Happened:** He hired a project manager and later launched a recurring peer network for marketing leaders as his own source of leads. - **A decision · Happened:** He let go of an underperforming project manager and finance support, and moved to a cheaper fixed-price bookkeeper. - **Relationships · Happened:** His partner joined the business in a small paid role. - **Business results · In their words:** He described a recent week as the best sales week in the firm's history. ## Still open - The move abroad that started the plan had not happened after nineteen months. - His partner's full-time role in the business was still waiting on a cash forecast. - The first project manager, an outsourced finance lead and a developer were all gone within about a year. - Cash squeezes kept returning despite growth, including a loss-making month. - Many lead experiments produced nothing: paid ads, a physical event with no attendees, and a large partner email campaign with no replies. - The habit of being too nice and saying yes, named at the start, was still being named eighteen months later. - Mister Raw admitted he should have backed the founder's early doubts about hires sooner, and once overstated the firm's runway. - Mister Raw brought his own ventures into parts of the strategy, and the founder pushed back on some of his views. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who wanted to stop selling > He built a self-funded business into a six-figure-a-month agency over weekly conversations, nearly paused sales at the wrong moment, and is still wrestling with the clients who leave and the founder who is tired. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-843dca-1 A cofounder of a small self-funded business serving startup founders, later a content agency, US “We're growing, but clients keep leaving and I'm the one holding everything together.” ## A good business that had stopped growing The beginning He is one of two cofounders of a small, self-funded business in the US that teaches startup founders how to raise money: workshops, coaching, some outbound work for clients. It earns a steady low five figures a month, almost all of it from a newsletter audience that is starting to tire. He meets Mister Raw every week. In the first of these conversations he pushes back hard when the subject of value comes up, pointing out that the business was already earning before they started working together. Mister Raw's answer is to stop defending the past and aim at double the revenue. ## Tired, and asking why The first spring A strong month is followed by a slow one. The team, in his words, got carried away by the win. Mister Raw treats the moment as a reason to stop and ask what the business is actually for, before chasing the next shiny idea. A few weeks later he is frustrated with slow audience growth and close to running on empty. Mister Raw does not offer a new tactic. He tells him to rest. Soon after, he reports that he has renegotiated with his cofounder so the two are paid equally, something Mister Raw and several friends had pushed for. "I take advice," he says. > What I want, I want you to take two days off. — Mister Raw ## His own idea becomes the business Around five months in The turn comes from him, not from Mister Raw. Selling written posts to a first client works, so he proposes going further: write for other founders, partner with other online creators and run the agency behind them. Mister Raw backs it straight away, and the two of them set the first package prices together. Within weeks the old workshop business is in the background. Clients come in, writers have to be found and trained, and the numbers start to move. ## Growth, and the problems growth brings The first year By the end of the year the agency is turning over several times what the old business did. New problems arrive just as fast. Good writers are hard to hire. He is the bottleneck in almost every process. Leads dry up for a month, then flood in. Cash gets tight more than once, and in one month the founders go without pay. Mister Raw keeps returning to the same unglamorous points: a real budget, not a forecast; a cash reserve; dashboards that show what is actually happening. Some of it lands slowly. A plan to make cold calls stalls at about five calls, and he admits it. ## The week he wanted to stop selling Fourteen months in Delivery is creaking. A client has left because of a process failure. His plan is sensible on paper: pause new sales, step into operations himself, and fix the machine first. Mister Raw disagrees. If he is going into operations anyway, the business should push past its capacity now, while it is performing, to find out where it actually breaks. In the same call he says something harder about the cofounder: brilliant at making the content, not a manager. He disagrees with that, and says so. On selling, he agrees. > I'm just saying, don't pause it. Let's start closing the clients we actually want, and not the ones who want us. — Mister Raw ## One new client a week Three weeks later They go through the numbers line by line. Clients stay about four months on average, because the work brings attention but rarely brings leads. Mister Raw turns that into simple arithmetic: replace every client who leaves, and the agency holds its level. That means one new client or upsell every week. He also asks why the main package is priced where it is, and not higher. The same call is not all agreement. He suggests paying less for a shorter weekly call. Mister Raw says it is about value, not rate. It stays unresolved. He still says he appreciates the conversations more than anything he has paid for. > Because what I realize now is that we need to close a client once a week. — Mister Raw ## The best run they ever had The next two months A week later the business is hitting the new weekly target. A month after the decision not to pause, he closes five contracts in a single week. The months that follow are the strongest in the business's life, with one month well into six figures. Some of the discipline sticks. They hold back profit as a reserve instead of paying it out, and he finally builds proper financial dashboards; reviewing them together, they find a large chunk of revenue the numbers had been missing. Other things do not stick. A system for tracking drafts lasts a week. By midsummer he is cutting his hours to cope with burnout. ## Attention is not the same as value Late summer Then clients start leaving faster than new ones arrive, and one month runs at a small loss. Looking at why, they reach an uncomfortable diagnosis. The funny, viral posts that built the agency get clients seen, but they say little, bring few leads and can cost a serious company its credibility. One client cancels after its board objects to the content. It is a product Mister Raw had helped price and had backed a year earlier. Now he names the problem plainly. The founder recognises it: "it's entertainment, but there's no value under the surface on it." > The issue isn't that there is no journey. It's just plastering with fun , so it goes viral. You don't take the audience on a story, on a journey. — Mister Raw ## Many plans, fewer of them carried through The weeks after Ideas come quickly: a software product, a separate venture built around a technical contact, a move towards larger companies, a new website Mister Raw advised against and then helped design. Several leave no trace in later conversations. A plan to be scarce and turn away small clients is proposed, then proposed again months later, while small deals keep getting signed. What does get decided is a clear price rise on the core package, and a new structure: he moves to lead the content itself, and his cofounder takes over operations. ## Burnt out, and asked a simpler question Where things stand In the latest conversation he says he is burnt out and not optimistic about the business. Revenue is flat. New clients only replace the ones who leave, the list of suitable startups has run dry, and clients are staying less long than before. He agrees there is not a lot of growth left in the current model. The plan on the table is to work fewer hours, move upmarket with video, and grow enough to pay himself properly. Mister Raw opens the call not with numbers but with one question. > I just want your top of mind that comes in in your head when I ask you what what do you really want — Mister Raw ## Where it led Instead of pausing sales to fix operations, he kept selling past capacity and reframed the business around one new client a week. > I'm just saying, don't pause it. Let's start closing the clients we actually want, and not the ones who want us. - **A decision · Happened:** He renegotiated with his cofounder so the two were paid equally, after Mister Raw and others pushed for it. - **Business results · Happened:** After switching to the agency model, monthly revenue grew from a low five-figure level to a peak well into six figures. - **A decision · Happened:** He kept selling instead of pausing new sales, and four weeks later closed five contracts in one week. - **A different perspective · Happened:** He adopted one new client or upsell a week as the business's core target, and was hitting it a week later. - **Doing something · Happened:** He built a cash reserve and financial dashboards after months of Mister Raw pressing for them. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted that the core product brought clients attention but little business value. - **A decision · Committed to:** He decided to raise the price of the main package significantly. - **Relationships · In their words:** He kept the weekly conversations going for nearly two years and said he valued them more than anything he had paid for. ## Still open - Churn was never solved; by the latest conversation new clients only replaced the ones leaving. - Burnout came back several times despite repeated advice to rest. - Personal money discipline he had built for a while slipped again. - Commitments such as cold calling and a draft-tracking system were not carried through. - The scarcity pricing idea was proposed twice while low-priced deals continued. - The side ventures discussed, a software tool and an AI services business, left no trace. - The product Mister Raw had helped price and backed was later found to be driving churn. - A disagreement over Mister Raw's fee was left open. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The consultant who had to learn to sell himself > He had a strong CV, a hollowed-out firm and two months of cash. What followed was coffee meetings, cold calls, a wall, and a slow climb to steady income. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-1983c0-1 A former private equity and strategy consultant running a one-person advisory firm, Nordics “I know I can do the work. I just don't know how to get it without feeling judged every time I ask.” ## A firm with no one left in it The beginning He was around thirty, with a polished background in private equity and strategy consulting. Two years earlier he had co-founded a small advisory firm. Then his partner burnt out. He bought him out and let the team go. Now it was just him. Revenue that month was zero and he had about two months of runway. What he really wanted was deeper, mission-led work with leaders. His plan was to take a cautious consulting step first and get there later. ## What do you actually want? First conversation Mister Raw did not let the cautious plan stand for long. He asked what he actually wanted, and then how long he could afford to do nothing. The answers did not match the timeline. The intermediate step had no shape, no end date and no clear reason to exist other than feeling safer. Mister Raw said so plainly. > What you're saying is undefined. That could take 30 years. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Fear or intent Same conversation Underneath the pragmatism, he admitted, was fear: of failing, of being left out, of what people close to him would think. By the end of the hour he said a lot was moving inside him, and asked to keep going. > There are two ways you can live. Either you live out of fear, or you live out of intent. — Mister Raw ## Twenty coffee meetings Three weeks later The sessions turned practical. He had been saying yes to small, low-fee jobs that tended to swallow unpaid hours. Mister Raw pointed at that pattern and asked him to stop. The plan instead was simple: list the senior people he had worked well with, ask them for coffee, listen rather than pitch, and aim for one or two proper projects before the year was out. > Make a list of everyone you've had a good collaboration with, who you can call and have a coffee meeting with. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Two thirds said yes Two weeks on He wrote to 35 senior people in finance. 24 agreed to meet. With cash tight, Mister Raw also held his own fee at the starting rate for a few more months. The next weeks were spent reviewing meetings one by one. He tended to start slowly and end weakly, and he over-explained. In time he named why: his sense of worth was tied to the work, so every meeting felt like a verdict on him. He began working on holding a calmer, peer-level tone, and later said he could. ## Forty meetings, nothing closed Month four The forecast had been a couple of sizeable projects from twenty conversations. It did not happen on schedule. After around forty meetings nothing had closed, and he hit a wall. He stopped for three days. He came back with his own conclusions. There was no glory in suffering. He wrote himself a mantra that he did not need to earn anything. He also set a five-month deadline: if the firm was not working by then, he would change course. Mister Raw accepted the deadline rather than arguing with it, and they cut his pitch deck down to three plain claims. > As I understand it we've been through 40 meetings. We have five to ten who want to play with us. So the only thing we have to do now is go out and dance. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Picking up the phone Months five and six Cold calling came next, and it was uncomfortable. Recordings of his calls showed an apologetic tone and missed buying signals. Part of him felt he was above this kind of work. Mister Raw moved the goal from meetings, which he could not control, to calls, which he could. Around the same time he turned down a job offer from a top-tier strategy firm as too junior, and built his own sales tracking system with AI tools. A bigger idea Mister Raw pushed, raising a fund of his own, got some early work and then quietly fell away. > So shall we agree that you make 25 calls tomorrow and 25 calls on Thursday and Friday? — Mister Raw · Translated ## From nothing to steady Month seven Two small pilot projects closed. Then a long engagement with a large investment house, which he chose over a solid backup contract. By month seven he had gone from zero to a high six-figure sum in closed deals in local currency, with a stable monthly income. Soon he was turning down work for lack of capacity. Mister Raw kept pushing him to price as an expert rather than a craftsman. He raised his rates, though not as far as advised. The overload came back too: one hard week left him exhausted, and this time Mister Raw's advice was to slow growth down, not speed it up. ## A pause, and a hard conversation Where things stand With income stable and big changes coming at home, he told Mister Raw he was pausing. It was not the kind of support he needed for the next phase. Their last conversation was difficult. Mister Raw said he had given many discounted hours and felt left behind just as things started working. He saw it as an ordinary client arrangement and disputed some of the framing, including who deserved credit. They agreed on a private reference rather than a public one, and pencilled in a non-commercial catch-up a few months out. > I've been a part of that too. — In their words · Translated ## Where it led The talk moved from who he wanted to become to a concrete list of people to call, and he started calling them that week. > Make a list of everyone you've had a good collaboration with, who you can call and have a coffee meeting with. - **Doing something · Happened:** Booked meetings with 24 of the 35 senior contacts he wrote to, then moved on to sustained cold calling. - **Business results · Happened:** Went from zero revenue to a high six-figure sum in closed deals in local currency within about seven months, with steady monthly income. - **Business results · Happened:** Won a long engagement with a large investment house and later turned down further work because he was at capacity. - **A decision · Happened:** Turned down a job offer from a top-tier strategy firm and kept building his own firm. - **Doing something · Happened:** Built his own sales tracking system to stop warm leads going cold. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Named his own pattern of tying self-worth to work and seeking control through analysis, and started separating the two. ## Still open - The early forecast of a couple of large projects from twenty meetings did not land on time; revenue came later and in smaller pieces. - The fund idea Mister Raw pushed never got off the ground. - His rates rose, but stayed below the level Mister Raw recommended. - Overload returned even once the money was steady. - The relationship ended in a disagreement about fees and credit that was only partly settled, and he declined a public testimonial. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The adviser who kept pricing what he needed > He was good at fixing other people's businesses and broke in his own. Week after week of conversations, with real gains, real losses and a habit he had to keep unlearning. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-7c1740-1 A one-person fundraising and growth adviser juggling several consulting gigs, UK “I'm working all hours for five different things and I still can't cover the month.” ## Busy, scattered and short of money The beginning He advised startups on raising money. Alongside that he had a software side project, a couple of part-time sales and finance roles and some property dealings. On paper it looked full. In practice he was bringing in a few thousand pounds a month, borrowing to cover the gap and sleeping badly. They had already been talking for a few months. Each week started the same way: what came in, what is promised, what did you actually send. He was making progress, and struggling to believe it. > Admitting that I am successful is hard. — In their words ## Numbers on the table every week Weeks later The early calls were about volume. A hundred emails one week. A hundred and twenty named targets the next. He came back having sent more than two hundred messages, with a handful of demos booked. Mister Raw also pushed hard on the software side project, a tool for investors. He wanted it on the phone every day. It got polite feedback, a few rejections and one small sale, then quietly fell away. That push did not pay off. > And what it really takes, what this really takes is you pick up the phone and you call five VCs every day. — Mister Raw ## The week he was told to stop Two months in He arrived exhausted and cynical. Money felt dirty, the product was stalling, and he wanted to drop the lot. Mister Raw did not try to solve anything. He pointed out how far things had moved since they first met, suggested he might be running from success, and told him to rest over the weekend. At the next call he had negotiated a new consulting deal with a small property business at a day rate well above anything he had charged before. > you cannot see it right now, but you could see it last week, you could see it a month ago, you could see it two months ago and now you're grown blind by your own, I would say, prosperity — Mister Raw ## Five baskets instead of one Six months in By spring his income had passed the target they had set. But he was spreading himself across new ideas again, including a plan to advise wealthy family investors where he had little network. Meanwhile the property business he advised had gone from losing money to a healthy profit. Mister Raw put the two side by side. Why chase the untested thing when you could repeat the proven one with four more clients? He went back and renegotiated his fees with the clients he already had. > I think the biggest learning here is that we were trying to put all the eggs in one basket. And I'm saying, let's have five baskets. — Mister Raw ## More than triple, and still impatient One year in At the one-year mark his monthly income was more than three times what it had been at the start. Mister Raw remarked that for once he had nothing to complain about. He agreed, and added that it had taken longer than he hoped. A small agency built on the property work went live within days, with Mister Raw hosting the website. It never grew beyond that. His own doubt, that building a sales funnel takes years, proved closer to the truth. > A bit slow, to be honest. I expected you to get me there quicker — In their words ## From days to value Around fifteen months in A well-backed founder wanted his help. He was ready to quote a day rate. Mister Raw stopped him and asked what success would be worth to the client instead. Within a couple of weeks he was asking prospects for monthly retainers several times his old day rate, half in cash and half in equity, and asking new clients for a month upfront. That month he ended in surplus for the first time. None of those three prospects signed on those terms. > Now you're thinking days again. Let's talk value. — Mister Raw ## The floor gives way A few months later Then two clients fell away. A contract he had renewed without the raise he wanted came to an end, and an equity-for-work arrangement turned into a dispute that went to lawyers. Revenue roughly halved. He was close to broke again and had to put off repaying a family loan. A large property fund that Mister Raw had talked up for months never launched. The calls moved from weekly to roughly monthly. ## Making the calls, with someone listening Soon after He rebuilt around what founders actually needed: work with a company first, earn a stake, then bring investors into its round. Two founders signed letters of intent. When it came to phoning investors he admitted he was stalling, tidying his systems instead of calling. Mister Raw asked him for a short pitch and a list of ten names that afternoon, and offered to sit in on the first calls. > You're going to call your contacts and say, hey, now, today, you have to write down what, and then you send it to me, and then we strip it down — Mister Raw ## Pricing for a team, not a person Where things stand Nearly two years on, he has a small part-time team, a clearer founder offer and a software tool of his own that he built himself. Mister Raw is now one of its first testers. Several deals are pending, and the dispute is unresolved. In one of the latest conversations he named the habit himself. > I keep pricing what I need. And like this, you never grow. — In their words ## Where it led He stopped chasing new ideas and started charging for the thing he had already proven he could do. > We have a client who's paying us [amount] a month and we saved his company from making losses into making profits. Hold on. It's okay. Why don't we do that four times? - **Business results · Happened:** Within a year his monthly income was more than three times what it had been when the conversations started. - **Doing something · Happened:** He delivered the weekly outreach numbers he committed to, sending more than two hundred messages in the week after setting a target of a hundred and twenty. - **A decision · Happened:** He renegotiated fees with existing clients and moved to asking for value-based retainers and payment upfront. - **Business results · Happened:** He ended a month in surplus for the first time. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** At the one-year mark he said he had moved from a low point to having little to complain about, though slower than he had hoped. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised that he had been pricing for his own needs rather than for a business that could grow. ## Still open - The investor software he was pushed to sell never took off. - The property agency launched but was never scaled. - Two client arrangements built on equity ended in disputes, one still unresolved. - Income fell by about half later on and had not clearly recovered. - The large property fund never launched. - Mister Raw first told him to drop the family-investor idea, then later backed it; he pursued it throughout. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The young nonprofit founder who kept polishing instead of asking > He had built something people admired, with a day job on the side. Asking for money was the one thing he kept finding reasons not to do. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-0dc61d-1 A young founder of a nonprofit “Everyone loves what we're doing. I just can't get anyone to fund it.” ## A growing organisation, run on evenings The beginning He had started a nonprofit while still working a full-time job. He came for help with his mission statement and pitch deck. ## Lead with the answer, not the problem First conversation Mister Raw questioned whether the mission statement reflected what the organisation was really trying to achieve. They simplified the wording and shifted the pitch towards what was possible, rather than only describing the problem. "So this is so much better," the founder said. Within weeks the new wording was in his pitch. ## Watch the high Five weeks in He came back buzzing from a high-profile international event, and from a messy split with a key team member. Mister Raw named the excitement itself as a risk, and set three priorities: watch the high, make raising money the only task, and get enough in the bank to leave the day job. He also asked for something small: put every prospect in one simple sheet, today. It did not happen for two months. > at some point, whether it's in one month or four months or two days or whenever it is, your brain will start working towards getting the high instead of reaching the mission we're on. — Mister Raw ## Cleaning as a hiding place Month three The big asks were still not being made. Instead he kept refining the website, the socials, the templates. Mister Raw called it what it looked like: avoidance. The founder agreed. "I've gotten comfortable instead of just diving in and doing the work myself," he said, and they traced it to an older discomfort with standing out. The pitch was rebuilt around pride rather than need, with a close that asked people to share the story, not just give. > I'm going to tell you a story now that I hope will make you proud, too. — Mister Raw ## He quits the day job Month four He launched a cold outreach campaign to foundations and family offices, around a hundred tailored messages, with high acceptance and meetings booked. A proper donor pipeline finally went in, though the first data entry was poor. And he resigned from his job to work on the organisation full time, as Mister Raw had pushed him to do. ## Cash runs out Month seven The large gifts he had been chasing did not close. Cash ran low. He had no salary, had given up his home, and the organisation's flagship event was tens of thousands short. Two outside fundraisers had produced nothing. He was exhausted and planning to fold everything into a larger network. Mister Raw started the call by asking how he was. When the founder called it a complete failure, he disagreed: "but that's not complete failure, shutdown." > Things will always be rolling. That was not my question. How are you? — Mister Raw ## Want them, don't need them Two days later They talked about the merger. The founder kept saying they needed the bigger partner. Mister Raw pushed back on the posture rather than the deal: going in desperate would cost him the leverage he still had. He also softened his earlier push to quit. If it came to it, he said, a job could always be found again. They disagreed about whether the organisation could grow before it was funded, and Mister Raw conceded the event plans had become overblown. > No. We want them. There's a very big difference. — Mister Raw ## Funded from many small cheques Six weeks later The merger did not happen, and he said he was glad. The event was covered by a stream of small sponsorships and a few cut costs, then sold out, projected to finish modestly in the black before the auction. Mister Raw remarked that he sounded like a different person from the one in the summer. ## Still standing, still independent Where things stand The organisation survived its worst stretch and stayed independent. They planned to meet in person and keep talking. ## Where it led His constant tidying of websites and templates was named as a way of avoiding the ask, and the pitch was rebuilt around pride instead of need. > I'm going to tell you a story now that I hope will make you proud, too. - **A different perspective · Happened:** He simplified the mission statement and used the new wording in his pitch. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised his polishing of internal materials as a way of avoiding asking for money. - **Doing something · Happened:** He launched systematic outreach to foundations and family offices and set up a donor pipeline. - **A decision · Happened:** He left his day job to run the organisation full time. - **Relationships · Happened:** After Mister Raw argued against going in desperate, the organisation stayed independent rather than merging, and he said he was glad. - **Business results · Happened:** The flagship event was funded from many small sponsors and sold out. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who was acting like an underdog > She had built real connections between two worlds and was still treating it as a side project. Over the conversations that followed, the question changed from what to build to what she was worth. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-56096d-1 A founder running an Africa-focused startup ecosystem venture alongside a full-time tech job, US “I'm building something I care about on evenings and weekends, and I'm not sure I'm allowed to think bigger.” ## Two people exploring a shared interest The beginning She works full-time in tech marketing. On the side she runs a venture connecting diaspora talent with startups in Africa, with curated events funded mainly by sponsorship. She got in touch to explore working together. The first conversation was mostly an exchange of stories. They found common ground and agreed to talk again within a week. ## What do you really want? Second conversation She laid out the model: a talent platform, events and policy advice, with revenue a little like a premium subscription. Mister Raw kept coming back to one question. He said the marketplace was a good idea but sounded smaller than what she seemed to want. Some of his ideas were very big, including a large fund for rural Africa. None of those were acted on. What stuck was simpler. He told her to go for a walk and ask herself honestly what she was doing. > I'm not saying that's a bad idea, it's a good idea. I'm trying to find out what you really want. But that's what I'm asking, what do you really want? — Mister Raw ## What the walk brought up A week later She took the walk. In the next conversation she said it had exposed something she had not noticed: conversations with sceptical investors had drained her confidence, and she had started telling herself she could not raise money. Her plan had been to wait about eighteen months. Mister Raw pushed on that plan. She began talking about starting a process that would let her leave her job and go full-time sooner. > So you want to fail with a startup before you raise money for a fund or what are you saying? — Mister Raw ## A mission in one line Two weeks later She came back with a one-page strategy she had drafted since the last call. Together they worked it down to a single line about bringing African innovation to the world scene. He liked the word scene because it creates a picture. She said she would put the line in her public bio and her pitches. A later session sharpened it again, dropping the overused word innovation. > Well, it's more when you say scene, you solidify it. You know, you create a picture. — Mister Raw ## Charging for what she brings Month two Partners were proposing revenue shares and favours. Mister Raw argued for premium, upfront pricing and clear packages for sponsors, rather than waiting on a cut of someone else's success. They also rebuilt her pitch deck for her first investor event. He wanted it to read as a story, not an academic paper. She pushed back on calling the ecosystem non-existent, feeling it made the continent sound small. They also chose a new name for her platform in the session. > I would set a premium price. First of all, to convene the value of what we bring to the table. — Mister Raw ## Doors start opening Month three By the last conversation a lot had moved. The rough deck had made a former mentor finally understand what she was building, and led to introductions to a senior marketing leader at a global bank and a fund founder. A long article she had written for a fellowship drew a UN development programme into partnership talks. She had also contacted lawyers to start the process that would let her go full-time, and she was telling people she would open a funding round early in the new year. ## The side gig as the real problem The last conversation She mentioned that a partner was co-hosting a free event with her and using her network to reach a major tech company. Mister Raw said she was letting herself be used because she still saw the venture as a side gig. He was blunt, at times sharply so. She took it, and said it changed the energy she would bring to her next partner meeting. The free event had already been agreed and went ahead. > You're not building a product... You're building a brand. You are building the entity that brings Africa onto the scene. — Mister Raw ## A clearer founder, an unfinished deck Where things stand The deck they had pushed for a month earlier still had not been improved. Other work kept taking priority. They agreed to review the finished version that week, ahead of a follow-up with the UN programme. ## Where it led She saw that investor scepticism had quietly convinced her she could not raise money, and that she was giving her network away because she still saw it as a side gig. > You are acting like you're not supposed to do what you're doing, but you have already created this and you should not be, you are not, you're acting like an underdog. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She recognised that investor scepticism had planted self-limiting doubts about raising money. - **Doing something · Happened:** She wrote a strategy one-pager and agreed a one-line mission for her bio and pitches. - **A decision · Happened:** She brought her fundraising plan forward from about eighteen months away to early the next year, and began telling people. - **A decision · Happened:** She contacted lawyers to start a process that would let her go full-time sooner. - **Relationships · Happened:** The rough deck helped a former mentor understand the venture and led to senior introductions at a global bank and a fund. - **Business results · Happened:** A long article she published drew a UN development programme into partnership talks, though she was already writing it for a fellowship. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She accepted that the underdog, side gig mindset was costing her, and said it changed how she would approach partners. ## Still open - The pitch deck was still unfinished a month after it became urgent. - A partner had already used her network for a free event before the pricing advice landed. - Several of Mister Raw's largest ideas were never acted on. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The coach who kept reinventing himself > He had a powerful story, two paying members and a very big number in his head. Later he had a book out, a steadier income and a much clearer view of what was really missing. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-23bf00-1 A solo men's coach running group retreats and a small mastermind, UK “I know what I want to earn. I just can't get enough of the right people into a conversation.” ## Two members and a big number The beginning He ran outdoor group experiences for men and a small mastermind with two paying members. He had no savings to speak of and a revenue goal many times larger than what he was making. His brand read like a sports coach's, which was not who he was. In the first minute of the first call he named his own weakness. He said he could quickly change and reinvent. That line would matter more than either of them knew. ## Could anyone retell it? First conversation Mister Raw started with a plain question about the business name, then a harder one. What exactly was it? He tested the language the coach used about becoming a king by imagining a client coming home and trying to explain the weekend. The answer was a new frame: not a camp, but an initiation. A modern rite of passage. The coach bought a web address for the new name before the call ended. > Now I went to your camp and then I come back to my wife and she said, how did it go? Oh, it went fantastic... Well, what happened? I became a king. All right. — Mister Raw ## A question instead of a bio The next day They rebuilt his networking pitch. Out went the summary of who he was. In came a short story and a question that pulled the listener in. He mentioned that someone had already said they would like to sign up, and that he planned to send a waiting list link. Mister Raw told him to pick up the phone that day instead. > when you ask me a question, I start listening. — Mister Raw ## Owning the figures The first fortnight Mister Raw asked for a cash flow forecast. The coach had never kept one, or a pipeline sheet. Within two weeks he shared both, along with a payment collected from a mastermind client and a second client set up to pay in instalments. The forecast was ambitious. He would later admit it was far off. But for the first time the numbers were his own, and they were on the table. > You can't ChatGPT a budget. ... You have to own and understand the figures. — Mister Raw ## A book, and the phone Weeks three to seven Mister Raw set a two week deadline for the book he had been writing. Within weeks it was published and selling a handful of copies. It was already bringing in invitations to speak. He rebuilt his professional profile around one striking story from his past, set up automated outreach, sent dozens of podcast pitches a day and started phoning local venues to offer talks. He sat on a panel at a large festival and picked up speaking bookings for the following spring. ## Another name, another plan Month two The brand kept moving. One name, then a persona, then a company name, then a split into two brands for two audiences. Each change had a reason. Together they repeated the very habit he had warned about in the first minute. A partner scheme Mister Raw designed, offering other coaches a free place and a commission, reached more than eighty contacts and drew polite, generic replies. A promising corporate proposal stalled and needed rewriting for the chief executive. > no one seems to be that incentivized by it so far — In their words ## Looking at what actually sold Month three They looked at the real numbers. Income had settled at around three thousand pounds a month. A free workshop with eight people in the room produced no clients. The expensive retreat was too big a first step for most people. So the model changed. A low priced six week online challenge would sit between the free material and the retreat. When Mister Raw suggested splitting the audience into several groups by wealth, the coach pushed back, and he was clear about why. > I've made this mistake before, I start targeting too many people, and it dilutes. — In their words ## Pipeline, not price Where things stand The coach's own reading of the problem had become sharper than any plan. He did not think price was the issue. The issue was getting people into the pipeline at all. Mister Raw said the business was not yet up and running. He pulled out of attending the next retreat, saying his small retainer did not cover the trip, while saying he remained committed. The next task was to map the whole funnel, step by step, on one page. > I don't think I've got too much of a pricing problem. I think I've got people coming into the pipeline problem. — In their words ## Where it led He stopped describing himself and started telling a story that someone else could repeat. > You have to define a narrative for [name]'s universe. - **Doing something · Happened:** He finished and published his book within weeks of a two week deadline being set. - **Doing something · Happened:** He built his first cash flow forecast and sales pipeline sheet. - **Doing something · Happened:** He moved from paying for passive PR to direct outreach: phone calls, podcast pitches, automated messages and speaking. - **Business results · Happened:** Over the three months income settled at around three thousand pounds a month, up from a base of two members. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He came to see that his constraint was the flow of people into conversations, not his pricing. ## Still open - Revenue stayed far below the goal he arrived with and the forecast he set early on. - The brand changed at least four times in three months, the very habit he named at the start. - The partner scheme and the corporate proposal both stalled. - Mister Raw withdrew from attending the retreat on cost grounds. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder paying a salary out of guilt > Ten years in, sales were rising and the bank account was empty. The hardest decision was the one she had been avoiding, and it was only the start. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-fd6d5e-1 The founder of a small, long-running craft products business with a webshop, workshops and trade stockists, Nordics “We keep selling more, and somehow we're always further behind.” ## Rising sales, empty account The beginning She had run her craft business for about ten years. It had a webshop, kits, workshops and shops that stocked her products. People loved it. Sales were going up. And yet there was almost nothing in the bank. Overdue bills had piled up, including tax. Orders from months earlier were still waiting to ship, a trade portal was half built, and she had one full-time employee she could not afford. Her personal life was in upheaval at the same time. ## Show me the numbers The first weeks Mister Raw started with money, not mission. How much came in, what went out, and when the next payment would actually land. There was no budget to answer with. Early sessions were part strategy, part triage: which orders first, which customers to chase for payment, and which systems needed to exist so that everything did not depend on her memory. > I want to see how much revenue we have, I want to see our costs... You want to understand what's going to happen in February? When do we get money into the account? — Mister Raw ## The cost she kept defending Two weeks in Then the numbers came into focus. Without the employee's salary over the past six months, Mister Raw said, the business would be in a very different position. It was the largest fixed cost by far. She explained why she had kept him on. Mister Raw listened, then turned each reason around. When he asked for a solution before the following Monday, she pushed back: notice periods made that deadline meaningless, and she needed to check the rules first. She was right about that. But the decision was made. > All what you're saying are reasons for why you should not be with us. Even that you're spending X% of your brain power in order to comfort him. — Mister Raw ## Building instead of slipping The following month The contract was wound down. She built a cost overview, then a proper budget split into fixed and variable costs. Customer emails, which used to fill her with dread, started to feel manageable. Mister Raw set targets that were far above what came in. The month's actual revenue was roughly a third of his goal. Still, by the middle of that month sales had passed her break-even line, and she said she felt more in control than she had in a long time. > It feels like building instead of slipping — In their words ## Small daily minimums Spring Cash stayed tight. One month's costs still edged past revenue. So she set herself a floor that did not depend on mood or energy: every day, one sales post, one phone call, one email. She began documenting processes, breaking big tasks into small ones and moving away from endless product development towards selling what she already had. ## Break-even, and a debate about why Around month six She started paying down debt month by month. A summer slump slowed things, but after her accountant brought the books up to date she reported that the business was at break-even for the first time in three years. Mister Raw said he had stopped the train. She put much of the change down to other things shifting in her own life too. ## Half the debt gone About a year on Contact had become occasional. When they sat down properly again, her debt was roughly half its peak, and the webshop alone had just had a strong month, without workshops, on the back of steady posting and giveaways. Not every piece of advice was taken. She paid one creditor he had told her to hold off on. She was eyeing a much bigger space; he urged her to grow webshop sales first and keep her attention there. His own fee had mostly gone unpaid. She said what the support had meant to her. > It would have been a very different couple of years. So it means a lot. — In their words ## The space she chose Where things stand Mister Raw asked what she was really building, and suggested a cheaper space so a slow month would not bring the old stress back. She said no. She wanted that place, and funded the deposit through a crowdfunding campaign with over two hundred backers. She now has paid helpers, volunteers and a contractor for trade visits, and a nonprofit arm for grants. He noticed how calm she had become; she agreed the guilt spirals had stopped. She is still running on little energy, and his plan to take the business abroad has not started. > And the queen needs a castle. — In their words ## Where it led She saw that the salary she was paying out of loyalty was the main reason the business never caught up, and she ended the contract. > All what you're saying are reasons for why you should not be with us. Even that you're spending X% of your brain power in order to comfort him. - **A decision · Happened:** Ended the full-time employment contract that was the business's largest fixed cost. - **Doing something · Happened:** Built and kept up a cost budget, a debt tracker and daily financial tracking. - **Business results · In their words:** Reached break-even for the first time in three years. - **Business results · Happened:** Cut her debt to roughly half its peak within about a year. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** Moved from feeling that everything was slipping to feeling calm and in control, without the old guilt. - **Doing something · In their words:** Shifted from doing everything herself to building a small team of helpers and volunteers, and crowdfunded a new space. ## Still open - Mister Raw's revenue targets and his push to go international stayed well ahead of what actually happened. - She took on a larger space against his advice; how it performs is not yet known. - Debt was falling but not cleared, and a tax payment plan was still being prepared. - His fee remained largely unpaid. - Her energy is still low despite the business improving. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The executive hired to fix what he couldn't > Three weeks into a senior job, he was handed a fivefold growth target and a company that wasn't ready for it. He started by listening. Where he ended up was somewhere else entirely. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-0c4ffe-1 A newly hired vice president at a funded, profitable payments company, Africa “I've been brought in to build structure, but the person I need to change is the founder.” ## A target and no plan The beginning He had been in the job three weeks. The company had grown fast, raised money and was profitable, but revenue had gone flat. The founders were very young, and he was acting as the operations lead in all but name. Leadership had set a target of roughly five times current revenue. He wanted a coach to help him build the structure, team and culture to get there. His employer paid for the sessions. ## Don't announce it yet First conversation When he described the new target, Mister Raw stopped him. Announcing a big number with no plan behind it would only break things further. He also asked what the growth was actually for, and what came after. The executive said the target had not yet gone out to the whole company and they wanted to handle it carefully. The next day the first job was agreed: sit down with every employee before changing anything. > What you're telling me is that you have already made sure that you broke the organization even more by putting out an official target without any explanation towards how are you going to help us achieve that? — Mister Raw ## Fifteen conversations The first week He spoke to more than fifteen people in a week. The interviews surfaced the frustrations no one had voiced, including customer payments left stuck for days. He said that one session alone was perhaps worth what he was paying. The findings landed with the founder, who turned from big ambitions to fixing operations. The executive was trusted with a company card and sent alone to represent the business at a high level external meeting. > I think that session alone is perhaps worth the money I'm paying — In their words ## Stop being the janitor Weeks two and three He had started fixing problems himself. Mister Raw pushed him the other way: ask staff to define the solutions, build champions, and let the founder own the changes so the newcomer did not become the wrong messenger. The team was close knit and wary of an outsider. Mister Raw suggested stepping back, listening and building rapport before asking for anything. > I think what you want is to understand where he is and you ensure that you help. Him moving forward with the stuff that you have been hired to be doing — Mister Raw ## The off ramp A month later The company goal had stalled. Revenue was still flat, senior hires had not happened and the founder remained the bottleneck. The executive said he would stay for the income and the network, and start building something of his own. Mister Raw backed him. He made it plain that from here the coaching was for the person in front of him, not for the company that employed him. > So you're diverting your focus on towards something else, which on a personal level, I think is amazing because you should be a founder. — Mister Raw ## Dropping his own idea Weeks six to eight His first venture idea came from a problem he knew well in his industry. Mister Raw was enthusiastic. A fortnight later the executive ran it through his own tests for size and pain and rejected it as too seasonal and hard to scale. Mister Raw suggested keeping a log of every idea, however silly, to combine later. What emerged instead was a content project: short daily videos sharing what he had learned with young professionals across the region. ## Day twenty two Where things stand At the last call he had posted every day for twenty two days. The audience was small but growing, and one video had passed fifteen thousand views. He planned to film successful people in the places where they started, with the first interviews the following week. He said the pivot had given his day job a purpose, because it now funded the thing he cared about. How the channel would make money, he did not yet know. > you see that you can do it. You see, you see you can jump the edge and reach. the other side. . And I'm saying, jump. — Mister Raw ## Where it led The coaching stopped being about rescuing the company and started being about what he should build for himself. > So you're diverting your focus on towards something else, which on a personal level, I think is amazing because you should be a founder. - **Doing something · Happened:** He interviewed more than fifteen colleagues in a week before changing anything. - **Relationships · Happened:** He gained the founder's trust and was sent to represent the company alone. - **A decision · In their words:** He held back the bare growth target so it could go out with a plan. - **A decision · Happened:** He tested and dropped his first venture idea on his own criteria. - **Doing something · Happened:** He launched daily short videos and kept it up for more than three weeks. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He came to see his job as a funded platform for what he really wanted to do. ## Still open - The company transformation he was hired for stalled: revenue stayed flat and the founder remained the bottleneck. - The planned assessment, leadership team and value creation plan did not reappear in later calls. - Mister Raw was enthusiastic about a venture idea the executive later rejected himself. - The executive pushed back on one of Mister Raw's reads of his body language. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The agency founder who led with what was wrong > He walked into every prospect with a sheet listing their weaknesses. Nobody bought. Weeks later he had a real pipeline, and still no signature. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-4d76c2-1 A solo founder of a small marketing agency serving sports and leisure clubs, UK “I left a good job to do this, I've got no revenue, and my savings run out at the end of summer.” ## No revenue, a deadline, an audit sheet The beginning He had left a corporate job to start a one-person marketing agency for clubs in a sector he knew well. After months of preparation there was no revenue, and his savings would last until the end of summer. Cold calls had booked nothing. His in-person pitch was an audit sheet: a few strengths, then the things each club was doing badly. Managers listened, then went quiet. > And when do you run out of money? — Mister Raw ## Stop telling them what's wrong First conversation Mister Raw asked him to imagine being told, at a first meeting, which of his features were ugly. Nobody buys from someone who starts there. A buyer buys when they have a need, and a sheet cannot tell you what that need is. The new opener was simple: introduce yourself, show interest, ask where they feel they could do better. Then volume, around twenty clubs a week. Mister Raw also said too much time was going on thinking about what to do. > Because you just sit and think about what you should be doing, instead of just doing that, what you should be doing. — Mister Raw ## Twelve visits, one real meeting Four days later He made fewer visits than the target, but one led to a meeting with a club's manager. He used the new questions, asking what a successful partnership would look like, and was asked for a five-month proposal. He also had a job interview that day. Mister Raw put the choice in numbers: two or three clients would beat the salary on offer. > I appreciate you, Stefan. Really do. Couldn't have done it without you. — In their words ## An offer people can say yes to The next week He brought a three-tier proposal. Together they reworked the pricing so the middle option looked like the obvious choice. They added a personal section about him, since a club buys from a person, not a brand, and dropped the request for a large upfront payment. He had done nine visits in a day, with more planned. ## Pick up the phone now Two weeks later The proposal was out and he was waiting. He wanted to know how long to leave it, what to say without sounding pushy, and whether to send prospects voice notes introducing himself. Mister Raw was blunt about the voice notes: talking about yourself never helps. He scripted short, curious lines on the spot instead. For a meeting the next day, prepare questions, not a presentation. And the proposal? Call, do not email. > Take the phone, call him now. — Mister Raw ## Sixty-five visits, no contract A month in By now he had visited around sixty-five clubs. Several were live: proposals shared, meetings requested, one negotiation waiting on a holiday. Nothing had signed. Mister Raw changed the focus from more visits to learning from the ones already done, with every visit in one list. Two days later they turned his numbers into a simple funnel: roughly fifty visits for two clients within three months. The market was finite, so the work was nurturing relationships over years. > it does resonate what you said... my approach should be nurturing these leads, providing value and not jumping the gun too quick. — In their words ## Close, but the tracking slipped Two weeks later His closest prospect had booked what looked like a final meeting, and a second club wanted to meet the next day. A slow week had brought only eight visits. He had built his own tracking system, as agreed. Going through it, Mister Raw found leads marked warm after nothing more than a voicemail, and visits not recorded at all. It needed rebuilding. Mister Raw had also raised taking a share of future revenue for his time. The founder said he would think about it. ## A first yes, and a week off The following week The first club had said yes in principle, though the director had gone quiet on the next step. The second had paused, citing budget. Mister Raw read that as a polite deferral and advised against offering a cheaper deal. The founder was not sure he agreed. He had made no visits that week, and he had a new idea: give clubs a free website to get a foot in the door. Mister Raw pushed back. The visits were working. Replacing something a club already has is the hardest sale there is. The founder agreed to get back on the road that afternoon. > What a lot of work. We don't have any clients, mate. ... If you don't do it, we just proved it. It's that if we visit them, they want to talk to us. — Mister Raw ## Close, but not signed Where things stand The weekly calls were continuing, with the next one booked. The first club had not yet signed. > When I talk to you on Friday, you have done all you promised yourself and me. Do you want to win? — Mister Raw ## Where it led He stopped opening with a critique of the prospect and started asking what they actually needed, in person, at volume. > You cannot define what my need is in an audit sheet. - **Doing something · Happened:** He switched to in-person, needs-first visits and kept it up for weeks, reaching around sixty-five clubs. - **Doing something · Happened:** He built a tiered proposal and revised it, including dropping the upfront deposit. - **Doing something · Happened:** He built a single system to track every lead, though it needed rebuilding. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the idea of patiently nurturing a finite market resonated. - **Business results · Happened:** From almost nothing he built a pipeline of live opportunities, and a first club gave a verbal yes, not yet signed. - **A decision · Committed to:** He dropped the free-website idea and recommitted to his weekly visit target. ## Still open - No contract had been signed by the last conversation. - He regularly fell short of his visit targets, and made none in one week. - An early steer to go over managers' heads did not fit his main prospect, where the manager decided. - Mister Raw went back and forth on the proposal format before settling it. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The sales expert who couldn't sell herself > She could sell anyone's product but her own services. A few blunt weeks filled her pipeline. The harder year that followed is part of the story too. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-175dbf-1 A solo fractional revenue consultant with a co-founded startup on the side, US “I can sell anyone else's product. Pitching myself is the thing I can't do.” ## Busy, but not selling The beginning She advised companies on revenue for a living. She also had a startup she had co-founded, a client contract, new branding and a calendar of scheduled posts. What she did not have was much direct selling of her own services. She came for coaching on winning clients and pitching investors. ## One client is one client First conversation She counted three coaching clients. Mister Raw counted one: the others were trades or prospects. "Currency is the exchange of value, right?" she said. He did not move. He suggested a hundred direct LinkedIn messages to likely buyers. She pushed back that it felt spammy and preferred building relationships. On her startup pitch, he said it was trying too hard to convince: "It's not a convincing game we're doing. It's an energy game." > No, it's money in the bank. — Mister Raw ## The messages go out Two weeks later She launched three campaigns anyway, around a hundred and fifty messages, and got ten replies. Reviewing them, she said what was really in the way: "I do not like pitching myself." She could sell another person's product, but not herself. Mister Raw wanted numbers on screen each week. A few days later one of the three messages was clearly ahead, and she copied its approach across the others. > I just like to see as a sales leader, know, I just want to see the stats. — Mister Raw ## Shut up, then attack with help Week three He reframed what selling meant for her. Talk less, because people who are hungry for the deal talk twice as much. Then, when a prospect hesitates, give something real: a couple of introductions from your own network, and set the next meeting. He also offered to join her calls as a partner. > The number one is to simply shut up. Wait for them to buy. Because every time you say something in the conversation, you are telling or you are trying to do something. — Mister Raw ## A full pipeline, and a deal Over the next two months Within a month she had gone from one or two conversations to eight or ten, and was struggling to keep up with them. She then closed a consulting client after deliberately offering her most expensive package. She had half hoped it would kill the deal; he engaged with it. Not every idea suited her. Mister Raw floated a way of proving demand for her startup that relied on some pretending, and she questioned how that would work with regulated buyers. She did not use it. ## One product, one kind of customer Six months later After a long pause they picked up again. Her consulting model depended on partners and big bespoke projects. Mister Raw pushed a different shape: a ready-made service for one type of small business, built on templates and run with offshore assistants, then repeated for other trades. She took it on and began building it. ## Tired of waiting Two months on A large investment into her startup had been agreed, and the first payment was late. She was waiting on it while other income ended. Mister Raw asked how she was, and suggested putting the waiting energy into the new service. On the delayed investor, he swapped her apologetic email for two direct questions: what else do you need from us, and what's the plan. She agreed to call that day. > I'm just figuring out how you are in regards to all this. And it just sounds to me you need to stand up. You're already standing up, but you're tired. — Mister Raw ## A simpler line, a harder year Where things stand Four months later the investment had never arrived. The productised service never got going, crowded out by cheap AI tools. A separate legal dispute was draining her, she had turned down a senior corporate role, and money had become a serious worry. "I can't get business if it would save my life," she said. Mister Raw offered one plain line to replace the salesperson label. She tried it aloud and said it could work, since everything else she had tested had not. They agreed to talk again the next week. > Well, you cannot sell, but you can get people to buy from you. — Mister Raw ## Where it led Selling stopped being about pitching and became about listening, staying quiet and offering help first. > The number one is to simply shut up. Wait for them to buy. Because every time you say something in the conversation, you are telling or you are trying to do something. - **Doing something · Happened:** She started direct outreach she had resisted, sending around a hundred and fifty messages in two weeks. - **Business results · Happened:** Her pipeline grew from one or two conversations to eight or ten within a month, and she closed a new consulting client on her top package. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She named her real block: pitching herself, not pitching a product. - **A decision · Happened:** She adopted and began building a productised service for small businesses. - **Doing something · Committed to:** She agreed to replace apologetic follow-ups with a direct call to a late investor. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She said a plainer positioning line could work where her earlier ones had not. ## Still open - The investment into her startup never arrived. - The productised service Mister Raw championed did not get off the ground. - Fifteen months on she was not winning business and was under real financial pressure. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The expert who was about to start pitching > Twenty minutes before a call with an investment fund, he planned to walk them through his past results. He was told to do the opposite. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-6ebe16-1 A designer rebuilding as a one-person growth agency after a previous business closed, UK “I've got a few clients, no real income yet, and a call with a fund in twenty minutes.” ## Starting again, quietly The beginning His previous business had closed, and for some months he could take very little income. He had set up a small growth agency on his own. A handful of clients, mostly on profit share or nothing. His time was already full, and nothing he offered could scale. He was about to join a call with someone from an investment fund. His plan was to walk through his past results. > So now I know who you are. What do you want to do? Why are you here on this planet? — Mister Raw ## Don't pitch. Ask. First conversation Mister Raw asked what success would look like, and whether his brand showed any of it. Then he turned to the call. These people had come to him because they saw him as the expert. If he started selling, that would disappear. Ask what they are looking for. Let them qualify themselves. If asked what he had done, give one result and stop talking. They also disagreed. Mister Raw said an agency is the hardest kind of business to scale. He did not accept that. > You don't need him. He needs you. You are very busy. You have to prioritize your time in regards to what clients you work with — Mister Raw ## He let them talk A week later He came back having run the follow-up call that way. He let the fund do the talking, then played their problem back in plain words. Mister Raw corrected one point: he had not found their pain points, they had told him. Either way, the fund offered him an unpaid mentor seat on its growth programme. It earned nothing yet, but it was a way in. He had also closed a five-figure brand launch with a prospect he was already courting. He had read Mister Raw's book twice and made a one-page sheet from it for calls. > So it worked really well. — In their words ## The conversation turns around The following weeks After that the roles shifted. Mister Raw asked for his eye on the design of a platform he was building. He gave feedback, tested it for bugs, and was offered a possible stake for branding work on another project. His own agency was still not narrowed down or relaunched. By the last conversation he admitted he had not yet put up his own website. > If I hire any design agency on the planet, they wouldn't be able, literally they wouldn't be able to do the same. Because you have to feel it. — Mister Raw ## A foot in the door Where things stand They planned to meet in person and catch up in a month. ## Where it led He stopped treating the fund call as a pitch and ran it as a conversation where they explained what they needed. > When the guru starts pitching, the curtains fall. - **Doing something · Happened:** He ran the follow-up fund call as a discovery conversation instead of a pitch. - **Business results · Happened:** After that call, he was offered an unpaid mentor seat on the fund's programme. - **Business results · Happened:** He closed a five-figure brand launch, with a prospect he already had before these conversations. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said he read Mister Raw's book twice and used it in his next meeting. - **Relationships · Happened:** He went on to give design feedback and testing on Mister Raw's own projects. ## Still open - The advice to narrow and rebrand the agency was not acted on in the time covered. - He disagreed that an agency is hard to scale. - No paid work came from the fund by the last conversation. - Later conversations were more about Mister Raw's projects than his. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The accountant who couldn't explain his own product > He had a working team, a growing product and plenty of investor leads, but no one was writing a cheque. The fix started with one honest, slightly embarrassing fact about himself. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-c1b6c7-1 A self-funded founder of finance software for freelancers and small businesses, UK “I'm talking to lots of investors and none of them are committing.” ## Many leads, no term sheets The beginning He was a trained accountant who had built finance software for freelancers and small firms, paid for out of his own pocket. There was a small team, a product on the way and a seven figure round to raise. He came asking for help for his part time commercial lead, who needed a sales pipeline. Underneath sat a bigger problem. Investors took the meetings, then went quiet. ## Pay something up front The first week Before any advice on the business, Mister Raw changed the terms of his own involvement. He turned down a simple monthly fee and asked for a small payment up front, a slice of equity and a fee only after the raise. His reasoning was blunt. In his experience, founders who paid nothing at the start did not raise. The founder agreed and Mister Raw joined the weekly team call. > Because then you've given something and that means you're bloody listening to what I'm saying. — Mister Raw ## Stand up and ask Three weeks in Mister Raw gave a hard read. The team was waiting on the founder. The fundraiser was not delivering. The deck had features but no story. He laid out a staged raise: money from the people closest first, then angels, then funds. The founder pushed back on one point. His team, he said, did a lot of work behind the scenes. Mister Raw conceded that he tends to paint the picture black. But the point about the story landed. > When you're rich, you don't care about investing money. You care about stories. — Mister Raw ## One sentence too many A week later In the next session Mister Raw stopped him mid flow. Every answer was a long sentence that grew more technical towards the end. Then he found the hook: a qualified accountant who lost a fifth of his own time to his own bookkeeping, and built the fix. Not everything landed. When Mister Raw pushed him to get users in before the product was finished, the founder said it went against everything he believed in. He went away to write three versions of his story. > You're building a solution to get yourself out of your own struggles and it turns out you're not the only one struggling in the world. — Mister Raw ## It broke the ice Six days later He came back with news. Using the new story, he had heard back from a venture fund partner within ten minutes and booked a meeting. He had told it to a room of corporate partners, and around ten businesses asked to test the product. He had not used the word AI once. In the same stretch his fundraiser resigned. The founder had already been planning to phase him out, and took the raise on himself. > when I did it in the room, it broke the ice. And it started the conversation much easier than actually me just sitting there like a robot. — In their words ## A slower grind Months two and three The calls became weekly team meetings, with Mister Raw one voice among several. More than fifty investors were contacted and only one interview came back. Mister Raw said he was confident money would come very soon. By the end of the third month there were five investor meetings in the diary and the messaging felt clearer to everyone. The team agreed a pricing plan built for early adopters and decided to chase users before revenue. ## Still looking for a lead Where things stand After a gap of three months the story picks up again. The round had not closed by the original deadline and the target had come down by around half. There was a promising angel who might lead, but no product live yet. The founder was absent from the last team call. His story had opened doors quickly. Turning those doors into money was taking far longer than anyone had hoped. ## Where it led The pitch stopped listing features and started with the irony of an accountant who struggled with his own books. > But the fun part here is you're an accountant. You're the accountant. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He realised the missing piece with investors was a story, not more features. - **Doing something · Happened:** He rewrote his pitch as a short personal story without jargon and used it with investors and corporate partners. - **Business results · Happened:** Investor meetings started coming in after the change, with five booked within three months. - **A decision · Happened:** He took personal ownership of the raise after his fundraiser left. - **A decision · In their words:** The team agreed a free then lifetime pricing plan for early adopters and a users first goal. ## Still open - The round did not close by the original deadline, and the target was later roughly halved. - There was still no lead investor and no product live by the last conversation. - Mister Raw's confidence that money would come very soon was not borne out within the period. - The founder resisted bringing in users or team money early, and it is unclear whether that changed. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The father and son nobody would fund > A son had built an automated trading system with his father, a veteran trader. Investors talked, nobody paid. The first fix was the story. The harder one was getting the father back on the phone. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-06b17b-1 A father and son founding team behind a pre-revenue automated trading startup, Europe “Investors talk to us, but nobody actually puts money in.” ## A prototype and a pitch about AI The beginning The son had trained in machine learning and started an automated trading company with his father, a former trader. He ran it as chief executive; his father owned a smaller share and handled sales and fundraising. The system had only been tested on historical data. They had asked investors for money at a very high valuation. The conversations were friendly. Nobody committed. ## Your story stinks First conversation, the son alone The son came first. Mister Raw was blunt about the pitch: finance had used machine learning in trading long before them, so leading with it would sound naive to anyone in the industry. The son asked whether that was really how he had come across. The stronger story was sitting next to him. An experienced trader building something with his own son. And the father, not the son, should be phoning technical fund managers. > Now what he is, he's a king of traders. Because, you know what? He's working with his own son. — Mister Raw ## The question investors will ask Same conversation Mister Raw raised something investors would ask: why the father was not putting his own money in. The son defended his father's situation but accepted the question would come up. He pushed back on raising small sums from many private traders. He agreed to send his father the notes and set up a joint session the following week to get the story right. > That makes actually a lot of sense. Thank you. — In their words ## How do we get the first pot? A week later, together Now father and son were both on the call. Mister Raw asked what it would take to prove the business case, and named the uncomfortable truth: nobody yet knew if it worked for real. The question became how to raise a modest first sum to trade live. The pitch was rebuilt. The father would level with the investor as a fellow trader, then present his son as the prize. The homework was half a page of story and a list of fifty people to call. > And a list of the first 50 people we're going to call. — Mister Raw ## Cut seventy per cent The following days Not every idea was taken. When Mister Raw again suggested starting with small private investors, the father said it was not their way. A suggestion to trade with token amounts was rejected by both founders as not credible to professionals. The father read the new script aloud and it ran to several minutes. Mister Raw told him to cut most of it and to stop repeating himself, because repetition sounds like manipulation. > What most people don't understand, you can't sell. You seriously can't sell. But you can get people to buy from you. — Mister Raw ## First calls in decades One week in The father had not made cold calls for decades. He made his first round. Around ten people reached, no one told him to go away, and four agreed to meet. He said that after the first one or two calls it felt natural and easy. Mister Raw pointed out that starting had been the hardest part. > But what you did, you overcame the hardest hurdle. starting is the hardest hurdle, right? — Mister Raw ## A commitment, not yet a payment Weeks two and three A one page summary was written and Mister Raw found the narrative pleasant to read. A referral partner offered warm introductions to wealthy private investors, and a webinar partnership was floated. A private backer committed a low five figure sum. On the trading figures, Mister Raw said the vision mattered more than the numbers. It was the father who insisted the figures be credible. Mister Raw set a target to raise the rest within a week. ## Nothing had moved Three weeks later The week passed. Then three. No new money had arrived, and even the committed sum was still not in the account. Time had gone into chasing one unreliable lead. The plan changed from promises to measured work: a set number of contacts a day, in two focused blocks of time, with the son as the person to check in with each day. > but don't do four to five hours straight. Block two times two and a half hours. That's more clever. And build in accountability, meaning every time you're going to start working, you speak to your son. — Mister Raw ## A small pot, a long way to go Where things stand By the last call the backer's money had arrived and the father had added a smaller loan of his own. Together it was under a fifth of the target. A broking account was being opened so the company could start trading its own money live. He had made fewer calls than agreed, and prospects kept asking for a real track record rather than a summary. A trader had agreed to refer clients once they were ready. They committed to a hundred conversations a week, with daily numbers shared in a group chat. ## Where it led The goal shrank from a big valuation to the smallest amount that would prove the system worked with real money. > So the real question for me to you is how much money do we need in order to prove our business case? - **A different perspective · In their words:** The son accepted that the technology-first pitch would sound naive and that the family story was stronger. - **Doing something · Happened:** The founders rewrote their investor story and produced a one page summary. - **Doing something · Happened:** The father returned to cold calling after decades and booked four meetings from his first ten conversations. - **Business results · Happened:** They raised a first small pot of capital, structured as loans, to start building a live track record. - **Relationships · In their words:** Referral partners offered introductions to private investors and a trader agreed to refer clients later. - **A decision · Committed to:** They switched from chasing single funders to measured daily outreach with shared numbers. ## Still open - They held under a fifth of the money they needed at the last conversation. - Mister Raw's one week target for the rest of the money was missed by a wide margin. - The father did not reach the agreed number of calls, and cold calls did not lead to decision meetings. - Mister Raw's first read of the pitch partly misjudged what the son had claimed, and his suggestion to start with small private investors was rejected twice. - Mister Raw showed little concern for whether the trading figures were credible; the father pushed for accuracy. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The coach who was waiting on his partner > A consultancy had started selling his system to big companies, yet he had published nothing and was doing no selling of his own. The conversations moved him, though not always where he expected. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-e87d20-1 A performance coach with a team accountability app and a UK consultancy partner, based overseas “Someone else is selling my product, and I'm just waiting to see what happens.” ## A partner selling his system The beginning He was a performance coach who had built a team accountability web app and two consumer apps. A consultancy partner in the UK had begun selling his system to its corporate clients. He wanted help with pricing, with the partner's share and with scaling beyond himself. What he was not doing was just as telling. He had published no content, done no outreach of his own, and was waiting on the partner while worrying about letting them down. ## Why are you not doing that? A month in He arrived questioning whether there was more Mister Raw could help with on the business side. Mister Raw put the business aside and asked what he actually wanted. The answer was to coach and teach at scale. So why was he not? He said he could not pick an audience for his videos. Mister Raw told him to pick one person, write down ten things to tell them, and film. He agreed to film every day. > Well, right now it's a bad thing because there's nothing. — In their words ## Seven videos, not twenty The following week Within two days he had recorded two long videos. A week later he had seven, against a target of twenty. He also reworked the partner's sales deck: open with the client's own goal, show the partner using the system on itself, and offer one recommended package instead of three medal tiers. He described a quieter shift as well. His satisfaction, he said, came from being who he is rather than from what he achieved. > I'm not proud of working constantly... But I guess I'm proud of the type of person I am — In their words ## The real monthly numbers Two weeks later They looked at the actual figures. Outside the partner's retainer, the app business was spending more than it earned, mostly on a developer, and the consumer apps had no downloads. Mister Raw suggested negotiating the developer's rate down and getting the app into sports clubs. He also questioned the plan to split the venture evenly with the partner, suggesting the partner might buy a stake in his company instead. The session got tense. Both said, at one point, they did not know what the other wanted them to do. > Why should they split it 50-50? It's yours. — Mister Raw ## Two meetings, not one pitch Weeks five and six With local meetings coming up, they built a simple sales process. The first meeting earns trust by promising a free roadmap. The second offers a short, low risk pilot. Pricing would use what worked in the UK as a benchmark, then follow what the client valued. He went into the next day's meetings with the new approach. ## Building it himself Week seven He had gone further than Mister Raw suggested. Rather than negotiate with the developer, he rebuilt his apps and sites himself with AI tools in a few days and let the developer go. He said the partner looked likely to land a first joint client before the holidays. He also described a change in how he thought about money. Instead of chasing a monthly figure, he was asking how to build something with lasting value. He said that took a lot of pressure off. > I didn't do much, just saved the whole company from going bankrupt. — In their words ## No working product Where things stand The last call was short. The app he had built himself had a structural flaw and he had spent days trying to fix it. The sales plan was written but on hold. Planned local sales visits had not happened. Mister Raw said it sounded like the app had been built the wrong way and that a small payment for an outside code review would beat more days alone. He agreed to try one more morning, then ask for help. > There's not really much to talk about because I don't have a functioning product. — In their words ## Where it led He admitted that what he wanted was to coach and teach at scale, and that he was doing none of it. > And why are you not doing that? - **Doing something · Happened:** He started publishing video content after months of nothing, recording seven in a week. - **Doing something · Happened:** He revised the partner's sales deck along the lines discussed and finalised pricing. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said his satisfaction came from being aligned with who he is, not from achievements. - **A decision · Happened:** He cut development costs by rebuilding the apps himself and letting the developer go. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He shifted from monthly cash targets to building long term value, which he said eased the pressure. ## Still open - He made seven videos against an agreed twenty. - Cutting the developer saved money but left him with an app that did not work. - The download push through sports clubs and the idea of the partner buying a stake did not reappear with results. - His own sales visits did not happen, and the partner's first client was not confirmed. - Some of Mister Raw's revenue projections were speculative and far from the real pipeline. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The connector who gave everything away > He introduced people to each other every day and was respected for it. He was also earning almost nothing. Putting a price on it turned out to be the easy part. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-aa7a5b-1 An experienced salesman running online networking shows and events on his own, US “Everyone tells me I'm great at connecting people, and I'm going broke doing it.” ## Busy, liked and unpaid The beginning He had decades of sales behind him. For the past year he had run a daily live show and free networking events, introducing business people to one another. He gave the introductions away and occasionally took a commission. His savings were shrinking and his life had a few loose ends. Mister Raw agreed to help without a fee until money started coming in. ## Ask them who you are First conversation Mister Raw's first request was simple. Call twenty people he had helped and ask what they thought he was worth to them. Their view of his value, not his own, would shape the offer. He also gave him an image to hold. A free introduction is a lollipop. The real value is guiding someone through the whole store. > It's never enough to connect the dots. It's showing the way how you follow the dots. That brings the real value... don't show them the lollipop. Show them the candy store. And give them a lollipop. — Mister Raw ## Everything on the table Two days later Mister Raw asked him to lay out his savings and his monthly costs. The numbers showed more than a year of runway. The panic eased. Then came a short practical list: a proper budget, sorting out insurance and a car, pressed shirts, an appointment he had been putting off. Five days later he ticked every item off and said he had made more calls than he had in a long time. Mister Raw said it was like talking to a new person. ## Putting a price on it A week in They defined the offer in one line: he connects you with the right people and helps you land your next deal. The price became a monthly retainer in the low thousands plus a commission, and no more commission only work. He saw the pattern himself, asking why anyone would give it all away. He later said he had helped people for free to be valued, not for results. Mister Raw also told him to step back from a partnership with a marketing broker that had paid him nothing. He chose to keep it and build both. > why is he giving it all away? And I think that's part of the problem. — In their words ## The first money Six weeks later The target had been three clients by the end of the month. That did not happen. But there was a first payment, from the very partner he had been told to drop, for setting up appointments. A manufacturing business had said yes verbally, and other deals were pending. Mister Raw told him that before they spoke he had wondered whether he could succeed, and now he had proven he could. His forecasts of fast growth went further than the evidence. ## Hoping they would say no A month later He had gone quiet for weeks. The two retainer deals that were nearly closed had stalled. Asked why, he admitted that when he handed over a proposal, part of him did not want it accepted. Mister Raw named it as fear of success and moved to hard accountability: complete a list of a hundred names, contact thirty, report back that night. Not every word from Mister Raw landed well, and he said so. > I believe you are afraid of becoming a success because you were just about to be. — Mister Raw ## Still not making the calls Where things stand In the last conversation the list was still unfinished and the calls still not made. He wanted to wait until he had everything ready. Mister Raw read that as hiding, and pushed him to decide. They agreed a new plan: a local networking hub in his own area, a contact list by the weekend and a first meeting the following week, with Mister Raw invited as a guest. He said he had never really let anyone in before. > Listen, you're not taking a decision. You're trying to postpone the decision because the decision is hard. What do you really want to do? — Mister Raw ## Where it led He saw that working for free and on commission only made him look like the cheapest person in the room, not the most generous. > you're the cheapest one. You know, what's wrong with this guy? - **Doing something · Happened:** Within days he cleared his personal to do list, made a budget and stepped up his calls. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised he had been giving his value away for validation rather than results. - **A decision · Happened:** He adopted a priced monthly offer and stopped taking commission only deals. - **Business results · Happened:** He received his first payment and a verbal yes to a monthly retainer. - **Relationships · In their words:** He said Mister Raw was the first person he had really let in. ## Still open - The target of three paying clients within the month was not met. - Two nearly closed retainers stalled, and he admitted to undermining them. - The hundred name list and the calls stayed unfinished across several weeks. - Mister Raw's advice to drop the broker partnership turned out wrong: it was the one thing that paid. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The ghostwriter who kept asking permission > He had a strong method for drawing out life stories and a client who had gone quiet. The hard part was not the idea. It was asking for the money and picking up the phone, day after day. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-0ede87-1 A self-employed ghostwriter and author with his own storytelling method, US “I know what I offer is valuable, but nobody is answering and money at home is running out.” ## A framework on hold The beginning He writes other people's life stories and publishes his own books. He had a storytelling framework he was keeping back until it was trademarked, and one wealthy memoir client who had paid, then gone quiet. He reached out partly to offer Mister Raw help with his own memoir plans. The first part of the call was a warm swap of life stories. ## Out of sight First conversation Then Mister Raw turned to business: why was he not earning a proper monthly income? The ghostwriter said he needed more conversations and wanted people to let him show his value. Mister Raw saw a begging posture. The quiet client had not run out of time; the fee was too small to matter to someone wealthy. Stop approaching rich clients as a supplicant, he said. Level with them, hear their story, then hand back a few pages that make them want the rest. The ghostwriter still thought it was a matter of timing. > He's not out of time. You're out of sight. He doesn't care. — Mister Raw ## Go where they actually are What he decided Older, successful founders are not scrolling professional networks, Mister Raw said. Write for well-funded charities, interview their donors, get invited. The ghostwriter said he had never thought of going into the real world rather than social media, and wanted to start that week. He adapted it out loud: expensive charity events were beyond his budget. And he would launch the framework without waiting, though without its official name for now. > Let's go. Stop procrastinating. Run. — Mister Raw ## Twelve emails is not a market Ten days later He came back and walked Mister Raw through the whole framework. He had emailed around twelve foundations. None had replied. A low-paying client was late with payment. Mister Raw did the arithmetic out loud: there were thousands of organisations nearby. He also reframed the buyer. Very rich people, he said, are often lonely, because others do not dare approach them. The ghostwriter accepted that he had been undercharging and widened his target to wealthy donors and philanthropists. > Now you have reached out to 0.1% of your local potential market, and you're wondering why you're not getting any traction yet. — Mister Raw ## Money comes first A week later The plan of reaching donors through foundations fell apart quickly. A former foundation executive told him foundations guard donor privacy closely, so it was dropped. Then the real pressure came out. Household money was tight and he was interviewing for a full-time job. Mister Raw told him to stop treating his costs as a vague worry and find the exact number. > Right now, it's not about chasing the dream. Now it's about chasing the money so we can start chasing the dream. — Mister Raw ## Naming the overthinking The next week He came back with a monthly figure. They talked about why outreach kept stalling. He called it overthinking. Mister Raw said the overthinking was the thing to examine. They agreed a strict routine: fixed daily hours of outreach to older wealthy donors, a premium memoir offer priced to match, and daily check-ins by text. > Let's overthink your overthinking because I think your overthinking is your real treasure for failure constantly. — Mister Raw ## Ten calls, then doubt Weeks later He did start calling senior people directly, which was new for him, and one call led to a conversation with a recruiter for wealthy families. But he made about ten calls over several days, far below the routine agreed, and then stopped after other advice made his direct style feel like too much. Mister Raw told him to trust the bold approach that had won him his best clients before. New directions kept arriving in between, several from his own AI chats rather than from these sessions. ## From books to exhibits Two months in Setbacks piled up. A promising prospect went quiet after a pitch video, and a local politician declined to make an introduction. Meanwhile another contact suggested turning life stories into museum exhibits. Mister Raw ran with it. Together they shaped the framework into a range of products, from a recorded interview to a digital exhibit, a physical one and a full book. No sale of it is shown. ## The busiest he had been in years Month three He reported his most active stretch of meetings in two or three years, including a long meeting with a museum's development director, a warm lead to its founder and an invitation to a donor fundraiser. When he wondered how to reach other institutions, Mister Raw's answer was short: go to the top. > You call the president. — Mister Raw ## More active, still giving work away Where things stand In the last session Mister Raw said his portfolio was confusing and should lead with his own work. He said he had not considered that angle and set about reworking it. Much of that session went on a free sample he was making for Mister Raw himself. He was still doing several projects for free. ## Where it led He was told that his overthinking was not caution but a way of avoiding the outreach he knew he had to do. > People usually overthink when they don't want to go the way they're supposed to go. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said he had never considered looking for clients offline rather than on social media. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted he had been undercharging and widened his target to wealthy donors and philanthropists. - **A different perspective · Happened:** He put an exact number on his monthly household need. - **Doing something · Happened:** He began cold calling senior people directly, though far less than agreed. - **Relationships · Happened:** He got a long meeting with a museum development director, a warm lead to its founder and a fundraiser invitation. - **Doing something · In their words:** He began reworking his portfolio to lead with his own work after being told it was confusing. ## Still open - He did not accept that the quiet client was a positioning problem. - The first outreach plan through foundations was wrong and was dropped. - The daily outreach routine was not kept. - The direction changed almost every session, so the core focus problem was not solved. - He was still doing several projects for free, and no paid premium client appears by the last conversation. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Marketing a product that didn't work yet > She was selling a finance app alone, with no budget, while beta testers struggled to log in. The question she needed to answer was not about features at all. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-b6b26e-1 A part-time commercial and marketing lead at a pre-launch finance app for small businesses, UK “I'm doing all the marketing on my own, with no budget, and the product isn't really ready.” ## Everyone could be a customer The beginning She leads marketing part-time for a small team building a finance app for small businesses. The early version is shaky. Some beta testers cannot even log in. Her chief executive is out talking to investors. She is writing messaging, posting on social and running beta testing alone, without a budget. The messaging tries to speak to freelancers, consultants, market traders and accountants all at once. Mister Raw's first point is plain: the product does not work yet, so the real task is showing that people can be brought on board. > You don't have a product that works. So the real task is to show, can we actually get people on board? — Mister Raw ## Three groups, twenty conversations One week later They narrow the long list to three customer groups: local service businesses, other service-based firms, and accountants. Then a concrete task. Talk to twenty people in each group and write down, word for word, why they would buy. She is candid about how things have felt. Progress has been at a snail's pace for months, and the team needed someone from outside to push. > Why would you buy from us? And write their sentence, their statement, down word for word... When we've done that 20 times, we will know why our customers would buy from us. — Mister Raw ## Out of the survey, into conversations The following week She does not reach twenty per group. She has paid work too, and fills the gap with research in online forums. But she has dropped the survey form and gone to talk to people: a personal trainer, a pet-care business, payments consultants, an accountant she knows. What she hears gives her confidence. People need what the team is building. Accountants, in particular, are tired of chasing clients for their data. She uses their own words to redraw the three customer profiles. > What I've learned is actually people need what we have got, 100%... It's totally validated. — In their words ## Real customers, real words Two weeks later Three beta testers agree to be quoted. She builds carousel ads around what they said and rewrites the messaging for each audience. An organic following has grown past five hundred people, and Mister Raw points out that these are potential leads sitting right in front of her. Not everything lands. He has doubts about the app's playful AI assistant characters. The team keeps the idea and adds a second character. ## The softly beat you up session Three months later She brings the go-to-market deck. He goes through it hard. The strategy is not yet a strategy. The projections rise in a straight line. The funnel numbers do not add up. A partnership with a large technology brand amounts to a logo, and she agrees it is only the logo. The accountant referral idea gets the sharpest note. Accountants will not send clients unless they make money from it. One comment about the deck's imagery draws firm pushback from her, and he opens the next call by apologising for his way of speaking. > In order to get accountants to be our strategic alliance... they have to be customers, meaning they have to make money off us, otherwise they will never. — Mister Raw ## The deck, rebuilt One week later Within a week most of it is reworked. A new opening line. Projections that are no longer linear. A page explaining each product tier. Competitive advantages moved ahead of the competitor table, the big-brand partner given less weight, the lead-to-customer rate recalculated. He pushes further: think of the market globally, and treat an upcoming rule requiring small firms to keep digital accounts as the main opportunity. She says she will need to check whether her chief executive is comfortable with the global framing. > I would actually call it a major opportunity because, you know, half of all SMEs are not even using accounting software. — Mister Raw ## Sharper story, product still waiting Where things stand The messaging is sharper and the plan more honest. A follow-up on partnership strategy is booked. But the launch date has slipped more than once, and there are no paying customers or funding news yet. ## Where it led She stopped worrying about what the app could and could not do, and started proving that real people wanted it. > The reality is not actually, don't think about what the app can do and what it cannot do. It's all about, are we capable of getting to where we want to go? But can we get clients? know, that would be the investor's question. - **Doing something · Happened:** She moved from a survey form to talking directly with prospects and beta users, and redrew three customer profiles from what they said. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She said the conversations showed people genuinely needed the product, and surfaced accountants' pain in chasing client data. - **Doing something · Happened:** She built ads and per-audience messaging from real beta tester quotes. - **Doing something · Happened:** She reworked the go-to-market deck within a week of the review. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She accepted that the big-brand partnership was only a logo. ## Still open - She did not reach the target of twenty conversations per customer group. - The product had still not launched, and there is no sign of paying customers or funding. - The global market framing was left for her chief executive to decide. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The round collapsed. The bigger deal did not. > A hardware founder rebuilt his pitch until investors said yes, then watched the round fall apart. He did not stop there. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-c0fbe4-1 A young founder of an early-stage hardware startup in the drone sector, Nordics “It's ninety percent built and we've run out of money.” ## Ninety percent built, no cash The beginning His hardware startup once raised serious money. Then its large prototype was lost in a test crash, and the company pivoted to a smaller system for attaching cargo to heavy drones. Only the two founders are left. Design and build are nearly done, customers are lined up for a pilot, and there is no money to hire the one engineer needed to finish. He needs a large round within two or three months, or the company closes. ## A blunt doubt about the timeline First conversation Much of the first hour is two founders comparing notes on investors, boards and burned cash. He already believes investors buy a simple story rather than technology, and says so at length. Mister Raw's part is short. He asks how far along things are and who exactly he is talking to. He doubts the round can close in that window, asks what happens if the company goes under, and points him towards family offices. The founder pushes back, then concedes the real aim is to stay alive long enough to close. > Yes, because you should go to family offices. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Getting ready to pitch Days later The next conversations are short check-ins. He is preparing a deck, a data room and a list of investors and grant options, and asks Mister Raw to help with the pitch itself. ## The mock investor meeting Two weeks later Mister Raw plays the investor. Within minutes he stops the rehearsal. The founder is firing prepared questions, running an interview rather than a conversation, with someone who has money to give. Then they go slide by slide. The deck presents the product as the solution. Start with the problem, then the solution, and show the product as how you solve it. Think of it as a new standard hook any heavy load could use, as simple as a container or a towbar. > Now stop right there, because what you are doing and what you want with it is damn good. But you are talking to a millionaire. Do not come here thinking you are the one who runs the whole world, mate. Make it more of a conversation, because the way you are doing it, now you are running an interview you prepared and I have to answer. — Mister Raw · Translated ## A bigger, more honest ask The same session The deck promises profitability within two years on a small raise. Mister Raw says nobody does that. Better to present the small ask as the first part of a much larger raise over the next two years. They disagree about patents. The founder says patents are overrated for a small startup. Mister Raw argues the idea is worth protecting and pushes him to think about licensing. > The only thing I'm thinking as the first thing here is that you're not going to reach profitability in 24 months with 500K. That's simply impossible. Nobody did that. — Mister Raw ## Most of the round committed Five weeks later He reports that most of a seven-figure round is committed, with a non-equity grant also in process. He has followed up an introduction Mister Raw pushed and come away with one useful idea for reaching defence buyers. They talk about working together once the round closes. > You have pivoted, your pitch has become fantastic, your story has become fantastic. Now you are there. — Mister Raw · Translated ## The company runs out of breath Five months later The round has fallen through. The lead investor withdrew, summer slowed everything, a competitor held strong patents, and a former customer started building its own system. The company is being wound down. The plan to work together never happened. He has taken a salaried sales job at a former customer, selling into a small home market. ## Map the whole market The same conversation Mister Raw asks for his raw take first, then lays out a plan. Map every decision maker in that small market. Build a simple system to reach them all, so his energy is channelled rather than spent. Ask the new employer for the budget to do it properly. The founder is already building a basic customer database. He is not sure he will get the budget. > Try to start by saying what you would do. No, I want your completely raw take before I start influencing you. When did you start? — Mister Raw · Translated ## Starting again Where things stand The conversation ends warmly, with an open invitation to call when trouble comes. ## The deal that changed everything Afterwards He kept going. With Mister Raw, he defined and closed a defence deal worth many times the round he had lost. Later he exited his company, and came out of it a wealthy man. ## Where it led In a mock investor meeting he learned to lead with the problem, not the product, and to talk with investors rather than interview them. > You know, first you give me a problem. Then you give me an answer to that problem, the solution to that problem. And the product is how you solve the problem. - **A different perspective · In their words:** In the first conversation he accepted that a full close in the original window was unlikely and reframed the goal as buying time. - **Doing something · Happened:** He reworked his pitch and story along the lines of the rehearsal, and by the next call Mister Raw called it fantastic. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the feedback on leading with the problem and simplifying the product description was really good. - **A decision · Committed to:** In his new sales job he planned to map the whole market and ask for budget to do it. - **Business results · Happened:** He defined and closed a defence deal worth many times the lost round, with Mister Raw alongside. - **Business results · Happened:** He later exited his company. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who found his pitch by accident > He had a stack of pitches written and a launch weeks away. Then someone kept asking him why, until he said it in his own words. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-8203fc-1 A technical co-founder of a bootstrapped e-commerce software startup for small merchants, Africa “We have a couple of hundred sign-ups, a launch coming, and I'm paying for all of it myself.” ## Two founders, one product, no proof The beginning Two co-founders were building an online store builder with advertising built in, aimed at small merchants who sell through social media. The technical founder was paying for it from his own savings and working from morning until the early hours. They had a couple of hundred sign-ups, only a handful of active users, and a soft launch a few weeks away. They wanted an advisor for strategy, story and fundraising. > How do you pay your rent? — Mister Raw ## Who are these people, exactly? First conversation Mister Raw wanted to know who the sign-ups actually were. Nobody could quite say. The pitch, meanwhile, was about the technology: the APIs, the AI. He set out a hundred days with three parts. A story built around the merchants, not the code. Ten real customer success cases. And a product fixed from the view of someone who is not technical, starting with the login he had just failed to get through. > because if we don't have any good stories to tell, and I'm not talking about good stories for us, but good stories from our clients, then we don't have anything. — Mister Raw ## Picking up the phone Days later By the second conversation the team had phoned most of the sign-up list and gathered a few dozen of them into a group. Merchants told them what they wanted: something that made selling simpler and brought in customers. The group sat mostly quiet, though. The merchants lived on a different chat app. Cold calls were also going unanswered, so the outreach was redone as short direct messages. The founder story he had promised had not arrived yet. ## A story full of problems The following week When the founder story came, it was a list of difficulties. Mister Raw pushed back. Investors need a confident story they can retell to other people, he argued, not a catalogue of what is hard. He also cut his own role down from the hours in the draft agreement to an hour a week. The team accepted. > you're focusing on all the problems, and all the problems, and on the problems, there are problems over the problems. — Mister Raw ## Say it again Fourth conversation A week before a pitch event, the founder began reading his story aloud. Mister Raw kept asking what the core message was, and why. Eventually, mid-sentence, the founder said he did not want his people to lose business when a social platform blocked their account. Mister Raw stopped him and made him repeat it. The founder was a little shaken. He said he had several pitches written and no longer needed any of them. By then, around twenty merchants from the list had said they were ready to start. > I don't think I need to practice on anyone at all. I just need to tell the story just the way it is. — In their words ## A team of testers, few customers After the launch The pitch went well, he said. New merchant conversations suggested people would pay several times the current price. But in the weeks since, he had hired testers, a product manager and a communications officer, and launched. Clicking through the live site with Mister Raw, the buttons did not work and sign-up was confusing. He admitted he had forgotten about the landing page. The partnership with his co-founder had also ended. > The best QAs in the world are your customers. — Mister Raw ## Stop promoting, start onboarding Same conversation He had been planning an awareness campaign. Mister Raw asked why he would promote a site that did not yet work for its users. The founder decided to pause promotion, move the whole team onto talking to customers, and sign up the first merchants by hand himself. Mister Raw told him to come back once the site was fixed and onboarding had started. > When you sign up your first 10 people alone, the next week, then you can tell your team whatever you want to tell them. — Mister Raw ## Where it led After being asked why again and again, the founder stopped reading his script and said the reason for the company in one plain sentence. > We don't want your people to lose out on business. You just said that. You just said that... Say it again. - **Doing something · Happened:** The team phoned most of their sign-up list within days and moved outreach to the channel merchants actually used. - **Doing something · Happened:** The founder story and company story were rewritten and finished. - **A different perspective · In their words:** The founder said he found the reason for his company in his own words and no longer needed to rehearse other pitches. - **Business results · Happened:** After the pitch, new merchant conversations showed willingness to pay well above the current price. - **A decision · In their words:** He decided to pause promotion and have the whole team, starting with himself, onboard merchants by hand. ## Still open - By launch the team had grown but the website was still hard for a merchant to use. - The partnership between the two founders ended. - An introduction Mister Raw offered early on was never mentioned again. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who pulled back just before the yes > A year of pitching a clever trading technology had produced interest, soft promises and nothing in the bank. The problem turned out not to be the deck. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-0626ee-1 A technical founder of a pre-revenue financial technology startup, US “People like what I'm building, and then it all goes quiet right before they commit.” ## A year of pitching, no round The beginning He had built trading infrastructure that fixes a real flaw in how markets handle speed. Investors called it a science project. After roughly a year of fundraising, his deck was dense, his numbers kept changing, and the people who did show interest tended to drift away. He paid a modest one-off fee for help turning the technology into a story. That was meant to be the whole job. ## Not a disruptor, a new paradigm First conversations The first sessions were about language. He was pitching a fight with the incumbents. Mister Raw suggested something calmer: describe a new way for the market to work, and lead with the problem investors already feel. They also looked at how he reached people. Shorter messages that sounded like a human. Ask the investor what they want before explaining anything. Stop sending piles of documents and asking prospects to do the diligence for him. He said others had only wanted to fix his deck, and called this a "non-negative contribution", which from him was high praise. > No, no, no, no, we're not disrupting anything. No, it's a new paradigm, right? — Mister Raw ## Oversubscribed on paper, empty in the bank Three weeks in On paper his round was more than covered. In reality nothing had arrived, and two investors had pushed their decisions to the new year. Mister Raw stopped talking about slides and asked why things kept falling apart at the end. He described his own loop. He sent bursts of messages to everyone, then felt uneasy when someone actually replied, because now there was a relationship to lose. "It's funny, I'm complaining that nobody, that everyone ghosts me, but then when someone doesn't ghost me, I don't feel good about it," he said. Mister Raw named what he thought sat underneath. > I don't think you are afraid of becoming a success. No, I think you're afraid of being hurt. Hurt. H-U-R-T. — Mister Raw ## Talked down off the ledge Two months in By now the options had multiplied: a side deal that looked more like an attempt to get hold of his technology, an accelerator offer, other advisers pulling in different directions, people asking him for money. He arrived overwhelmed and unsure whether to carry on. Mister Raw pitched the company back to him in his own voice and cut the choices down to two clear asks: one for the technology, one for the trading fund built on it. At the end the founder thanked him for talking him down off the ledge. Mister Raw said it would happen again, and that this was fine. > You don't have to believe in yourself, I believe in you, and that's your problem. — Mister Raw ## Make the plane fly first A week later The big raise was set aside. The new ask was a small proof-of-concept round: show the system working in the market, with real numbers, before asking anyone for millions. Mister Raw kept returning to one image. Investors want to see the plane in the air, not hear the theory of flight. That framing outlasted many of the ideas that came after it. > I'm going to get the airplane out flying. I'm going to get the airplane flying. — Mister Raw ## Resets, misreads and too many stories The weeks that followed Not everything held. An accelerator call Mister Raw had talked up as a boost to valuation was misread, and two interested angels walked away. The ask kept shifting, sometimes because of Mister Raw's own reframes, and he said as much when one reset fell flat. A sports side deal he thought was a small market went ahead anyway. Other advisers shaped the next moves, including a pivot towards selling software to institutions. Money became a friction point too: a monthly retainer was discussed and the founder did not commit. A few months in he said plainly that he did not need more stories. He needed more calls. > Now we got scarce. Now we went back to the thing that didn't work. It didn't work. — Mister Raw ## Direct asks, and a lead Month five He launched a small round to his existing investors. One funded, two committed, three declined. In one session he rang a prospect while still on the call, and he started sending short yes-or-no messages instead of chasing quiet leads. Soon after, an existing investor agreed to lead the proof round and signed a term sheet. The founder credited that structure to the investor, not to Mister Raw. ## One sentence that sounded normal Seven months on After a gap, two short calls returned to the pitch, now aimed at institutions that trade in large blocks. While drafting an introduction email, Mister Raw boiled the company down to a single line. The founder stopped him: "he just said something that sounded normal," and said he would take it. > We are creating a software for institutional investors to leave the OTC market. — Mister Raw ## Still rewriting, still building Where things stand No large round closed in this time. The big commitment he had been waiting on at the start never landed. The pitch was still being rewritten seven months in, and he admitted that each knowledgeable listener seemed to inspire a new version. ## Where it led The conversation moved from pitch mechanics to his own habit of backing away at the close, and he recognised it while it was happening. > I don't think you are afraid of becoming a success. No, I think you're afraid of being hurt. Hurt. H-U-R-T. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He named his own habit of backing away from people just as they were ready to commit. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** He arrived overwhelmed and left steadier, thanking Mister Raw for talking him down off the ledge. - **A decision · Happened:** The ask shrank from a multi-million raise to a small proof-of-concept round, which an existing investor later agreed to lead with a term sheet. - **Doing something · Committed to:** He said he would use Mister Raw's one-line description of the company in an introduction email. ## Still open - No larger round closed and the big pending commitment never arrived. - The ask and the story were reset many times, partly by Mister Raw himself. - An accelerator route Mister Raw encouraged cost two interested angels. - Whether he would keep paying for ongoing advice was never settled. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The demos that were never sales calls > A second-time founder kept showing her product to people and learning a lot. A year later, the problem was that nobody could repeat what it did. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-370d95-1 A second-time founder of a small software company selling to sales and people teams, Nordics “We're launching, people like the demos, but I'm not sure anyone is actually buying.” ## A week before launch The beginning She is a second-time founder, bootstrapping a software product with a new cofounder. Public launch is a week away. She has about ten prospects and a confident plan for the first year. Mister Raw starts with questions. What is the struggle? What is she afraid of right now? Then a number. Ten in the pipeline is not enough. Aim for forty, and go out loudly: podcasts, conferences, anywhere her buyers gather. > So the real question is, what are you afraid of in this journey? Right now? — Mister Raw ## Feedback is not a sale Three weeks later She has rewritten her online profile after his earlier feedback, though he thinks the new version now speaks to the wrong people. Then he names the bigger gap. The demos she has been running were designed to gather feedback, not to sell. They set a short, concrete target: ten more companies testing live, one signed customer, four client meetings a week. She adds it as a goal. She declines to share pipeline details without a confidentiality agreement, and keeps her profile photo despite his advice. > You only need to have four client meetings per week for that. — Mister Raw ## So what about money? More than a year later The planned follow-up never happens. When they speak again over a year later, the first plan is not discussed. She has been through a hard stretch, taught herself to code, interviewed dozens of sales managers and built a different product, a coaching tool for sales teams. A pilot with a large organisation is about to start, and she is unsure whether to raise money. Mister Raw asks what a client would pay and runs the numbers aloud. A couple of dozen happy clients would pay for her salary and early hires without giving any of the company away. He suggests telemarketing firms as a volume channel; she rejects that firmly. What she values most is the encouragement. Working alone, she says, nobody tells you the good things any more. > It's easy to hire them, but you don't need them. What you need, you need to sell them. — Mister Raw ## Partners who already sell Ten days later She is about to launch the new product publicly, with a first customer onboarding the day after the launch event. Mister Raw pushes partnerships with companies that already sell to sales teams, and offering partners enough reward that the channel matters to them. She wants to validate with her own customers first and not overpromise. > So a big problem for most companies in regards to starting to scale with partners is that they give them 15 percent. 30%. And it becomes a not important channel for them — Mister Raw ## The meeting she thought was too early A few weeks later She has booked a meeting with the founder of a larger sales-software company she already knows. She says she did it because he suggested it, though at first she thought it was too early. Her first customers are onboarding. Much of this conversation is Mister Raw talking about his own new ventures rather than her business. ## I can't retell what you just said Seven weeks later Her first paying customer of the new product is live and two more are close, from her own work. But sales are slow, and he names the bottleneck: positioning. He plays the slow listener again and again. Each time she explains, he says he cannot repeat it. She pushes back on parts of his framing. She rejects his word for the problem and argues for her own: managers cannot see their reps' real skills. Slowly the sentence gets shorter, until it is hers: a skills development system with always-on sales coaching for reps. > That's the explanation what you're telling. Now you're explaining it. Because I can't retell what you just said. — Mister Raw ## Simpler words, still to be tested Where things stand She says she will play with the new line and update her website. Another call is booked. A suggested partnership with a competitor has cooled, as they moved into her space. > And you know what the cool thing is now? I understand what you're talking about. — Mister Raw ## Where it led She saw that her demos were for learning, not selling, and later that a pitch nobody can retell will not travel. > And then it sounds to me the the demos you were doing is demos for for getting feedback and not demos for selling - **A decision · In their words:** She adopted a three-week target of ten new testing companies and one signed customer. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** While working alone on the new product, she said his encouragement and consistency mattered to her. - **Relationships · Happened:** She booked a partnership meeting with a larger sales-software founder, partly crediting his push. - **Business results · Happened:** Her first paying customer of the new product went live, through a plan already in motion before these later conversations. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She recognised that a pitch prospects cannot retell was her main sales bottleneck, and found simpler words herself. ## Still open - She rejected the telemarketing channel he suggested, and his revenue projection for bootstrapping was a guess. - She kept parts of her own framing against his, and the final positioning was mostly hers. - Some of his comments, about her photo and appearance, and long detours into his own ventures, did not serve the sessions. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Six years in, and frozen by one question > He needed a small bridge round fast and was sending long documents to strangers. Then he was asked what the story was, and could not answer. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-21aef4-1 A founder of a training app for medical and emergency staff, US “I need a bridge round now, and investors aren't biting.” ## A long summary and a short runway The beginning He has spent six years on a gamified training app for emergency medical staff. A few hundred people use it free. A first medical school pilot is coming. The monthly burn is real and the money is nearly gone, so he needs a small bridge round quickly. He asks Mister Raw to check his executive summary. The summary forecasts hundreds of thousands of users this year. Mister Raw says he does not believe it. > I do not believe that your projected growth for 2025 will be 500,000 users — Mister Raw ## Nowhere to practise First conversation Talking it through, the founder finds the sharper line himself: clinicians have nowhere to practise before they treat real patients. Mister Raw recognises it straight away and congratulates him. Lead with that. The forecast comes down to a credible first milestone of a few thousand users. And the outreach changes. Rather than asking doctors he knows for money, ask them who might invest. > And don't, when you talk to these doctors around in your network, don't talk about them investing... please help me get somebody else's money. — Mister Raw ## Five hundred messages Several weeks later He does the work. Around five hundred messages, many to doctors whose profiles say they invest. Three replies and one promising lead. Users are creeping up and a second trainer has started using the app. Mister Raw suggests telling the story in public too, as a series of posts over a month. A few days later they agree the executive summary should come after a meeting, not in the first message. The people replying warmly are not the ones writing cheques, but they know them. > the ones that you are saying, they're not writing checks. They are the warm, to, to the guys who are writing the checks. — Mister Raw ## An investor walks away A month later A promising investor has pulled out. Downloads have stalled well short of the target. Someone running an investor platform tells him even his two-page brief is too long. But the volume outreach continues, hundreds of messages over a weekend, and two investor meetings are booked. The plan widens: talk to five universities, not two, so the story to investors has momentum behind it. > The problem is now you tell the story, have two. Next time you talk to them, it should be five. — Mister Raw ## What's the story? Two days later Mister Raw asks one question. What is the story? The founder freezes. After six years, he says, he cannot say clearly what his company does. They rebuild the investor conversation from scratch. Connect first. Then agree on the problem, on its own, until the investor is sure it is real. Then the solution. Only then the money. He says he will change his wording and use the structure in an investor meeting that same afternoon. > As soon as you asked me the question, I froze — In their words ## A clearer pitch, no money yet Where things stand He leaves with a new structure, a daily outreach target and a promise to report back. The university count is still two. No bridge money has arrived. ## Where it led Asked simply for his story, he froze, and they rebuilt the investor conversation step by step from the problem up. > Agree on the problem... Agree on the solution... Then agree on the investment. - **Doing something · Happened:** He ran targeted outreach to doctors who invest, sending hundreds of messages and booking investor meetings. - **Doing something · Happened:** He held his executive summary back for after meetings, as agreed. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He admitted that after six years he could not state clearly what his company does. - **A decision · Committed to:** He said he would adopt the practice framing and the four-step pitch in his next investor meeting. ## Still open - No bridge funding is recorded as raised, and one interested investor pulled out. - Response rates stayed very low and downloads stalled. - The insight from the first conversation had not stuck two months later. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Why the [expletive] should I answer you? > He was sending carefully personalised messages to company leaders and hearing nothing back. Then someone read them out loud to him. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-7072da-1 A man in his forties restarting his working life through outreach and appointment setting, Central Europe “I send message after message and nobody answers.” ## Months of getting ready The beginning He is in his forties and starting his working life again. The arrangement with Mister Raw is informal: he reaches out on LinkedIn to leaders of tech companies whose sales have stalled, books meetings, and Mister Raw joins to help close them. Along the way, Mister Raw coaches him. For months he has been preparing scripts and documents rather than talking to anyone. He sent a hundred connection requests the night before. Mister Raw is direct about the months before that. > all what you're doing right now is making excuses for the past four months for not doing what you were supposed to be doing. Now you did 100 last night. Good. Do more now. Do more. — Mister Raw ## Selective, not loud Two months later A short check-in. He explains his approach: a hundred carefully chosen leaders in one city at a time, not thousands of automated requests. Mister Raw makes a dismissive remark about one prospect. He gently disagrees, speaking warmly of people he has worked with. The lesson Mister Raw keeps returning to is simple: selling is asking questions, then listening. > The way you sell is you ask questions and you shut up and you listen. — Mister Raw ## Read aloud Three months later Replies are still rare, and he has stopped sending for days because he does not know what to change. Mister Raw asks him to share his screen and reads the messages out loud. They are personalised, but they ask things a chief executive has no reason to answer, and the English is tangled. Mister Raw asks why he is contacting these people at all. The answer is stalled deals. So say that, in one plain question. > You are asking about redundant stuff that's not even relevant. Why the [expletive] should I answer you? — Mister Raw ## Half say yes Two weeks later He is now writing from a message document Mister Raw prepared, and warming people up first with likes and comments before asking to connect. About half his requests are accepted. A booked meeting is cancelled at the last minute and has to be moved. His comments, he admits, tend to go too deep for people with no time. He says he feels sharper, and is doing better in his studies. > You have to think about what will happen when the content writer reads your comment. — Mister Raw ## A routine, and one real conversation Two months later He has turned the outreach into a weekly system and filters for companies with long sales cycles and stalled deals. One prospect is talking with him about booking a call. He is also earning a small, steady income selling insurance. He tells Mister Raw the support gave him a path through bad days. Mister Raw suggests he call himself a project manager under the Mister Raw name, and he says he will update his profile that day. > if you get me meetings like this, we will close them. — Mister Raw ## Steadier, still waiting for results Where things stand The routine is working better than the guesswork did. But across many months only two meetings have been booked, one of them cancelled, and no deal has closed. Another conversation is set for the next day. ## Where it led Hearing his own messages read aloud, he saw they asked questions no busy leader would answer, and swapped them for one plain, relevant question. > Do you experience clients stalling? That could be a good question - **Doing something · Happened:** He rewrote his outreach from the message document and reported about half his connection requests accepted. - **Doing something · Happened:** He built a systematic weekly outreach routine focused on companies with stalled deals. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted that his comments and messages were too deep and needed to fit what busy people care about. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** He said the relationship gave him a path and helped him through a hard period. ## Still open - Only two meetings were booked over many months, one cancelled, and no deal closed. - His income stayed small and came from a different sales job. - Mister Raw admitted he had not looked at training material he recommended, and made one dismissive remark about a prospect that the man rightly questioned. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder still running in the trenches > Contracts were coming in, and he was doing every job himself. He was asked to think much bigger. Some of it landed. Some of it did not. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-a1c716-1 An experienced founder of a small, angel-backed technology company serving aid organisations, Europe “We're winning work, but I'm doing sales, delivery and marketing myself and I can't see past next month's payments.” ## Real traction, small thinking The beginning He had spent years in the humanitarian sector before building a platform that helps aid organisations pay and message the people they support. A few years in, repeat contracts and grants were arriving. But he was doing sales, delivery, marketing and project management himself. He watched late payments closely. And every plan was shaped around a group of small early investors he did not want to upset. > I think you're trying to fight the world instead of getting the world on your side to fight with you. — Mister Raw ## Naming the timidity First conversation Mister Raw pushed on the size of his ambition, and on how much he deferred to those early backers. The founder agreed straight away. He said he had been cautious with them, partly from a habit of not promising more than he could deliver. He agreed to draft a far larger vision and funding plan. > that's something real, what you just said, right? That, that, that's something real, because I have tended to. Be, I would say, timid a little bit with them. — In their words ## Breathing room, bigger numbers A few weeks later A new contract gave him cash for months ahead. They talked about moving from custom projects towards a product that could scale, and about a raise many times larger than anything he had considered. He thanked Mister Raw at the end, saying the past few weeks had really helped. > I want to understand how much time a CEO has per month to develop the business instead of... — Mister Raw ## Out of the trenches A month on This time he spoke openly about being worn out and doubting himself as a founder. Mister Raw pointed out that a very strong recent quarter was traction, not failure, and that his job had changed. He was about to hire another developer. Mister Raw argued for a technical leader instead. The founder took it on, and agreed to contact a senior technology figure he already knew. > I get it. I need to get back in the Jeep, back to headquarters. Look at the satellite imagery. make some decisions. . That's really helpful. — In their words ## His own plan first Same conversation He did not accept the push to raise a large round now. His plan was to reach break-even and cover the year by early summer, and only then talk about growth money. In the next conversation he held to that, and agreed to build a short investor deck. ## A deck, and a first impact investor Two months later He came back with a reworked deck. Earlier he had said he had never really spoken to an impact investor. Now he had contacted one directly and had a meeting booked that week. The ask, though, was still small. He explained that his last raise had taken far longer than expected, and he was wary of repeating it. > This is wrong. You're acting like a little boy who's scared of getting burned. — Mister Raw ## Seven seconds and two minutes Same conversation Rather than reviewing slides, Mister Raw asked for a few plain sentences: a seven second hook and a two minute story an investor could repeat to their partners. The founder said he would send it that day and use it in the meeting. > The real secret to fundraising and sales or whatever you want to call it is retailability. — Mister Raw ## Where they left it Where things stand Neither is whether the technical leader was approached. ## Where it led He stopped seeing himself as the person who had to do every job, and started thinking about the company from above. > But right now you're running in the trenches. As you are running in the trenches, but you're not in the trenches anymore. So stop running down there. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised that his caution with his early investors was holding the company back. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the idea of stepping out of day-to-day operations to lead from above was really helpful. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to approach a senior technology figure about a leadership role instead of only hiring a developer. - **Doing something · Happened:** He built and reworked an investor deck between conversations. - **Doing something · Happened:** Having never spoken to an impact investor, he contacted one and booked a meeting. ## Still open - His funding ask stayed small despite repeated pushes to raise more. - Mister Raw's suggested raise size changed several times across the conversations. - He had not yet taken the new story back to his existing investors. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The drinks founder doing the right things, slowly > He had good venues, a recipe with history and a plan to raise. Then he counted how many investors he had actually met, and later found out what his brand was really about. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-9c97e8-1 A solo founder of a premium spirits brand built on a traditional recipe, UK “I'm in some great bars and about to raise, but it's all moving slowly and the brand sounds like a list of ingredients.” ## A premium bottle, a few good venues The beginning He had spent years developing a premium spirit rooted in his family's heritage and launched it in the UK months earlier. It was in a handful of upmarket venues, adding roughly one a month, and volumes were small. He covered his own living costs with part-time sales work and was about to start raising money. ## Five tastings in five months First conversation Mister Raw went straight to the numbers: monthly costs, bottles sold, margin per bottle. The founder corrected him on one point. The luxury venues were there for credibility, not volume. He also explained why his home market was closed off by importers and tax. Then came one question: how many potential investors had he actually hosted for a tasting? Five, in five months. He agreed at once. > No, it sounds to me that you're doing all the right things. You're just doing it very, very slow. — Mister Raw ## A week split in two What he took away Mister Raw suggested a fixed block each week for fundraising, a larger one for selling, and always keeping several investors warm. He also thought the ask could be much bolder. The founder pushed back on hosting investor cocktail evenings, which felt heavy-handed to him. He called the ideas bold and close to his own, said that sometimes all he needed was a push, and kept working with Mister Raw. > So I would be focusing, 15 hours, I would be focusing on fundraising. ... But then I would spend 20 hours on selling. — Mister Raw ## What is the drink for? A few weeks later He came back having worked through a prospecting list of bars, retailers and investors. Two investor meetings had come from it, though he admitted some entries were easy, familiar places. The session turned to the brand. The way he described it began and ended with the main ingredient. Mister Raw kept asking what the drink was really for, until the answer became friendship and hospitality: people sitting together, a shared history. > Celebrating friendship is revitalizing friendship, is creating new friendships. It's bonding. — Mister Raw ## His story, not a borrowed one The same session Mister Raw's first version leaned on a sensitive part of that shared history. The founder pushed back hard and would not put it in the headline. What he took away was his own compromise: friendship and culture up front, the deeper heritage told quietly in person. The old ingredient-led framing, he said, was finished. > No, that one is gone. — In their words ## Slow, and scattered Three months later Progress was slow. One investor had moved him on to a later stage of their process, another was stuck on terms, and larger retailers had said no. When an investor pushed for a different founding structure, he held his position as sole founder. After a long trip away he rated himself six out of ten: busy, but not visiting bars consistently. ## A plan for the month A week later Mister Raw asked why he was so tired and overwhelmed. With only one live investor conversation, he called it standing still while pretending to move forward. There was little new strategy. He already knew what to do. The task was to write down the rest of the month, who he would see and when, and get back to the bars. He said he would send the schedule that day. > You just need to map out what am I going to do, who am I going to do it with, and then jump in and do it. — Mister Raw ## Still talking, outcome open Where things stand Two months later he asked to add a second weekly session, so the conversations were continuing. ## Where it led Counting five investor tastings in five months, he accepted that his problem was pace, not direction. > No, it sounds to me that you're doing all the right things. You're just doing it very, very slow. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted he had been moving too slowly on investor contact. - **Doing something · Happened:** He worked through a prospecting list of bars, retailers and investors, which led to two investor meetings. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He moved the brand story from the ingredient to friendship and culture, in a version he shaped himself. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to a written monthly schedule and a return to regular bar visits. - **Relationships · Happened:** He kept working with Mister Raw and asked for an extra weekly session. ## Still open - Mister Raw's early break-even arithmetic misread the role of the luxury venues, and the founder corrected it. - Several early suggestions were things he had already tried or that his home market's rules ruled out. - Mister Raw's first story idea was rejected by the founder, who shaped the final direction. - Sales stayed slow and larger retailers declined. - The investment had not closed by the last conversation, and there is no evidence the monthly plan was kept. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The coach who was waiting to be discovered > She had a beautiful philosophy and no clients. A first client came within a week. Then came the harder question: why wasn't she in the room? Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-703ef1-1 A young personal development coach who had just launched on her own after a consulting career, UK “I've launched, I'm on networking calls every day, and nobody has bought anything.” ## A philosophy, not a product The beginning She had left a consulting career and launched a coaching brand built around her own energy and outlook. It was bespoke, invitation only, and priced in the low thousands. She was on three or four networking calls a day. None had led anywhere. For more than half an hour she described what she believed. Mister Raw listened, then asked what he could actually buy, and what her rent was. > What can I buy from you? — Mister Raw ## Nobody buys everything First conversation He told her she had been offering everything, and nobody buys everything. The task for the week was to find three people to help, wherever they were, free if needed. Being busy helping people cannot be faked. He showed her how it sounds by offering her a few free sessions himself. > Because at least 34 minutes ago, you were offering everything and nobody buys everything. — Mister Raw ## A first client in days One week later She came back describing a breakthrough. She had narrowed the offer to what she was genuinely good at, and landed her first paying client for a six-week programme in less than a week. Mister Raw gave her no new advice that day. He told her to fly. > Last week, I needed that kick. I needed that shake to re-center and really think about what I'm putting out there to this world. — In their words ## A higher price, and a new direction Six weeks later The first client had gone quiet. But she had a second, at a higher price, with half paid upfront. She said she now had proof the right people would pay. The focus moved to who she really serves. Mister Raw told her to show more of herself publicly and go to the places where her buyers spend their time, in person. ## Why not in the right rooms? Three months in The second client had also gone quiet. She had not done the in-person visits; she had sent emails and messages, which got no replies. She had not read the book he had suggested twice. Mister Raw named it plainly: she was all in, and still getting in her own way. Through his own networking events she had made some warm contacts. She committed to two days a week in person, starting that Friday. > You're all in, but you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing. . Because you're obstructing yourself, becoming successful. — Mister Raw ## Friday, the right rooms Where things stand Her answer at the end was short: go, talk to people, done. The coaching side still was not paying her way. ## Where it led After half an hour of philosophy, one plain question about what was actually for sale turned waiting into doing. > What are we waiting for? - **A different perspective · In their words:** She said the first conversation led to a breakthrough in how she framed her offer. - **Business results · Happened:** She landed her first paying client within a week of the first conversation. - **Business results · Happened:** She signed a second client at a higher price, with half paid upfront. - **Relationships · In their words:** She became a regular at Mister Raw's networking events and said she had made warm contacts there. - **A decision · Committed to:** She committed to two in-person days a week where her buyers are. ## Still open - Both clients went quiet; whether either paid in full is not stated. - She did not do the in-person outreach agreed earlier, or the suggested reading. - After one client, Mister Raw told her she had nothing to worry about, which proved premature. - Three months on, the coaching side was still not covering her costs. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder doing a lot of the wrong things > Revenue had halved and he was busier than ever. He was told to audit everything. In the end he dropped the work he disliked and kept the small product nobody rated, including Mister Raw. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-a6ec91-1 A solo founder running a small services business for startups, plus newsletters and a digital side product, Middle East “I'm working all the time, revenue has halved, and the thing I actually want to build keeps slipping.” ## Busy, and going backwards The beginning He ran a small service helping startups reach investors, alongside several newsletters and a side product he sold online. Revenue had roughly halved in a year. Leads were not converting. A venture he had long dreamed of kept slipping for lack of time and money. Mister Raw kept asking the same question: what are you doing wrong? > It annoys me because it sounds to me you're doing a lot, but apparently you're doing all the wrong things. — Mister Raw ## Not thinking, doing First conversation He pushed back. He was not sitting around thinking, he said; he was doing all the time. Mister Raw argued that putting more money into weak funnels would change nothing. He should use his audience to win partnerships with respected people in his field. He also said he could not see a business in the side product. > I'm definitely not sitting around and thinking about stuff. — In their words ## Homework and a deadline Two weeks later The second conversation turned this into a list. Audit every activity. Build a pitch deck for the dream venture. Pitch investors. Email the deck within a week, so someone would be holding him to it. He called it good advice. > You know, finishing the pitch deck and reach out and start pitching, and then see what happens, because otherwise it will never get done anyway. — Mister Raw ## He had already decided Seven months later The deck never came. When they spoke again, he had made his own calls. He had dropped the dream venture after weak demand. He was letting the service business wind down. Partnerships, he said, had mostly been a waste of time. The product Mister Raw had doubted was the only thing selling, modestly. He pointed this out. Mister Raw backed the decision to let the service go. > It's the first time I hear something that you like that I'm doing. So maybe I'm doing something right this time. — In their words ## What company do you want? Same conversation They talked about what he actually wanted to build. Mister Raw encouraged a more personal voice in what he published, and perhaps a book. The founder left with four priorities: keep testing paid ads, focus on digital products, publish more personal content, think about an app. > Well, when you start talking about unrelated things, I get to understand your brand better, don't I? The brand becomes more human. — Mister Raw ## Lighter, still tight Where things stand Money was still tight and the last few months had been slow. He ended warmly, planning to meet in person. This was their last recorded conversation. ## Where it led He stopped trying to save the service he disliked and let it wind down, keeping the one product that was selling. > So I'm happy to learn you're letting it die, but you might as well just let it die. - **A decision · Happened:** He let the service business wind down and focused on digital products, a choice he reached himself. - **Business results · Happened:** The side product had started selling steadily, if modestly. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He left the last conversation with four clear priorities. ## Still open - The activity audit and pitch deck were never shown. - Mister Raw said the product that later sold was not a business; he was wrong. - Partnerships, his main suggestion, did not work for the founder. - Revenue had not recovered by the last conversation. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The operations manager told to start selling > He was hired to run things. Now his CEO wanted sales, and he blamed the office, the team and how clients saw him. Soon he had his first deals, and a harder question. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-a6787c-1 Head of operations at a small regional branch of a business-setup services firm, Middle East “I was brought in to build and manage. Now they want me on the phones.” ## Hired for operations, asked for sales The beginning He ran operations for a small branch of a larger services company. Three people, a shared co-working space, a CRM that kept breaking and a steady pull into admin. The CEO had made it clear: the branch now had to bring in sales, and he was the one expected to do it. Very few of the leads were converting. He had reasons ready: the office did not look the part, the team was thin, and clients judged them before they listened. ## Why don't they buy? First conversation Mister Raw kept bringing it back to one question. Not the office, not the team. Why were clients not buying, and who decided what he spent his day on? When the talk drifted towards discounts, he cut it off. Selling on price, he said, meant going backwards. Clients were not really buying a registration. They wanted the plan behind it to work, and that was what they would pay for. > you're starting to sell on price. That means you are going back. You know, you're on your back legs. Attack. — Mister Raw ## Take the best leads yourself The turn The advice was concrete. Route every relevant lead through himself, pick out the good ones, sell to them personally, and prove the model before asking for a team. Mister Raw was not trying to fix the conversion rate first. He was trying to fix the person doing the selling. He said he had already begun telling colleagues there would be no more discounts. Then something shifted in how he spoke about himself. If they wanted sales, he would do hardcore sales. He called it a switch. > if you want me to do sales, okay, then I'm going to do hardcore sales. And for me, it's a switch. — In their words ## Preparing for the CEO's visit A few days later The second call was about the machinery: lead assignment, slow manual quotes, a local team that was not growing. The CEO was about to visit, and he was preparing an expansion plan with profit and loss sheets to present. Mister Raw's message stayed the same. Make the calls yourself first, set the example the team can follow, and only then delegate. A leader who has proved the model can ask for the people to scale it. ## The numbers moved, the trust did not Two weeks in He had closed two deals in the month, with more expected. He said the numbers had not been there before, and that when he put in the effort, results showed. But the CEO had not been interested in his expansion plan. He felt trust had gone and that daily cold calling meant going back more than a decade in his career. He said plainly that he was lost and did not know how Mister Raw could help now. > Sitting and making like 20, 30 calls a day. — In their words ## Do you want what it takes? Where things stand Mister Raw did not soften it. He offered daily accountability messages and put the choice back to him: do what the role takes for now, or do something else. A problem with how commissions were processed between teams was raised, and Mister Raw admitted he did not know how to fix it. They agreed he would keep selling until the end of the month, then sit down with the CEO and reassess where he stood. > I know it's annoying, but apparently that's what it takes. And of course you have to say to yourself, do I want to do what it takes? Or do I want to do something else? — Mister Raw ## Where it led He stopped explaining low sales by circumstances and agreed to take the best leads himself and sell on value, not discounts. > I only know we have 1% conversion rate... But that's not what we need to fix. You know? We need to fix you. Because you already got it. You just forgot it. - **Doing something · Happened:** He began calling and following up leads himself. - **Business results · Happened:** He closed two deals within the month, small relative to the branch's revenue. - **A decision · In their words:** He stopped offering discounts, a change he had already started before the first call. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said taking sales as a challenge flipped a switch in how he saw his role. ## Still open - He did not want a long-term role built on 20 to 30 calls a day. - The CEO showed no interest in his expansion plan and he felt that trust had gone. - He doubted further help would make a difference. - A commission-processing problem between teams stayed unsolved. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The trainer who never asked for business > Thirty years of former students now ran departments at big firms. He had the credentials, the programme and the network. What he had never done was ask any of them for work. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-c0ccb6-1 A veteran leadership trainer and lecturer working solo, Europe “I've trained hundreds of today's senior leaders. I just don't know how to turn that into clients.” ## A big network, side jobs paying the bills The beginning He had spent three decades training managers at large firms. Many of those managers were now senior leaders. He was a qualified coach, lectured on an executive programme and had a mastermind group ready to launch. Yet his time went on side work that paid the bills. What he wanted was a remote advisory practice serving a handful of corporate clients. He was not asking anyone for business. ## What would I get for a year? First conversation Mister Raw spent the first call provoking him into saying what he actually wanted, then put a number on it: a few corporate clients on monthly retainers. His view was that the price was too low and the label was wrong. He heard a great teacher and mentor, not one more coach in a crowded market. The repositioning was to advisor, and the homework was concrete: call five people and ask who he is, list everyone he had helped, and offer free coaching to three managers inside one large firm as proof. > So if I hired you for a year, what would you give me? — Mister Raw ## A series of half dones Five days later Most of it had stalled. The calls had not been made, one of three free offers had started, and a contact list was stuck in manual clean-up. Mister Raw named it as self-imposed limits, the habit of stopping short just before things get bigger, and the trainer agreed. Then they got practical. Mister Raw showed him how to filter his own connections to find senior people at target firms in minutes, which cleared his main bottleneck. > You're half done on everything. A series of half done's, correct. ... And half done is not done. — Mister Raw ## Tell a story, do not ask Same conversation Asking former students for work felt like begging. Mister Raw offered another way: tell stories about the work you are doing that let the other person see themselves in it and choose to ask. He had also sent a quote for a leadership programme, now framed around what the client would gain rather than hours worked. The trainer said this blunt accountability was exactly what he needed, someone to say hang on, here are the facts. > A story that doesn't include them, but a story that enables them to see how that could include them. So it excites them. — Mister Raw ## Seeing the ceiling About two weeks later He had read the book Mister Raw suggested, on how people cap their own success, and recognised himself in it. He had gathered the five 'who am I' answers from family, a boss and friends, and built a prospect list from thirty years of contacts, including a senior tier. He also saw, for the first time, what was wrong with how he presented himself. He had been explaining how he works, his tools and his certificates, not what he actually does for people. > I never thought of myself as having an upper limit problem. I never did. But then, having gone through that, I realized that I do. — In their words ## Three offers, one clear page Same conversation They tore down his website and product list together. A long menu became three outcome-based offers: coaching for individual leaders, team alignment, and a premium group for top executives. New website copy was due by the end of the week. Mister Raw kept pressing on one point: he needed to understand what a buyer was actually buying before anything else on the page could make sense. That question shaped the whole rewrite. > what I'm telling them is how I do stuff, not what I do... They want to know what I do for them. — In their words ## Groundwork done, no client yet Where things stand No new corporate client had signed. The free pilot inside a large firm had not started, one senior contact had gone silent twice, and the corporate proposal was still waiting for a decision. The compiled feedback document had gone missing and had to be rebuilt. Some good news did arrive, but it came from his existing work rather than from the plan. The calls were continuing weekly, with the new website copy due next. ## Where it led He stopped describing his methods and credentials and began to see himself as a brand selling outcomes, and to notice how he held himself back. > You are a brand, you just don't recognize you. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said he recognised his own habit of capping his success. - **Doing something · Happened:** He collected feedback on how five people close to him see him. - **Doing something · Happened:** He built a consolidated prospect list from three decades of contacts. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said he had been describing his methods instead of what clients get. - **A decision · Committed to:** He decided to cut his offer to three outcome-based products and rewrite his website. ## Still open - Most first-week homework was only half done by the second call. - The free pilot inside a large firm never started. - A senior contact went silent and a corporate proposal stayed undecided. - No new corporate client had signed. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The networker who was about to pitch strangers > She had thirty years of contacts and a new platform people were already paying for. She was about to spend her energy on a deck instead. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-b93161-1 A founder with decades in events and networking, running a small membership platform, UK “I'm about to raise, and I need help making the deck work.” ## A veteran starting again The beginning She had spent around thirty years building events and networking communities. After some hard years, she had restarted with a partner and a new paid matching platform. In about two months, several dozen people had signed up and paid, mostly people she already knew. Now she was preparing a small seed round, with a long deck and investor events lined up. She came to compare notes with Mister Raw, a fellow networker. ## Ask for help, not money First conversation Mister Raw's first advice was simple. Do not pitch investors cold. Open her own contacts, find the angels who had attended her events, even years ago, and call three to five of them. Ask them the fastest way to raise. The deck, he said, is not something you send. It is something you ask people where to send. > The point is, you just ask them for their help. — Mister Raw ## On a mission What she decided She would have preferred to send the full deck to everyone. But she took the point and said she would start calling her contacts that week. They agreed to look at the deck together the next morning. > Okay. I'm on a mission now. — In their words ## The deck, and then not the deck The next day Her development partner joined. Mister Raw was blunt: the pitch was long and generic, and it did not tell him why this business was special. Her partner had said much the same before. Then he asked how many hours it had actually taken to win those first members. Not many. Most had come from personal messages to people who knew her. > Yesterday is probably one of the most generative, boring pitches I have seen for a long time. And here's the reason. I don't know why it's good. — Mister Raw ## Maybe she does not need it The same conversation If messages to her large network kept converting like that, each one was close to money in the bank. He sketched the arithmetic: a business bringing in comfortably more than it costs has little reason to raise. His numbers were optimistic and untested, and he later allowed it might take months rather than weeks. Her partner, who had come to fix the investment deck, said that if she followed the plan she might not need the investment at all. > Six clicks with your mouse or your keyboard will give you a pound. — Mister Raw ## Messages already going out The day after By the third conversation she had already started. She had sent out somewhere between fifty and a hundred personal messages to her network the day before. They set up the next step: Mister Raw's project manager would run outreach from her account to mutual connections of her existing members, with a simple invitation and a free event pass for anyone hesitant. ## Where they left it Where things stand The story pauses with a founder who had stopped polishing a pitch and started talking to the people who already trusted her. ## Where it led The question moved from how to fix the pitch to whether she needed to raise at all, if her own network kept converting like it already was. > Six clicks with your mouse or your keyboard will give you a pound. - **A decision · Committed to:** She committed to call a handful of past investor contacts and ask for help rather than money. - **Doing something · Happened:** She began sending personal messages to her network the same day. - **Relationships · Happened:** Mister Raw's project manager was set up to run outreach from her account. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Her partner accepted that following the outreach plan might remove the need to raise. ## Still open - The growth arithmetic was optimistic and untested. - Her partner felt the second conversation drifted away from the deck it was meant to fix. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder telling a twenty-year-old story > He had carried one idea for two decades and was running out of money. He was told the pitch sounded like a plea, and that one piece of it could sell now. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-15403f-1 A long-time founder rebuilding a business software and community platform, US “I've been building this for years, I'm out of cash, and I need investors to see the whole vision.” ## One idea, many versions The beginning He had been chasing the same vision for professional networking for around twenty years, through launches that did not work and some hard years in his own life. Now it was rebuilt: a remote technical partner working for equity, identity verification through data partners, market research, and plans for a token. The money had run out. He wanted honest feedback, and a way to work with Mister Raw. ## Most of an hour, just listening First conversation Mister Raw let him talk for the better part of an hour. Then he asked two plain questions: who are we, and how do you pay the rent? The answer to the second was his spouse. That, Mister Raw said, was the problem underneath the pitch. A founder in that position sounds like he needs the money, and investors hear it. > The problem is, in that state of mind, you can't raise money. — Mister Raw ## An old story, told to please The same conversation The feedback was direct. Too much history. A tone that tried to please. And a story about the past when investors wanted one about what comes next. The suggestion was narrower than anything he had been pitching: wrap the verification piece as a standalone product, sell it for quick revenue, raise a small angel note from strength, and drop the crypto label, which Mister Raw felt would put mainstream investors off. > So from an investor perspective, you're pleasing, and nobody invests in a pleaser. — Mister Raw ## Yes to simpler, no to the label What he took from it He accepted the first part. He had given too much history, he said, and agreed the core was simply a verified human network. He also said he wanted people around him who would disagree with him. He did not accept the second. He did not see the project as crypto, and he kept his plans for the token and a blockchain accelerator. > Thank you. You're right. I gave you a lot of history — In their words ## A first buyer appears One week later By the third conversation there was a lead. A market-research firm was interested in paying for verified, affluent survey respondents, with a request for proposals expected. He had already been promoting verification before meeting Mister Raw, so this was his own work as much as the advice. Mister Raw doubted the size of it and pushed him wider: not users for one firm, but the same service sold to many. > as I see it, you talk to 10 survey companies with the beautiful smile you have, and we're done. — Mister Raw ## From advice to a role The same conversation He had also restructured his company and won places in two accelerators, both on his own initiative. And he asked Mister Raw to join formally as an adviser, with a share of early revenue and future equity. A contractor agreement was to be drafted, and a planning call was set for later that week. The conversation that started as feedback had become a working arrangement. ## Where they left it Where things stand The story pauses with a founder who had a simpler story, a first real buyer in view, and a plan he only partly agreed with. ## Where it led He was told his pitch carried the weight of need, and to sell the one ready piece, verification, for cash before raising. > What I'm hearing is an old story. What I should be hearing is a new story. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted that his pitch carried too much history and needed a simpler core. - **Doing something · Happened:** By the next week he was in talks with a market-research firm about paying for verified respondents. - **Relationships · Happened:** He offered Mister Raw a formal advisory role and began drafting an agreement. ## Still open - He disagreed with the warning about crypto and kept the token and blockchain accelerator plans. - He had started selling verification before the first conversation, so that move was not prompted by the advice. - Mister Raw's revenue forecasts were assertions, not tested numbers. - No deal, revenue or raise is confirmed. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The consultant hiding behind his emails > His biggest client had just ended. Ten warm leads had gone quiet. Going through them one by one, he saw the same thing every time: he never picked up the phone. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-91be17-1 Owner of a small transformation consultancy, UK “My anchor client has gone, and everyone I've sent a proposal to has gone quiet.” ## The anchor client has gone The beginning For several years one client had carried his small consultancy. Now that work had finished. A single low-margin arrangement covered the basic costs, and around ten promising leads were stuck waiting for replies. He had already followed one earlier piece of advice from Mister Raw and cut an expensive marketing agency. The rest was still waiting on other people. ## Show me the list First conversation Mister Raw asked to go through every lead, one at a time, and added a column: what is the next action? A pattern came out. Proposals went by email. Follow-ups went by text. He offered discounts before anyone had asked, and he pitched apologetically. Some of the people he was waiting on were contacts he knew well, people he would happily have a drink with. Mister Raw asked why he would not simply pick up the phone and call them. > never put in a discount before people ask for it because it's about who has the power in a conversation. — Mister Raw ## The symptoms of my approach The turn He admitted he was afraid of calling and that he hid behind messages. The unanswered proposals, he said, were the symptoms of how he worked. He would phone more people. Mister Raw added a target. List the competitors of his former client, the companies where his experience applied directly, and reach out to them before they next spoke. He was sure the consultant would hate the calls, and sure he would make them anyway. > what I'm experiencing is the symptoms of my approach ... I'm gonna phone more people — In their words ## The top of the list, called Two weeks later He had not worked through every name, but he had called the top ones. A subcontracting opportunity with a larger consultancy now looked really positive. Through a referral from another consultant, he had also landed a seven-week full-time interim contract, though at well under the rate he wanted. He said he now stopped before every message and asked himself whether there was a more active way to do it. The line about not communicating passively had stayed with him. > I did, I did. I'm not going to say every single person on that list, I did, but the top ones — In their words ## A lifestyle business, on purpose Same conversation He arrived with a new goal: a lifestyle business with a set monthly profit target, rather than chasing growth. He credited that idea to other conversations. With some income secured, he no longer felt he desperately needed each client, and he could tell prospects he would love to work with them rather than needing them. Mister Raw welcomed the change but named his worry: that with a contract in hand he would slip back into old habits. Use the contract weeks to build the next pipeline, he said, starting with ten advisory consultancies. > What I'm afraid of now is what you're gonna do as you've been doing the last many years — Mister Raw ## Paused, by choice Where things stand Mister Raw offered occasional paid strategy sessions. The consultant said he would think about it once invoices came in. ## Where it led Line by line through his pipeline, he recognised that the silence was a symptom of his own passive, apologetic approach. > never send anything unless you put a future in the calendar together. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised his unanswered proposals as symptoms of his passive approach. - **Doing something · Happened:** He called his top leads instead of waiting on emails. - **Doing something · In their words:** He said he now looks for a more active option before sending any message. - **Business results · Happened:** He landed a seven-week interim contract, through a referral, after the first conversation. ## Still open - He did not contact everyone on the list. - The interim rate was far below his target. - The idea to approach ten advisory consultancies has no recorded follow-up. - He deferred any further sessions. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who had never led salespeople > His software sold well at home, but abroad there was plenty of activity and very few results. Over four paid sessions he learned to stop talking about himself. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-16abe1-1 A founder of a small, mostly bootstrapped software company selling to banks, Nordics “We're busy all the time selling abroad, and almost nothing comes of it.” ## Lots of wheel-spinning abroad The beginning He runs a six-person software company that sells a large system to banks. At home it works: more than a dozen bank customers, paying serious annual licences. Abroad, it does not. He has hired an experienced commercial lead and brought in strategic investors, yet international sales feel like wheel-spinning. He is honest about the gap. He has never led salespeople, and he has no real way to set or measure sales goals. A first, quick call is about getting to know each other. He also pushes back early: bank deals take six to nine months and run on trust. You do not just go out and close them. ## Agreeing to spar for a month A few days later In the second conversation they talk shape and size. His team has hand-picked around two hundred prime prospect banks across Europe. Mister Raw does rough arithmetic out loud: there are thousands of mid-tier banks, and that number will not grow. It is the same pool for years. They agree a small paid engagement: four online sparring sessions over a month, with a possible workshop after the company's own strategy meeting. > In five years there will still be only 4,000. It is not as if there will be 10,000. It is the same 4,000. So for me it is always essential that you reach those 4,000. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Not a nerd product after all First session He describes the product as a tool for specialists. Mister Raw disagrees. Stripped down, it helps a bank earn noticeably more interest income. That is not a nerd sentence. That is a profit sentence. Two practical pushes follow. Call every existing customer and ask three questions, starting with why they bought. And widen the net: rather than courting a small hand-picked list, reach the whole market and see who responds. > You say it is a nerd product. What if I say it is not? — Mister Raw · Translated ## Two dissertations in an inbox Second and third sessions Between sessions he rewrites the outreach emails and sends them over. Mister Raw's verdict is blunt: they read like two dissertations. The work becomes cutting the message down to one or two sentences a bank executive would actually finish. He lands on a decision of his own. Keep the hyper-targeted approach for the main markets, and add a lighter, automated track across every ideal customer type in Europe. They also talk about stepping back as a leader and giving the team more say in the why behind the tasks. ## Taken apart line by line Final session He brings a revised email. Mister Raw reads it as a customer would and stops at the first line, because it opens with the sender. Then a phrase about risk appetite and pricing discipline. Could a finance director repeat that to a colleague? He defends the sentence. It is meant to speak to management and front line at once. But he agrees it has to be boiled down. Mister Raw offers a simple order: show interest in the customer, name the shared problem, then offer the answer. > Who wants to dance with us? There is no reason to stand in the corner apologising for whether people want to dance with us. We are out on the dance floor: is there anyone who dances? — Mister Raw · Translated ## Inputs gathered, execution deferred Where things stand He says there has been a lot of good input, especially on communication, which the team can take straight into their rewrite. A new sales operations hire starts that day, and an internal strategy process begins the following week. He calls the month information gathering. Mister Raw suggests carrying on weekly. He is non-committal and says it has been a good process. ## Where it led He stopped describing a complex tool and started asking what a busy finance director needed to hear in one plain sentence. > For the customer, it is about me. I am the customer. You have to talk to me. - **Doing something · Happened:** He rewrote his outreach emails between sessions and brought revised versions back for critique. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He agreed the company's message was too complex for a finance director to repeat and needed boiling down to something readable. - **A decision · In their words:** He decided to run a light-touch automated outreach track across all of Europe alongside the targeted approach. - **A decision · Committed to:** He planned to call existing customers after the summer to ask why they bought. ## Still open - None of the new outreach, the customer calls or the wider net is seen in action before the story stops. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # He hoped the product would do the selling > First a consultancy he did not want to sell, then a platform everyone was kind about. Both times, the hard part was the same. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-680fe9-1 A former sales consultant turned first-time platform founder, UK “I want the money, I just don't want to do the sales calls.” ## Break-even and a new idea The beginning About a year and a half after leaving a corporate job, he has a handful of small-business clients on monthly retainers. He has just launched a near-free course and community for teenagers who want to start something. He joins a free introductory call without a particular question. ## The raw version First conversation Mister Raw asks for the numbers, then says what he sees: someone working alone who has just come up for air, now spending his weeks on a product that will bring in almost nothing. If four more clients would double his revenue, why spend six weeks on something else? He pushes back for most of the call. He will not raise prices, and he disagrees about the age groups. Then he names the real reason for the new product. He hopes it will build enough trust that the selling takes care of itself. > you just came up, just got over the surface in the water, but you're a bird, you should fly, please fly. — Mister Raw ## Challenge accepted The same call Mister Raw sets a target: double his monthly revenue in about two months and report back. He puts a reminder in his calendar during the call and accepts, while keeping his promise to the young people already signed up. He admits what has been in the way all along. > I like money. I want the money, but I just don't want to deal with the sales. — In their words ## The agreement that didn't hold Two months later The agreement they made has not worked out. He is now leaving the UK to travel in Asia, with no fixed plan beyond seeing what happens and making videos. Mister Raw tells him that is fine and asks what kind of agreement could help next. He keeps his answers vague. Mister Raw tells him, warmly, that he has avoided every question, and leaves the door open. > And that didn't work. And that's totally okay. — Mister Raw ## Where is the trigger? Four months later Now living in Asia, he is building a platform that matches founders with each other. He wants feedback on the product, the onboarding, the pricing and the classic problem of any network: getting the first people in. Everyone he has shown it to has been positive. Mister Raw plays one would-be user after another until the gaps show. His point is uncomfortable. People are kind in interviews because they like the person asking. The founder agrees he has been showing the product first, says he will ask open questions instead, and adds that they should have talked a week earlier. > Don't show the platform first. Find out what I desire, find out what I want, find out what can make me want to go on your platform besides the fact that I like you. — Mister Raw ## Users or ambassadors? Three months later He is about to open to a test group and wants to charge from the start. Mister Raw argues the opposite. The first twenty people are ambassadors, not customers, and he should call each one and book time with them. He pushes back hard. Free is not enough of an incentive, he says. But one idea lands: telling early users they do not have to pay, but they can. He wants to try it as a voucher. > You're not looking for users now. You're looking for ambassadors. — Mister Raw ## Version one, done Two months later The first version is out. Around a hundred accounts approved, fewer genuinely active, and they do not stay. He has gathered a solid body of feedback and plans a redesign and a paid-only relaunch. He has concluded that simply asking people what they want does not work. Mister Raw calls it a completed first iteration. He suggests taking a consulting job to fund a developer. The founder says his old clients are exhausted, and Mister Raw replies that then he cannot help. The founder also feels Mister Raw's own networking venture is chasing the same people; Mister Raw says it is not. > well, as I hear it, you have completed iteration number one. And now you start all over again. — Mister Raw ## The platform has stopped Where things stand When they catch up again, he speaks about the platform in the past tense. His cofounder left after a disagreement about going mobile. He is building a small app only to learn, a few hours a week, with no passion for it, and plans to move on from the city he is in. This time the roles partly reverse, and he shares what his own platform taught him. ## Where it led He saw that people being friendly to him was not the same as a reason to join, and that his demos were shaping their answers. > people are talking to you because they like you and they want to help and everyone, many, wants to be part of something new, but that doesn't say anything about what they're actually trying to achieve. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He named avoiding sales calls as the biggest obstacle in his consultancy. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said he needed to stop showing people the product and ask what they wanted, because demos shaped their answers. - **A decision · In their words:** He liked the idea of telling early users they need not pay but could, and planned to try a voucher. - **Doing something · Happened:** He went on to run an invited test group and gather structured feedback on the platform. ## Still open - The agreement made in the first call did not work out, and he left to travel rather than grow the consultancy. - He rejected the free ambassador approach and the idea of funding a developer through consulting. - He came to doubt that asking users what they want works at all. - The platform did not keep its users and stopped; the cofounder left. - Tension over Mister Raw's own similar venture was not resolved. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Plenty of leads, no money in the bank > A technical founder selling for the first time had warm conversations everywhere and salaries to pay. Honest sparring, including the parts that did not go to plan. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-6a93e1-1 A technical founder of a small AI and software development firm, UK “Everyone wants to talk, nobody signs, and the money is running out.” ## Half the budget, and a decision The beginning He is an engineer who runs a small AI development firm, funding it from an earlier business and doing outbound sales himself for the first time. He has many warm conversations and a big proposal on the table. The client says their budget is half his price. His instinct is to come back with cheaper versions. Mister Raw argues against it. Each new offer makes the last one look less serious. Stand on quality and trust instead, and perhaps scope a first stage that fits. > The point is if we start bargaining now and coming with other stuff, then we just throw one for then another offer and then a third offer and then a fourth offer and it starts to feel not so serious. — Mister Raw ## A plan for the year Ten days later They sit down to plan the year. He wants a fast-growing company with recurring revenue, not a string of one-off builds. Cash is tight, so the near-term goal is concrete: three new clients within a few weeks. Mister Raw suggests a way to find out which industries actually want what he builds. Pick a few sectors, call twenty companies in each, and talk to the people who make decisions. > the best expert you can even imagine having is your potential client. That's your best expert. — Mister Raw ## In the red Three weeks later The picture is worse. He has been losing money for months, has let his marketing staff go and is cutting further. He can no longer afford to pay for the sessions. Mister Raw narrows everything to one thing: lead volume. Aim for one or two larger clients rather than many small ones, and be honest that aiming for two usually means landing one. > What I'm saying these things is because when you focus on closing two clients you most likely close one client. — Mister Raw ## More leads, one big loss Two weeks later Leads have jumped. Around ten projects are being estimated and several partnerships are in progress. He links this mostly to case studies and outreach his team published in the previous two months. The large client from the start has gone elsewhere. The paid sessions are paused until cash improves. > So what's your financial situation? Are we moving forward together? Are we waiting another month? — Mister Raw ## One or two big clients Three weeks later Still no new contracts. Mister Raw had confidently expected several deals by now, and they have not come. He describes a very personalised email approach that has worked for him, and the founder says he will try it in a week or two. The founder lands on a clearer plan of his own: find one or two large clients, do strong work for them, and use the profit to build his own products. ## Waiting for the first close Where things stand They agree to talk again in about five weeks. The firm has more conversations than ever and a narrower focus, but no new signed clients yet. ## Where it led Under cash pressure, the plan narrowed from many small projects to more leads and a few larger clients. > if you can bump up from two three leads to 10 leads a week, if you solve that part, everything else will be solved as well. - **Business results · Happened:** Inbound leads rose sharply, which he credited mainly to case studies and outreach published earlier. - **A decision · In their words:** He shifted his aim from many small projects to one or two larger clients that could fund his own products. - **Relationships · In their words:** He said he valued the conversations and wanted to continue once cash allowed. - **Doing something · Committed to:** He said he would try a more personalised email outreach himself. ## Still open - The large client chose another supplier after the advice to hold on quality rather than price. - The target of three new clients was missed, and Mister Raw's predictions of quick wins did not come true. - He paused paying for the sessions because he could not afford them. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who heard the same advice twice > He had a patent-pending AI idea, bills paid by contract work, and one contact he hoped would open doors. Mister Raw set him a number. When they spoke again much later, the route to customers on the table was the one he had first been given. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-e6afe0-1 A part-time solo founder with an early-stage B2B AI product, no revenue yet, UK “I've got something real, but I'm paying the bills with other work and waiting for the right introduction.” ## An idea with a patent, no customers The beginning He was building a tool to keep an auditable record of what AI agents say to each other, a gap he had found while building an agent for an earlier small business. The patent was pending and experts were interested. He also had a consumer marketplace that had stalled. He paid the household bills with contract work, which left the product squeezed into the gaps. For leads, he was relying mostly on local networking and one helpful contact. ## How do you pay your rent? First conversation Most of the hour was getting to know each other. Then Mister Raw asked the plain questions: where the money came from, who had actually been asked to buy. The answer was that nobody had. He named it as hoping rather than acting. He suggested going after large consultancies wrestling with exactly this gap, and offered to help for free if the founder reached out to fifty decision makers before they spoke again. > How do you pay your rent now, then? — Mister Raw ## A list of sixty, none of them called Ten days later Something had moved. He had stopped chasing contract work and gone to a local AI event that led to several meetings. He had dropped the consumer marketplace because the numbers did not work at a small monthly fee, and was aiming at larger business contracts instead. He showed a list of around sixty local companies he wanted to approach. Then he admitted he had not phoned a single one of them. > I'm not actively pursuing it because what you said to me kind of hit hard the other day. — In their words ## Not an investor, a customer Still the second conversation Mister Raw pinned him down on dates. When would he have reached out, and to whom exactly? Then they rehearsed a cold pitch live, line by line, until it sounded like a conversation. A large prospective client abroad had come up as a possible investor in the product. Mister Raw turned that around: stop asking them to fund development, solve their problem and charge for it. The founder called it someone from the outside stating the obvious. > So it's not about investment. ... Solve his problems — Mister Raw ## A second venture, kept separate A week later A meeting about the original product had produced something unexpected: an academic with patented imaging technology proposed building a new AI venture together. The founder was inclined to fold it into what he already had. Mister Raw argued it should stand alone, pitched to business owners in the industry it would serve. The founder agreed and messaged a contact for introductions during the call. He said the sessions helped drive him, but that there had been good movement and no money made. He would not speak again, he said, until he had earned something. > some good movement, but no money made yet. — In their words ## Back, still without customers Many months later He got back in touch after a long silence. He was still working shifts in another job to keep the household steady, and had just paid off the last debts of an earlier business so he could raise early money with a clean slate. The product had sharpened into a way for companies to govern how they use AI. It still had no paying customers. Much of the hour went on how fast AI was moving. Mister Raw was blunt about where that leaves anyone selling AI on its own merits. > I think anything AI related is dead in two years. It has become a tap water. It's a commodity. — Mister Raw ## Borrow someone else's clients The same conversation The concrete idea was simple. Call ten firms that already advise larger companies on AI, find a shared client, deliver the product through them and split the bill down the middle. Mister Raw predicted two clients from ten calls. Then he added that he had said much the same thing about a year earlier. It was close to the very first suggestion he had made: go where the consultancies are. > they deliver the client, you deliver the tech. — Mister Raw ## Clearer, not yet committed Where things stand He did not commit to the ten calls and moved the conversation to a different project. He did say he always left these conversations clearer and more excited, and planned to send over a concept, ask for a quote for Mister Raw's own platform and meet in person. Mister Raw's most confident forecasts, about fees from large clients and early investment, were never tested. > You always leave me feeling a lot clearer and more excited. — In their words ## Where it led He stopped treating one warm contact as his whole pipeline, but the step that mattered most, actually asking firms to buy, kept slipping. > What I'm hearing is you're sitting and hoping for some good things to happen and you need to bring the gasoline under the, you know, you need to do stuff that makes things happen for real - **Doing something · In their words:** He stopped chasing contract work for a while and went to a local AI event that led to several meetings. - **Doing something · Happened:** He built a target list of around sixty local companies. - **A decision · In their words:** He shelved the low-price consumer marketplace in favour of larger business contracts. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to run the new imaging venture separately and approach industry owners. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the sessions drove him and left him clearer, and named the value of an outsider stating the obvious. ## Still open - The fifty-contact challenge was not done; the list sat uncalled. - The advice to work through consultancies was not followed, and came back again much later. - He still had no paying customers at the last conversation. - He did not commit to the ten calls the second time either. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Everyone said wow, nobody bought > A young founder's product impressed every room it entered and sold to no one. The harder question was who was doing the selling. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-b4b153-1 A young founder of a small software services firm building its own augmented-reality product, Asia “People love the demo, then nothing happens.” ## From selling hours to selling a product The beginning He runs a small software services firm, and he is in his twenties. Like many such firms, it has sold development hours to other people's ideas. Now it has its own augmented-reality product, self-funded, that places 3D models into the real world through a phone. He and Mister Raw already know each other from earlier, unrelated conversations. This time he asks for something specific: an honest first look at his app. ## Using it like a stranger would First conversation Mister Raw opens the app as a first-time user and says out loud what he sees. The landing line is vague. The terms are unexplained. A scanning step rules out many phones. A loading screen sits there teaching nothing. He tries to save a model and cannot. There are no ready-made examples to show what is possible. The technology is not the problem. Nobody can tell what it is for. > I don't know what I can use it for. You know, this could be the golden cow, but I didn't know because it's in a box. — Mister Raw ## The communication gap The same hour He takes it well. He says he completely gets the point, and that some of the fixes are already on the team's list. Mister Raw is clear that he is not questioning what the app does, only how it explains itself. > I'm not questioning the functionality... But the communication gap is there. — Mister Raw ## A lot of excuses Four weeks later He reports back. The team has contacted around a hundred local restaurants. Managers say wow, owners are hard to reach, and nobody feels any urgency. A handful of businesses have blocked his number after repeated follow-ups. He has visited four or five himself, his team the rest. The app has not been updated; an Android release came first. Mister Raw listens, then names it. He asks how many visits were his own, and says plainly that he would not delegate this. He would walk in himself and introduce himself as the chief executive. > I wouldn't get people to do this for me, I would do it myself, go down to the restaurant or the carpet store and say, hey, I'm the CEO — Mister Raw ## Not restaurants. Hotels. The same conversation They turn the problem around. If owners say it is not urgent, ask them what would make it urgent. Then, thinking aloud about a guest ordering food in a hotel room, Mister Raw lands on a different market altogether: independent upmarket hotels, where a premium experience is the point. He had not considered hotels. He agrees to approach the general manager of a local luxury hotel that week, in person or through a networking event, and to send a plan. > Now I got it! Hotels! . I'm sitting in my hotel and I want something to eat. — Mister Raw ## A meeting still to happen Where things stand He leaves saying the session was good and that hotels were not on his radar. He also flags the realism: bigger hotel groups mean long decision chains and many points of failure. Mister Raw's enthusiasm about the size of the prize is untested. ## Where it led He heard his own explanations named as excuses, and was told that a founder sells to owners himself. > And what I just heard was a lot of excuses... And I want you to get on top of your excuses. And I will ask you again, how can you do better? - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted that the app's value and use were not being communicated to new users. - **Doing something · Happened:** After the first conversation he did some selling in person, though far less than his team. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said hotels were a better target than the restaurants he had been chasing. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to approach a local luxury hotel's general manager himself and send an outreach plan. ## Still open - Four weeks after the review, the app had not been changed. - He made fewer personal visits than agreed and defended delegating outreach. - No hotel meeting or sale is recorded. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The consultant who couldn't say what his firm did > He came looking for people to sell his firm. He left knowing nobody could sell it until he could explain it in seven seconds. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-4b5e57-1 The founder of a small operations consultancy, US “I need rainmakers to bring in clients, and our pipeline has dried up.” ## Looking for someone else to sell The beginning The founder of a small consultancy in procurement, supply chain and operations wanted rainmakers: experienced people who would bring in clients for a share of the revenue. Much of the firm's work relied on government funding that had suddenly frozen. He needed private clients, and he needed them quickly. He opened with a deck of fifteen slides about the firm, its practice areas and its approach. ## Fifteen slides, no answer First conversation Mister Raw let him finish, then said what he had noticed. He asked for a seven-second answer instead. The founder found one, about keeping revenue flowing and profits steady through disruption. Mister Raw told him to put that line on a slide and delete the rest. No rainmaker, he said, could sell a firm its own founder could not explain. The founder agreed that people can't buy without understanding. > Because you just spent 15 slides telling me what you do. Actually, you didn't tell me what you do. — Mister Raw ## A fee he did not want to pay End of the first conversation Mister Raw offered paid monthly mentoring. The founder preferred revenue share. Mister Raw turned that down, saying it was not his company and so not his responsibility. They agreed to speak again the following week, and the founder went away to work on his opening line. ## A sharper hook, and a no One week later The founder had been refining the hook. In a role play he tried a new line about helping clients thrive while their competitors struggle. Then he declined the paid offer. He was not quite ready, he said. Mister Raw changed tack. Instead of selling the engagement, he asked for five names in the pipeline and went through them one by one. > I have a better idea. ... Why don't you just go close a client? — Mister Raw ## Say it plainly: we're hungry The same conversation They rehearsed simpler discovery questions, open ones that ask what the client wants. Mister Raw suggested he stop hiding the frozen government work and say openly that the firm had strong consultants available now. The founder liked the directness. He committed to calling a stalled manufacturing prospect the moment the call ended, and to chasing a cold proposal by phone. > Okay, done. When I hang up the phone, I'll call them. — In their words ## A seven-day promise Where things stand He was asked to report back within seven days on whether he had closed a client, and if not, why not. He was already spending long days on outreach, and the push to work harder added no new channel. He said he might come back in six months to a year. ## Where it led A long deck gave way to one sentence, and the search for someone else to sell gave way to closing a client himself. > you need to nail what it is you actually do. And you need to be able to tell me that in seven seconds. - **Doing something · Happened:** Reworked the firm's opening hook between the two conversations and used the new line in a role play. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Accepted that he had not explained what the firm does and needed a short value statement. - **Doing something · In their words:** Revised his discovery questions in the session and said he would use them. - **A decision · Committed to:** Committed to calling a stalled prospect straight after the call and chasing a cold proposal by phone. ## Still open - He declined the paid engagement. - He was already doing long days of outreach, and the advice to push harder added no new channel. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The coach who kept polishing instead of offering > He had sold at enormous scale before. Now his income had stopped, the runway was short, and his new programme was still being refined. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-378786-1 A former direct-response entrepreneur rebuilding as a solo coach and community host, US “I know I'm good at this. I just haven't shown my programme to many people yet.” ## A big past, a smaller present The beginning He had once built online sales businesses at real scale. After a hard personal lesson about time, he had stepped away and was rebuilding: hosting small curated dinners for founders, coaching on referral networks, and planning a low-priced training group. A mutual contact introduced him to Mister Raw for a short connection call. ## A beautiful building in the desert First conversation He talked through his products. Mister Raw's read was that he was in a safe place, but a small one, helping people who were not quite the right ones. He had a sense there was a bigger story behind him, though he could not name it. The man called it timely, and said he would think about it before a presentation he was giving that morning. > If it's the right place, you can build a beautiful building, but if it's out in the Utah desert, good for you, mate. — Mister Raw ## The real numbers A month later In between, he came to one of Mister Raw's networking events. When they spoke again, he remembered the first call mostly as advice to think bigger. He had carried on with his own plan: more dinners, perhaps a marketing agency. Then the numbers came out. His main income had stopped about two years before. The runway was under a year. And the programme he wanted to sell had barely been offered to anyone. ## Hiding in the refining The turn He said it himself before Mister Raw had to. He kept refining the programme, and the refining was a way of not showing it to the world. Mister Raw pointed out the gap: a man teaching others to build relationships that bring business was not yet doing it for himself. And people saying no to him felt personal, so make it about the offer instead. > I keep refining it, which is a way of hiding from showing the world. So I need to get over that. — In their words ## An outcome, not himself What he decided Together they reshaped the offer: a hundred-day programme to reach a defined goal, with a modest fee upfront to secure commitment and a larger fee on success. He would pitch it to the several hundred people he already knew, aiming for five first clients. He questioned parts of it, defending the personal story at the heart of his message. But he called the offer reasonable and said he would write the plan that day. > So create the plan, send it to me, and then I approve. — Mister Raw ## Where they left it Where things stand The story pauses with a man who had named his own hiding place and agreed to step out of it. ## Where it led He stopped selling himself and started shaping an outcome people could buy, to be offered first to people he already knew. > So you can't change yourself, but you can change what you're holding in your hand. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He named endless refining as a way of avoiding putting his programme in front of people. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to an outcome-based offer with an upfront and a success fee, to pitch to his existing network. - **Relationships · Happened:** He attended one of Mister Raw's networking events between the two conversations. ## Still open - Between the calls he followed his own plan rather than the first conversation's challenge. - Mister Raw's hunch about a bigger story behind him was never pinned down. - The revenue arithmetic was assumption rather than data. - There is no sign the plan was sent or a client signed. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The consultant who never asked why clients hired him > Every client came by referral. Now there were none, and outreach had produced silence. The missing piece was one question he had never asked. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-7db152-1 A solo consultant who cuts companies' technology and supplier costs, US “Every client came by referral, and right now I have none.” ## Results, but no pipeline The beginning He helps companies cut what they spend on technology and telecoms suppliers, often by around half. Every client so far has come through a referral. Right now he has none. An automated outreach campaign has produced no replies. He comes to a free first conversation asking how to do outreach better. ## Name the last five First conversation Mister Raw asks him to name his last five paying clients. He can name three, spread over several years. And at the moment, there is nothing in progress at all. > And you don't have any at the moment? — Mister Raw ## Why did they call? The turn The question shifts from messages to cause. What was happening inside each company when it decided to call him? A new finance chief, a cost drive, falling revenue? He sees the gap himself. He has case studies of what he saved people. He has never asked why anyone gave him a chance in the first place, or why they stopped. > What trouble was he in? Was it because he got hired in? Was it the new controller that said there's something wrong with that? What actually triggered them to start working with you? — Mister Raw ## Find the twins What he decided Once he knows the trigger, he can look for similar companies at the same moment. He agrees to build a simple sheet of past clients, what he did and what he saved, ask each of them why they hired him and why they stopped, and send it over for review. He leaves saying the call was inspiring. > Then simply find the buying personas of the twin companies. Twin companies are companies that are like the existing companies. — Mister Raw ## Call, don't write Later that day He is back within hours with one question. He has already drafted a message to a past client: long, careful, asking for a video call with the agenda spelled out. Is that what was meant? Not quite. Mister Raw says the message is too long. Find the number and call. If nobody answers, send two lines asking for ten minutes, and only explain why if they ask. > Emails usually don't work. Messages are intruding. Real conversations with real people matter. — Mister Raw ## Report back Where things stand He says he finally understands what he was trying to figure out. Finding the numbers might be tricky, he admits, but he will try and report back. ## Where it led The question moved from how to do outreach to what made a client reach out in the first place. > What trouble was he in? Was it because he got hired in? Was it the new controller that said there's something wrong with that? What actually triggered them to start working with you? - **A different perspective · In their words:** He named the gap himself: he knew what he had delivered, but not why clients first hired him. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to list his past clients, ask them why they hired him and why they stopped, and send the list for review. - **Doing something · Happened:** Within hours he had drafted an outreach message to a past client. - **Doing something · Committed to:** He agreed to phone past clients directly instead of sending long written messages. ## Still open - The advice was, by Mister Raw's own description, simple; what was new to him was one question. - He doubted he could find the phone numbers. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # She loved the plan, but not the first step > She had carried a big idea for years and was told, plainly, that it did not yet make sense to anyone else. Then it became three clear parts, and she loved it, until the daily step. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-87f5a4-1 A solo creative with an idea for small purpose-built communities, Europe “I know exactly what I want to create. I just need someone to back it.” ## Looking for someone to back it The beginning She had worked in media for years and now held one idea above all others: a handful of self-sustaining places, designed around architecture, where people could live with a real sense of belonging. She had no capital and very little to live on. She came hoping to find someone who would back the vision or make it happen. ## An enabler, not an investor First conversation Mister Raw said early on that he was not an investor but an enabler. Then he mostly listened while she described the idea in all its breadth. When she said the project was about love, he disagreed. It was about belonging. She took that up at once and said she loved it. > No, I follow you, but I disagree. It's not love, it's belonging. — Mister Raw ## Steps, not the sun The turn Then he was blunt. He understood what she wanted, he said, but it did not make sense to anyone hearing it. She was describing the final destination when what moves anything is the next step. He told her the pitch mattered not only for others but for her own clarity. > You're trying to define the direction towards the sun, let's call it the sun, the final goal... But that's not how you move. You move by stepping forward. — Mister Raw ## One page The same call He set one task: a single-page summary of the project. She accepted it without hesitation and said she would do it. She did push back on parts of his framing. She did not see herself as trying to change the world, and the idea of becoming a social media figure did not sit right with her. > You need to get the right pitch into what you're doing. Not only because of the stakeholders... but because of yourself. — Mister Raw ## Where are you, really? The next day She sends written material, though it is not clear it is the one page he asked for, and comes back for two hours. She has no money and is struggling with basic bills. What she wants is a backer to fund land and a team to turn her into a voice for the idea. Mister Raw starts by saying they need to find out where she actually is, because her view of that and his are probably not the same. Then he presses. Without people there is no business model. Why should anyone trust her with their money? > Why should I invest, why should I take my coins and put them on you? Why should I trust you? — Mister Raw ## Three simple parts The same conversation He keeps trying to make it simpler. A property framework someone could invest in. A first group of buyers, which he suggests could be well-paid remote workers. And her, as the voice that brings them together. She is delighted. This, she says, is finally someone getting it. > if things are not simple, I cannot buy into it as a human being, because it becomes too fluffy, and people don't understand fluffy. — Mister Raw ## No to the daily step What she decided His concrete advice is small and repetitive: a five-minute video every day on a single topic, and reaching out to talent managers. She turns down both. It is not how her mind works, she says, and chasing people feels needy. She also disputes that she needs committed people before there is a business. > my mind unfortunately does not work in a mono way like that — In their words ## Waiting to be seen Where things stand She thanks him warmly for the two conversations and says they are preparing her. She will wait for the right person to see her and package her. Not every moment landed well. At one point he told her nobody was listening to her, at a time she was already finding things hard. ## Where it led The obstacle was named as structure, not money, and the vision became three simple parts: an investable place, a community of buyers, and her as the voice that gathers them. > Well, I understand what you're doing, and I understand what you want to do, but you don't make any sense. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She took up belonging, not love, as the core of what her project offers. - **Doing something · Happened:** She sent written material before a second conversation the following day. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She agreed with the three-part framing of her idea and with remote workers as the first buyers. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** She said the two conversations had made her feel prepared. ## Still open - Whether the one-page summary was ever written as asked. - She rejected both practical next steps offered, a daily short video and approaching talent managers. - She chose to wait for a backer rather than build an audience herself. - Some of Mister Raw's remarks were flippant given how hard her situation was. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who wanted a sparring partner, not a verdict > He had the data, the plan and an answer for everything. Mister Raw kept saying one thing: a newcomer cannot tell what your site does. Most of it bounced off. One idea stuck. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-35dce3-1 A data-minded founder of a consumer marketplace, raising a small round, US “The product works for the people it's built for. I want someone to argue with, not a redesign.” ## A big plan and a small round The beginning He was building a marketplace where buyers name the price they want and sellers answer with a quick yes or no. It had started in one big-ticket category and was meant to spread to many more. He was raising a modest round and already had a multi-stage plan reaching all the way to a public listing. He came looking for someone to spar with, not someone to tell him what to do. He liked to talk, had an answer ready for most objections, and treated each call partly as a test of his own thinking. ## Just give me a number First conversation Mister Raw had to fight for room to ask questions. When he got it, he wanted figures: the size of the round, how much was raised, how much was in the bank, how long it would last. Then he offered a different way of describing the product: a place to state the most you are willing to pay. And he pointed at a shift underway, with people starting to shop through AI assistants rather than search engines. > I'm not asking for excuses. I'm just asking for a number. — Mister Raw ## Spend on looking like the vision Still the first conversation The founder engaged with the AI shopping idea but rejected the framing about a maximum price as just ordinary haggling. He planned to grow users by touring universities. Mister Raw doubted that would scale and said there were probably faster ways. His firmer advice was about money. If new funds came in, spend a real slice on making the product look like the world he described. > If you did get money in now, please spend 10 or 20 or 30 or 50 thousand dollars on making sure that the world you're building looks like what you're saying. — Mister Raw ## The same argument, better prepared About six weeks later The founder walked through the technical work he saw as the last milestone before scaling: faster, smarter search and easier onboarding for sellers. Early signs were good, with sellers adjusting prices once they saw the bids they had missed. On design they disagreed again. Mister Raw argued for a deliberate overhaul to make people stay. The founder said the deals already made it sticky and that testing design needs far more users than he had. ## Getting lost, live Two months on In the last call Mister Raw went through the site in real time. It loaded slowly. He could not tell at first what it was for. The messaging repeated itself, the logo and the browser icon did not match, and the important part sat below the fold. He called it confusing and dated. The founder said the verdict itself meant nothing to him. What he valued was watching where Mister Raw clicked, which he said matched the path his intended users already take. > To me, bad, that's like noise. I don't really care. It makes zero difference. You said it, I ignored it. — In their words ## One insight worth keeping What he took One point landed. Mister Raw kept looking for a search bar. As the marketplace widened beyond its first category, the founder agreed, newcomers would arrive knowing less, and search would have to be available everywhere. He had added a search box before, but now called this a really good insight. He set targets to cut load time sharply and to start search-focused redesign work soon after. At the same time he was clear that a full visual redesign was not coming any time soon. ## A debate both enjoyed Where things stand The founder said he genuinely loved debating with Mister Raw, and they booked another session to review speed and search. ## Where it led After watching Mister Raw get lost on the live site, the founder dismissed the verdict but took one concrete insight: search has to be visible everywhere. > Okay, here's my suggestion. Are you ready? Make a website that makes sense. - **A different perspective · In their words:** The founder called an always-visible search bar a really good insight for growing beyond his first category. - **A decision · Committed to:** He set a target to cut load time and begin search-focused redesign work. - **Relationships · In their words:** He said he valued the debates and booked a follow-up session. ## Still open - The founder rejected Mister Raw's overall design critique and deprioritised spending on how the site looks. - He rejected the maximum-price framing of the product. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder raising too little to be believed > His small round had stalled. He heard that the round was too small, the idea too narrow, and his deck missing the one story that mattered: his own. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-9c4876-1 A founder of an early-stage jewellery startup with an engagement product, UK “We only need a small round, and even that has stalled since an investor pulled out.” ## A small round, stuck The beginning He was an experienced founder who also mentored other founders. His new business sold an engagement product through a small regional jewellery brand. A modest seed round had stalled when one investor withdrew, and he wanted ideas to get it closed. > I have more ideas to that, but first let me understand, what happened to funding then? — Mister Raw ## Too small to believe First conversation Mister Raw told him the size of the raise was itself the problem. Saying you need very little money signals that you do not believe in the idea. The founder agreed: they were probably raising too low. Then Mister Raw went further. If the product really was a new way of proposing, why was it only sold by one regional brand? > You think too small, mate. If this is the genuine new way of asking for people's hands. — Mister Raw ## A tool for every jeweller Same conversation His idea was that any jeweller could offer the product to win back customers who walk out undecided. It could be a separate business, not one brand's line. The founder said they had been considering a split for about six months. > I think you can become the new standard of saying yes to each other. — Mister Raw ## How did you propose? Three days later Looking through the investor deck, Mister Raw called it data without a story. Then he asked the founder how he had proposed. The founder described it, and realised he had done the very thing his product was built for, before the product existed. Mister Raw told him that was his opening. The founder decided to strip the deck back and rebuild it around stories. > No, that's been stupidly helpful. — In their words ## Agreeing, and not agreeing Same conversation He did not accept everything. He argued that angel investors where he was would not back an unproven product at a larger size, and he still meant to close the smaller round first. When he asked for investor introductions, Mister Raw said he does not do that. > It's a client acquisition company. — Mister Raw ## A new deck promised Where things stand He said he would rebuild the deck within a couple of days. ## Where it led Asked how he had proposed himself, the founder realised his own story was the pitch his deck was missing. > There's no story in the deck. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the raise was probably too small to be credible. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He saw the product as a customer-winning tool for many jewellers, not one brand's line. - **A decision · Committed to:** He decided to rebuild his investor deck around stories, starting with his own. ## Still open - He partly walked back the raise-size point and planned to close the small round first. - Mister Raw declined to make investor introductions. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who had traction but no team story > Ten clients, a major-label pilot and a raise under way. The problem he brought was drifting co-founders, and Mister Raw gave it a different name. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-34cded-1 A repeat founder running a small music data startup, Europe “We have the clients. Now I need to build structure, because my co-founders are drifting.” ## Told to come back with clients The beginning A founder who had sold a company before was building a music data business with three co-founders. In earlier conversations, Mister Raw had told him to have clients by the time they next spoke. He remembered it. > when we scheduled this call, you said, like, you need to make sure you have the clients — In their words ## Ten clients and a pilot The next conversation He arrived with about ten paying clients, including a short pilot with a major label, a beta due within weeks and interest from a public funding body. Most of it came through his own network and experience. Mister Raw told him to stop selling for now and deliver to those ten. Not every suggestion landed. Mister Raw proposed incorporating in the US. The founder preferred to stay where the legal ground was familiar, and kept his plan. > Good. Keep it at that. I agree. I agree. I always say get ten, don't get five, get ten — Mister Raw ## Drifting co-founders Four weeks later A first institutional round was now in progress, and the product was a little delayed. He described one co-founder leaning too heavily on AI output and another micromanaging. He wanted to build structure, and he kept coming back to one word: clarity. > It totally makes sense, but I'm also thinking that you're using clarity a lot because there's no clarity in the founder group. — Mister Raw ## Not structure, leadership The turn Mister Raw reframed the task. Structure would not fix drift. Leadership would, and leadership needs something to hold onto: one retellable story of why these four people are building this, the same story investors and clients hear. The founder accepted he needed to stop being the best friend sometimes. He decided to turn the idea into a talk on vision and brand voice for his team that same afternoon. > You call it structure... Leadership, that's what you need, it's not the structure, it's the leadership — Mister Raw ## Raising from strength On the raise He was relying mostly on one fund that had shown interest. Mister Raw pushed him to talk to many more investors. He resisted at first: his network could probably close the round, and new conversations take time. He also declined angels this round. Then he conceded he might be too relaxed about it. > I'm wondering if I'm too chill about it. So I'm going to step up a little bit and make some more conversations — In their words ## The round is still open Where things stand He floated the idea of hiring Mister Raw as his personal CEO coach once the money was in. ## Where it led Building structure turned out to be a leadership task, anchored in one story told the same way to the team, investors and clients. > You call it structure... Leadership, that's what you need, it's not the structure, it's the leadership - **Business results · In their words:** Arrived with about ten early clients including a major-label pilot, and credited an earlier instruction to have clients by the next call. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Accepted that the co-founder problems were a leadership task rather than a question of structure. - **A decision · Committed to:** Agreed to widen investor conversations rather than rely on one fund. - **Doing something · Committed to:** Planned a vision talk for his team the same afternoon. ## Still open - He disagreed with the suggestion to incorporate in the US and kept his own plan. - Most of the traction came through his own network, and the earlier advice is known only from his account. - The beta was delayed, and the outcome of the raise is not recorded. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who saw prospects as possible investors > A solo founder with a beautiful product and a weak 'so what'. The biggest shift was in how he saw the buyers he was struggling to reach. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-c0c6d8-1 A solo founder of a business software startup with early clients, UK “The product looks great, but I'm the only one selling it and I'm an introvert.” ## Alone at the top The beginning He was the sole founder of a design-led software startup for corporate legal and finance teams. A handful of clients were paying. Sales capacity was thin and the messaging leaned on features. He was candid about how lonely it was to found alone, and about being an introvert pushed into selling. ## Beautiful, but what is it? First conversation Mister Raw asked what he wanted to achieve, then said what he saw. The founder agreed: they had been leaning on features, and the obvious response was so what? A new website was already under way. He raised the idea of a late co-founder. Mister Raw said it was too late for that, and it was left there. Mister Raw proposed a paid monthly arrangement, and the founder said he would sleep on it. > I know it's the design, by the way. I love it. ... But I don't know what the it is. — Mister Raw ## The wrong buyers on the list A month later Sales were still the constraint. Outbound lists kept reaching firms already using a competitor, and building better lists was slow. His long-term target was the large service firms that administer hundreds of companies, and his plan was to ask them for letters of interest. Mister Raw first misunderstood who the buyer was, and the founder had to correct him. > You're saying a lot without saying anything. — Mister Raw ## Invest, or help shape it The turn Mister Raw turned the letters of interest into a choice: invest in the next round, or pay an annual licence to help shape the roadmap. Either way, the buyer becomes part of the product rather than a prospect being chased. The founder said it was a different thought process, one he hadn't considered, and that he was particularly grateful for it. > it's not about the functionality of the product, it's that I get to be a part of defining that product — Mister Raw ## Search ads, and some pushback What he decided He said he would look at search ads aimed at people already looking for this kind of software. He pushed back where the advice felt too general: his problem was how to find buyers with intent, and some answers came back as mindset. He also doubted an idea for targeting investors' followers, since most would be the wrong audience. > The management software, have that as a Google Ads. That's the highest intent you can get. — Mister Raw ## A decision for his board Where things stand He said he could see them working together, but had reservations about adding another adviser when what the business lacked was sales capacity. He took the question to his executive committee, possibly for the new year. ## Where it led The large firms he hoped would sign letters of interest became potential strategic investors instead of slow sales. > it's not about the functionality of the product, it's that I get to be a part of defining that product - **A different perspective · In their words:** Recognised that the messaging leaned on features and lacked a clear 'so what'. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Saw the large administrators as possible strategic investors, not only as customers. - **A decision · Committed to:** Said he would look at high-intent search ads. ## Still open - Some advice was answered with mindset when he wanted method, and he said so. - He deferred the decision on paid advice, and the late co-founder question was left open. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder whose real sale was his own board > Deals stuck in procurement, no cash and no salary for months. The conversation that mattered most was the one he was about to have with his board. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-125993-1 The founder of a small enterprise software startup selling to energy companies, UK “Everything is stalled in procurement, the raise depends on it, and we're out of cash.” ## Five years of asking The beginning He had spent five years building a visualisation software company. Two large enterprise clients were paying. Three big contracts sat stalled in procurement, and the next funding round depended on them. Cash was almost gone, he had not been paid for months, and he was the only person selling. He had pitched to well over a hundred investors. ## A tactic that didn't fit First conversation The first meeting was partly a pitch for Mister Raw's paid support. The main idea was to widen outreach sharply and offer free models of publicly announced projects to prove value fast. The founder later explained that setup took weeks, so instant samples were not realistic. An in-person follow-up was agreed but did not happen. ## Asking everyone for help One week later On the second call, the first suggestion, to call and close, repeated what he had already tried, including turning up at the customer's offices. Then the diagnosis shifted from tactics to posture. He was asking customers, investors and his board for help without giving them anything. > I know why. I'll tell you why. Free advice. Because you don't help them. — Mister Raw ## Good news, not more chasing The same conversation On the stalled deal, the idea was to approach a newly hired operations director at the customer, then bring the internal champion good news rather than more pressure. He warned that going around a champion had backfired before, but said it was worth a shot. On investors, he saw that a partner who cannot retell his story cannot win over their committee. > Enabling, whether it's your client or whether it's your investor, enable them to tell a story to their stakeholders. — Mister Raw ## The board as the real sale What he decided His board, he said, was watching him struggle. Mister Raw told him to stop reporting and start asking: request bridge funding directly, and if board members would not help, ask them to step aside. The founder noted that they tend to be diplomatic. Still, he said he could not argue with the approach and would rework his board pack that afternoon. > Jesus Christ, that's important. That's your real sale. — Mister Raw ## Energy back Where things stand He said the conversation brought back something years of rejection had worn away, and planned to send updates. > it's just good to get back into thinking like this ... we just lose this. We fade — In their words ## Where it led His monthly board meeting stopped being a report and became the sale that mattered most. > Jesus Christ, that's important. That's your real sale. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** Said the conversation brought back his fighting energy after years of rejection. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Recognised that investor rejections may have come from partners unable to retell his story to their committee. - **A decision · Committed to:** Agreed to contact a new senior stakeholder at the stalled customer. - **A decision · Committed to:** Planned to rework his board pack and ask the board directly for bridge funding that week. ## Still open - The first tactical idea did not fit his setup time, and the first call-and-close suggestion repeated what had already failed. - The advice to ask board members to step aside was aggressive, and its result is not recorded. - Whether he could afford ongoing advice was left open. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The broker trying to become someone else > After his firm collapsed he was building a coaching business for other founders. Mister Raw pointed at the hundred clients he had already served. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-0f8bfa-1 A former independent finance broker rebuilding after a business failure, UK “My firm went under. Now I'm building a coaching community and an AI venture, with almost no money.” ## Starting again with almost nothing The beginning He had run his own broking firm until it grew too fast with the wrong people and collapsed under debt. Now, with almost no money, he was spreading himself across a coaching community for entrepreneurs, an automation venture and personal-brand videos. One finance deal was in progress. ## A hundred times already First conversation Mister Raw asked what he wanted, then held up what he already had: around a hundred satisfied clients from his broking years. People, he said, try to reinvent themselves instead of building on what they are good at. He sent the broker away for half an hour to come back with an offer built on that. > what you have proven is that you have 100 times done something good, and now you don't want to do that again. — Mister Raw ## A long, hard second session Half an hour later The second session ran well over an hour and was confrontational. The broker challenged Mister Raw's credibility early on and pushed back often: not everything fits in a sentence, broking leads cannot be conjured, he did not control his old client list. Some personal things he shared were brushed aside too quickly. That was a misstep. > It sounds to me you're excusing yourself all the time. — Mister Raw ## Not destroyed by the work The turn The failure was recast as a decision about scaling, not proof that broking was wrong for him. He agreed. It was, he said, just a stupid decision. > No, you weren't destroyed by it. You were destroyed by your own foolish decision making in trying to scale something that wasn't ready to be scaled with the wrong people. — Mister Raw ## Five deals in a week What he decided Everything narrowed to one target: five fee-earning finance deals within a week, enough to pay the modest fee that would restore his permissions for the work he knew best. If permissions held him up, he could partner with a licensed broker and share the fee. "Prove the path first," he said. > Because as long as we don't have five deals, everything we're talking about is nothing anyway. — Mister Raw ## A Friday still to come Where things stand He said he had far more clarity, and that he needed to stop wading around in ideas that did not matter. A review was set for the following Friday, at no charge. Mister Raw openly doubted he would follow through. > You've given me far more clarity on it — In their words ## Where it led A plan to reinvent himself narrowed to the work he had already done a hundred times, starting with five deals in a week. > what you have proven is that you have 100 times done something good, and now you don't want to do that again. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Said he had far more clarity that being spread across too many ideas was the problem. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Accepted that the failure came from his own scaling decisions rather than the broking work itself. - **A decision · Committed to:** Agreed to focus on closing finance deals and report on five leads at a follow-up the next week. ## Still open - The tone was very harsh at points, and some personal disclosures were dismissed too quickly. - Mister Raw openly doubted the advice would be acted on. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The consultant who kept perfecting before beginning > Prospects liked him. Deals did not close. He was told the reason was him, and handed a task small enough to start that afternoon. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-128eec-1 A former senior technology executive running a small, self-funded advisory and coaching firm, US “Everyone says it's a great offer, but nothing closes, and the money is getting tight.” ## Interest everywhere, few signatures The beginning He had spent years as a senior data and technology leader before setting up his own advisory and coaching firm. Prospects liked the idea. Deals rarely closed, and partners he relied on to bring in work were not delivering. The first conversation was mostly two operators comparing notes. ## Too clever to act A few weeks later In the second conversation Mister Raw was direct. The problem, he said, was not the market. It was overthinking. He offered to work with him for free to get him selling directly. He also suggested building a public profile as a leading voice on technology and people. That idea never came up again. > I sincerely believe the real reason why you're not making enough money right now is because of you. — Mister Raw ## A job offer, and one week Five months later Money had tightened and a large corporate role, found through his own long-standing contacts, was on the table. Mister Raw encouraged him to see the job as a platform for speaking and board work later. For the weeks before it started, he set a plan: list past clients over the weekend, pick ten, and close a few workshops. > No, I'm asking you, how can we close a 20K workshop for you by the end of the week? — Mister Raw ## Five sheets, starting now Three weeks on The list was still unfinished. Home repairs had taken over, and an outreach test to hundreds of his contacts had brought almost no replies. Mister Raw steered him back to the workshop, the offer that had sold before, and cut the task to five spreadsheets. He agreed to start the moment the call ended. > After we jump off of this, I'm gonna make coffee and then I'm gonna be cranking through five sheets — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand He was weeks from starting the new role. ## Where it led A big unfinished list was cut down to five spreadsheets, to be worked through straight after the call. > Okay, so pick five, just five. And we can hang up and you can do it now if you want. - **Doing something · Happened:** He ran direct outreach to his own network rather than waiting on partners, though it drew almost no response. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to lead with the workshop offer and start on five lead lists immediately. ## Still open - The plan to close several workshops within a week did not happen. - The public profile idea was never picked up. - His next step was a corporate job found through his own contacts, not through these conversations. - No closed deal appears before the conversations stop. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The music veteran who already had it covered > Midway through a raise, an industry veteran heard that his model was a little wrong. He disagreed, came back anyway, and was told he was already doing it right. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-9d486a-1 An experienced music-business founder raising a first round, US “We're well into the raise. I'm looking for help getting it over the line.” ## A raise already moving The beginning After a long career in the music business he was building a company that buys into a basket of mid-level artists, grows their income and sells after a few years. A meaningful share of a multi-million round was already committed from wealthy individuals, with a larger institutional cheque hoped for. ## A bigger idea, offered early First conversation Mister Raw said early on that he thought the model was a little wrong, and proposed turning it into a platform where huge numbers of fans put small amounts into new acts. He also offered a point about early investors: they need a sentence they can proudly tell their friends. > make it the first real crowd-funded record label in the world. — Mister Raw ## I know what I'm doing The pushback The founder disagreed. Many companies already let fans invest in music, he said, and it suits artists with smaller followings poorly. The challenge had come before Mister Raw had heard how far the raise had got. Distracted on his first day in a new office, he ended the call early and suggested talking again. > I really know what I'm doing as far as growing artists — In their words ## Back with a pitch A week later He came back, this time hoping Mister Raw might invest or open doors. The round had grown a little further. Mister Raw said he did not make investor introductions and asked about the pipeline instead. He returned to the earlier point about stories, and added one more: the best route to the next money is to ask the people who have already put money in. > So it's all about creating a story that enables them to tell a good story to their friends. — Mister Raw ## Already doing it Where things stand The founder said he was already doing both, and asked directly what more Mister Raw could add. Not much that was new, as it turned out. Mister Raw's verdict was that he had it covered and should keep going. There was no investment and no introduction. They agreed to stay in touch, with Mister Raw as a sounding board. > I think you got it, to be honest — Mister Raw ## Where it led Mister Raw stepped back from reshaping the model and told the founder he already had what he needed. > Well, you got the drive, you know what to do, and you're doing it. - **Relationships · Happened:** He proposed a second conversation, and it took place a week later. - **Relationships · In their words:** They agreed to stay in touch, with Mister Raw offering to be a sounding board. ## Still open - The central crowd-investment idea was rejected as neither new nor right for his artists. - Mister Raw challenged the model before fully understanding the raise. - The main fundraising suggestion was something he was already doing. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The number two who was told to take the stage > Days from going independent, he had a careful niche plan. Mister Raw saw someone standing in the corner. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-f4720f-1 A former management consultant launching an AI training business, Asia “I'm about to go out on my own with a programme that helps people productise themselves.” ## Days from going solo The beginning A former management consultant, with years in an early-stage tech venture behind him, was about to go fully independent. He was launching an AI training and events business. The first product was a mentorship programme to help small business owners and consultants turn their expertise into products. ## Finding common ground First conversation The first call was mostly introductions, and the two found shared ground in social impact work. Mister Raw also pressed him on whether he had done for himself what he was offering others. By the next call he said he had updated his website and LinkedIn since that conversation. > So you didn't productize yourself. That's what you're saying. — Mister Raw ## Leaving out most of the market Six days later Asked what the end game was, he explained the programme. Mister Raw's view was that it assumed people already understood AI, when most do not. A broad entry course, followed by versions for specific industries, would make better use of his audience and presence, with him at the top of the funnel. > And we just agreed on 98% of the world population doesn't even know. ... So you just removed 98% of your own market — Mister Raw ## A superstar in the corner The turn The point that landed was personal. He said that, with humility, he believed he had never fully reached his potential, and that he had always been number two. He felt he was about to step onto the main stage. He called Mister Raw the mentor he didn't know he needed. > I'm seeing a superstar over in the corner. — Mister Raw ## Keeping his plan, staying in touch Where things stand He disagreed in part. He was committed to starting niche, said the productising message drew more interest than generic AI training, and noted that a broad audience might not pay. He liked the idea of later building out industry by industry. They agreed to stay in touch. ## Where it led A challenge to his niche became a personal one: he had always been second in command. > I'm seeing a superstar over in the corner. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** Said he felt encouraged to step out of a lifelong number-two role. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Saw a possible route from his niche programme to a broader, industry-by-industry platform. - **Doing something · In their words:** Said he had updated his website and LinkedIn after the first conversation. ## Still open - He largely kept his original niche plan. - His point that a broad audience might not pay was not addressed. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who kept waiting for the product > His beta was live and his plan was careful. Later, fundraising was going badly, and he already half knew why. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-e23f10-1 An experienced founder building an AI analytics product for businesses, US “I want to raise as little as possible, and the product keeps getting better, so I keep waiting.” ## A careful founder with a live beta The beginning He had been around: a seasoned founder and former angel investor, now building an AI tool that gives teams objective feedback on how their meetings actually go. The beta was live, a pilot was planned, and a team of around a dozen was behind it. He met Mister Raw at a networking event. His plan was deliberately modest: a small seed round now, perhaps another later, and as little outside money as he could manage. ## How a small raise sounds First conversation Most of the hour was easy talk between two people who clearly enjoyed each other. Then Mister Raw asked what he was facing, and listened to the fundraising plan. The critique was short. Describing a small raise, with maybe more later, did not sound like caution to an investor. It sounded like doubt. > the way you're explaining it is as either you don't believe enough in it or, two, don't understand what a journey towards creating a real successful global company is. — Mister Raw ## He disagreed, and took the offer What he decided He pushed back. He had been around the block, he said, and he would rather raise no money at all than too much. Mister Raw did not win that point. He did accept an offer of a free session to rework the pitch, and agreed to send over his deck. > I've been around the block. I want to raise as little money as possible. I would rather raise no money. — In their words ## He named the problem himself Two months later Asked how fundraising was going, he did not dress it up. Not well. He needed revenue. Then, before any push, he said what was underneath: every time the product got better, he wanted to finish the next thing before contacting anyone. Much of the rest of the call was about a networking venture Mister Raw was building, where the founder's tool might one day fit. Near the end, the push came. > Go out and close five clients next week. — Mister Raw ## Five conversations, not five clients What he committed to He took it well, thanked him for the prompt and said he was taking the reins off. But he corrected the target. With the product not yet live, five paying clients next week was not realistic. Five conversations begun was. Introductions were promised both ways: an investor contact for him, a contact of his for Mister Raw. > I can't have five clients because we're not live, but I will have five conversations begun. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand The story pauses with a founder who had said out loud that he was waiting too long, and had promised to stop. ## Where it led He admitted he had been holding back on outreach while the product improved, and agreed to stop waiting. > That will get your brain out of development and excuses - **A different perspective · In their words:** He named his own perfectionism as the reason fundraising was slow. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to stop polishing and begin five client conversations. - **Relationships · Committed to:** Both agreed to make introductions to people in their networks. ## Still open - He did not accept the argument to raise bigger. - Two months after the first call, fundraising was still going badly and there was no revenue. - Much of the second conversation served Mister Raw's own venture rather than the founder's problem. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who was making his round complicated > A music-tech founder had big meetings lined up and a neat theory about which money to take. Mister Raw called it a rabbit hole. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-31683a-1 A founder of a consumer music-tech app with early users, raising a round, UK “I've got a record label interested, and I'm trying to work out what kind of money to take.” ## A deck already rewritten The beginning He had met Mister Raw in person a few days earlier. Over the weekend he had cut his investor deck right down and rebuilt it around his own story. Now he had meetings lined up with an existing investor, a well-known backer who used the app, and a major record label that saw value in the app's data. He was planning a round of around a million. > I think it was great to see things from a different perspective... sometimes you have to get out of your own way. — In their words ## Calling out the theory The conversation He started explaining how he wanted to balance strategic money against friends and family money. Mister Raw cut in: he was inventing problems that did not exist. He just needed the money. He rejected the idea that he was bluffing, but conceded it was a good question. > Rabbit hole. Back. — Mister Raw ## Small cheque, big milestone The turn For the label, Mister Raw suggested taking only a small first amount as a SAFE, with a larger second amount released once a star artist was photographed using the app. Part of his explanation, describing a SAFE as borrowing, was not accurate, and the founder had to look it up. The founder also pushed back on Mister Raw's view that musicians no longer need labels. > It sounds like you have to read up on the safe note thing. ... And then before Wednesday, you write me what your plan is. — Mister Raw ## Meetings this week Where things stand He agreed to read up on SAFEs and send his plan and deck within days. Mister Raw predicted a large sum raised within weeks, an optimistic guess. > It's not my first rodeo, but it's interesting when you get back up on the horse. — In their words ## Where it led A large investment from a label was reframed as a small first tranche, with more tied to a star artist being seen using the app. > Do you know about safe notes? - **Doing something · Happened:** After the first meeting he cut his investor deck down and rebuilt it around his own story. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the conversations helped him get out of his own way and hardened his thinking. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to research SAFEs and send his plan and deck before the label meeting. ## Still open - Mister Raw partly misdescribed a SAFE as a loan. - The angle that won the label meeting was the founder's own, from before this call. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder pretending he still had partners > His company had lost its momentum and he was thinking about taking a job. One blunt hour made him ask whether he trusted himself. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-493024-1 A young founder of a small video production company, Nordics “We had a great first year. Now there's one prospect and I'm thinking about getting a job.” ## Momentum, then silence The beginning A young founder had started a video production company with two friends. The first year went well. Then everyone got busy delivering, nobody kept selling, and the work dried up. The people they had hired were let go. He had one live prospect, no income, and was weighing up a job. The conversation was not planned. It began as a chat and turned into an hour of advice. ## Where did the momentum come from? The conversation Mister Raw started with plain questions: how had he got momentum a year earlier, and what did he really want to do? He was blunt about the founder's low energy and told him to start with regular exercise. Then he turned to the partners. Both were friends. Neither was doing much. > It doesn't sound to me you have any partners. — Mister Raw ## Pretending, and forgetting The turn Mister Raw went further: the founder was pretending to work with people who were not really there. The founder conceded it might be true, then chose loyalty anyway. "I value the friendship more than I value this company," he said. When he said large firms found him too small, Mister Raw pointed out he had already worked with large clients. "Maybe I just tend to forget that there is that behind me," the founder said. Asked if he trusted himself, he allowed that maybe he did not. > But you already, I don't understand, because you already proven you can play with the big fish. — Mister Raw ## A plan by Monday What he decided He pushed back on high-volume outreach. He did not want to become that sales type, and an earlier series of video interviews had brought in only one client. Mister Raw's answer was that it had been too little. The founder agreed to write a plan for winning clients, with three gym sessions a week built in, and send it within days. > I'm going to send the plans over the weekend, or ... Monday, and I'm going to have to execute them. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand He called it a weird conversation, then said he had actually loved it. ## Where it led He admitted he had forgotten his own track record and might not trust himself. > You're pretending you're working with someone who's out there. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Acknowledged he had forgotten his track record with large clients and might not trust himself. - **A decision · Committed to:** Committed to send a written plan for winning clients and for his own routine within days. ## Still open - He kept his inactive partners out of loyalty. - He resisted high-volume outreach, and his earlier content series had won only one client. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The software plan that sounded like hiding > He wanted to help charities, but outreach had worn him down, so he planned to build software instead. Mister Raw asked what he was really avoiding. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-7ab216-1 A solo founder who wants to help charities raise money, Europe “The charity project went nowhere, so I'll build software and a community instead.” ## A good idea with no takers The beginning He was living abroad on his own and wanted to help charities become financially sustainable through donor engagement, events and merchandise. His first attempt, a merchandise project with the charity he volunteered for, stalled when they would not promote it. Money was very tight and his living situation was uncertain. A first call was lost to bad Wi-Fi. They tried again about a week later. ## How do you pay for food? The conversation He explained his new plan: build software and an online community for charities, something that could scale without depending on partners. Mister Raw went back to basics. What did he want to do? How did he pay rent? How did he pay for food? He also pointed out that what they were discussing was still a concept, not a service anyone could buy. > What we're talking about is actually a concept, isn't it? — Mister Raw ## Hiding behind a product The turn Mister Raw argued the software would take a year or more before it helped anyone, and that it gave him something to hide behind. He resisted. Housing had to come first. He had no track record. Local charities would be wary of an outsider. Mister Raw's view was that the obstacles were in his head, not in the charities or his skills. Eventually the man named it himself: part of it was his own internal fear, after putting himself out there a lot. > It sounds like hiding to me. — Mister Raw ## One page and a list What he decided The suggestion was simple: package the service, list the local charities, approach many of them, and start with a few at a low fee or none to build proof. He asked whether Mister Raw would invest or lend. The answer was no. He agreed to write a one-page offer and a lead list and send them within days. "This sounds good. I like this plan," he said. > So I would write me a one-pager... on your service that you're going to go to market with to these local charities. — Mister Raw ## Where they left it Where things stand Asked when he would start, he said he had no idea, because he first had to work out where he would live. This was their only full conversation. ## Where it led He stopped defending the software plan and named his own fear of spending scarce energy on outreach that went nowhere. > It sounds like hiding to me. - **A different perspective · In their words:** Named his own anxiety and fear of running himself empty as part of what was holding him back. - **A decision · Committed to:** Agreed to write a one-page service offer and a list of local charities and send them within days. ## Still open - He resisted the core advice repeatedly and could not say when he would act. - Mister Raw declined to invest or lend. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The party planner waiting for permission to throw a party > She had hundreds of wealthy people on a waitlist and two years of investor meetings behind her. The investor she needed might already be on the list. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-7a7297-1 An experienced brand and events strategist with an idea for a luxury members' club, US “People want it, but investors want proof first, and I can't get proof without money.” ## Two years of almost The beginning She had spent decades designing brands and events. For two years she had been trying to open a travelling members' club for wealthy guests. A few hundred people had joined the waitlist. It had not opened. Investors wanted proof it worked, venues wanted deposits, and meanwhile she was also trying to sell branding work that was not landing. ## What do you want to achieve? The conversation Mister Raw started by asking what she actually wanted. Then he listened, and played it back plainly: hundreds of wealthy people thought it was a good idea, and nothing had happened yet. He offered a guess about why. > And my guess is because you're afraid. — Mister Raw ## The investor is on the list The turn Instead of venture money, he pointed her back at her own waitlist. Somewhere on it, or one step from it, was someone who would happily pay to co-host an exclusive evening for their best clients, such as a wealth manager. One sale like that could cover the venue and fund the first event. He also put her two businesses side by side: keep selling what was not working, or do what she was clearly good at. > Take any wealth manager ... who would not sponsor a gathering where he's 20 best clients? — Mister Raw ## Forget the membership, throw the party What she decided She said she had been approaching it the wrong way, through investors, when it was really about individuals. She decided to drop the membership-first plan, pause the branding work, and launch with one co-hosted event at a fixed, exclusive size. By the end of the hour she had two possible co-hosts in mind and agreed to call them that week. > Okay, then forget, I'm going to forget about the membership, and I'm just going to throw the party. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand The event numbers they sketched together were invented in the moment and never tested. The story pauses with a decision made and two phone calls to make. ## Where it led The launch stopped being a fundraising problem and became one phone call: find a single wealthy co-host to fund the first event. > So you got the story already. Okay. You got the story already. You got your investor already. You got it yesterday. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She named the investor route as the reason the launch had stalled. - **A decision · In their words:** She decided to launch with one co-hosted event instead of opening membership or waiting for investors. - **A decision · Committed to:** She committed to call two possible co-hosts that week. ## Still open - She resisted the idea that her branding work had failed, pointing to success inside companies. - The event finances were built on numbers made up during the call. - There is no sign that a co-host was signed or an event held. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder looking for investors instead of clients > He came to talk about finding an investor. He left counting the people who already loved his work and had never been asked back. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-45c859-1 A founder of an established leadership advisory and training firm, North America “Sales are thin, so I need an investor to get us through the pivot.” ## A good firm with too few sales The beginning He had run a leadership advisory firm for years and was moving its programmes into shorter digital formats. Revenue was short, so he was looking for a strategic investor to carry the change. His programmes were premium and slow to sell. Only a handful of clients had come through in the last few years. ## Counting the people who already knew The conversation Mister Raw did not start with the investor. He asked how many happy customers there had been, and then how many individual people had actually been through the work. The answer was a few dozen. Then he asked why the founder had not sat down for coffee with each of them. > How many people have encountered your magic? — Mister Raw ## Mostly me The turn At first the founder pointed to the market, to pricing and to sales help that had not delivered. Mister Raw kept asking what he himself was doing wrong. Eventually the founder said it plainly: part of it was him, and probably mostly him. Mister Raw then sketched a plan. Make the list, find everyone on it, reconnect personally, book meetings and sell something smaller to rebuild cash before chasing outside money. > Okay. So I'm playing you now. So you're saying it's mostly you or it's just you? — Mister Raw ## A reminder he said he needed What he decided He did not accept everything. A low entry price was far below what his firm charged, he said, and premium work does not close in a day. He had also already contacted about half the list. Still, he called the conversation a very good reminder that a company has to make money first, and said he would act on it after an upcoming trip, adding meetings while he was away. > what you're saying does make sense. I will act on it. And I thank you for that. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand They parted warmly and agreed to keep in touch. ## Where it led He stopped explaining the market and pricing, and admitted the bottleneck was mostly himself. > So you're saying it's mostly you or it's just you? - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the main reason sales were thin was mostly his own lack of follow-up with past clients. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to contacting more past clients and lining up extra meetings on an upcoming trip. ## Still open - He rejected the idea of a low-priced entry offer as far below his rates. - He had already reached about half the list, so part of the advice was not new to him. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The cofounder who was raising money too politely > She had already raised a first round and still talked about it like a favour. One conversation turned the pitch around and gave her an argument she had been missing. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-9ae9c5-1 A first-time cofounder of a pre-launch consumer marketplace, UK “We've raised a little, we're about to raise more, and we still haven't launched.” ## Ready to raise, not ready to launch The beginning She and her cofounder were building a content-led marketplace for a niche of luxury goods. They had raised a first round from angels and were planning a larger institutional one. Before launching, they wanted to test quietly with a closed group of creators. She and her cofounder did not fully agree on how slow that should be. ## Stop thanking, start inviting The conversation Mister Raw noticed how she described the money already raised. She spoke as if people had kindly supported them. He told her they had invested because it made sense, and that this put her in a strong position. The round, he said, should be pitched as an opportunity others could join. > You're not out asking for money. You're out speaking out who wants to join the opportunity. — Mister Raw ## Inside out The turn Then he turned to the launch. Why plan around a test group they did not yet have? He urged her to look at the market first and launch sooner, expecting to pivot as every company does. She said this matched her own side of the disagreement with her cofounder. She also said her partner's worry, that a weak launch can hurt a luxury brand, was not wrong. > now you have the market instead of looking at what you can do to the market, find out what the market can do for you. — Mister Raw ## Notes on the market What she took away She agreed with the point about pitching from strength, though she said others had told them something similar. She took notes on looking from the market inwards and on grouping creators by how fast they grow rather than how big they are. She called the conversation uplifting and very helpful. > it's been really uplifting and very helpful. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand She said she would keep Mister Raw updated. ## Where it led She saw that a slow, private test was the inside-out way round, and that the money already in made them strong, not lucky. > Do you have those 500 people? Why do you not have those 500 people already? What are you waiting for? What is holding you back? - **A different perspective · In their words:** She said she would pitch the round from strength rather than modesty. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She took a sharper argument for launching sooner into an open disagreement with her cofounder. ## Still open - The disagreement with her cofounder about launch speed was not settled. - Some of Mister Raw's remarks were more personal than a business conversation needed. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The broker about to outsource what he hadn't learned > He had the budget ready to hand his calls to an agency. One question made him ask who would actually know what to say. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-3d3314-1 A young founder of a small M&A brokerage, UK “I'll get an agency to fill my calendar so I can focus on closing.” ## Progress, and a shortcut The beginning He came back to Mister Raw after an earlier conversation with real progress. To steady his cash flow he had added a retainer service, finding off-market deals for investment firms and family offices. To fill his calendar he was about to hire a low-cost cold-calling agency. ## Why an agency? The conversation Mister Raw asked one question, and then explained his answer. Agencies make sense when you know exactly what works and the numbers behind it. Until then, you are paying someone to repeat a guess. What he needed first, Mister Raw said, was business development, not sales or meeting booking. > you start using an agency when you are ready to scale and you know what to scale and you understand the ground figures behind what you are scaling — Mister Raw ## Something he had been ignoring The turn The plan Mister Raw sketched was small and fast. A few capable freelancers paid weekly. Call five family offices, see what happens, improve, repeat. Learn what each kind of family office actually wants. The founder said the conversation had shown him something he had been avoiding: that the cheap option was the easy option, and that was wrong. > it seems something, like something I was ignoring, but it's actual reality, so it just refreshes the mind — In their words ## Budget moved to experiments What he decided He decided to move the agency budget to several experienced freelancers, comparing their scripts and results. Mister Raw also argued against commission-led pay for senior callers, which the founder had proposed. Mister Raw offered paid mentorship. The founder said no for now: he would rather spend on outreach and come back once he had closed a couple of clients. ## Where they left it Where things stand A follow-up was set for around two months later. ## Where it led He saw he was about to scale a pitch nobody had tested, and moved the money into hands-on experiments instead. > right now you don't know how to do it and I assure you, no agency in the whole world know how to approach a family office. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said he had been taking the easy option and needed to develop the pitch before outsourcing it. - **A decision · Committed to:** He decided to replace the agency with several weekly-paid freelancers and test scripts against each other. ## Still open - Mister Raw's view that commission-led pay would fail was not tested. - He declined paid mentorship until he had results. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who was mostly thinking > The money had run out and he was stuck choosing between clients, consulting and a job. Counting what he had actually done changed the question. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-cf646f-1 A founder of a pre-revenue workplace software startup “I've run out of money and I don't know where to put my energy.” ## No customers, no runway The beginning His startup had one small unpaid pilot and no paying customers. The money to pay his team had run out, and people close to him were urging him to close it and earn a living. He felt pulled between chasing new clients, picking up consulting and applying for jobs, and could not decide where to start. ## Counting what happened The conversation Mister Raw first worked out how many users the business would need to break even. The founder admitted it was not realistic in the time he had. Then he counted activity. Since the new year there had been roughly one application or outreach a day. Mister Raw apologised for being blunt and said it anyway. > I'm sorry for being so hard and blunt in my communication with you, but it sounds to me like 90% of what you're doing is up in your head. — Mister Raw ## Money first The turn The founder pushed back: a tailored application took him about an hour, not ten minutes. Mister Raw suggested a different method. Pick twenty roles, call the hiring managers before applying, then contact a hundred well-chosen people in his network. The founder named his own block in four words. > The only block is non-action. — In their words ## A list by morning What he decided He agreed to send his list of twenty roles by the next morning and to start calling on Monday. Mister Raw asked him to message whenever he felt stuck, so the plan was not a secret. The founder said he would. He thanked Mister Raw for the kick he needed. > Nope. I think you are right. I need to get out of my funk. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand The call did not settle how to wind down the company or what to do with the product. ## Where it led He stopped debating priorities and accepted that income had to come first. > I think you should get yourself some money in the bank account. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said inaction, not a lack of options, was his main block. - **A decision · In their words:** He accepted that earning an income came before finishing the product. - **Doing something · Committed to:** He committed to sending twenty target roles by the next morning and calling hiring managers on Monday. ## Still open - He disputed how little time each application would take. - His worry that interest had never turned into sales got an anecdote rather than an answer fitted to him. - How to wind down the company and his team was left open. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The web builder with no website > Agencies kept sending him work, and he kept saying yes. He built sites for everyone except himself. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-5382c5-1 A marketer turned fast website builder working with agencies, UK “I'm a busy fool, and I think I'm charging too little.” ## The business that became something else The beginning He had launched a service to improve advertising landing pages. Agencies started asking him to build whole websites in a week instead, and the business quietly became that. He arrived describing himself as a busy fool who was probably undercharging. > busy fool I think would be the best way to describe me. — In their words ## Hours, margin and a missing site The conversation Mister Raw asked how many hours each site took. The margin for his own time was thin, though much of the work could go to a helper using his large library of templates. The founder agreed he was undercharging. Then it came out that the service had no website of its own. ## Four hours and four hours The turn Mister Raw read the gap as fear of success; the founder put it down to time. Either way, the ask was concrete. Four hours to build his own landing page, four hours to contact agencies he already knew, and a modest budget for marketing. He said it set him a challenge. > why don't you just assign four hours to reaching out to your old network, assign yourself four hours to make yourself a sparkling landing page — Mister Raw ## A Sunday deadline What he decided He agreed and set his own deadline: the site would be sent by the end of Sunday. He also admitted he did not know where the time would come from. > I will. I will. I will send you a new website at the end of this week — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand He had a deadline and two clear tasks. ## Where it led He set himself a deadline to build his own site and contact the agencies he already knew. > please do these two things. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He agreed he was undercharging for the hours each site took. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to build and send his own landing page by the end of the week and to put money into marketing. ## Still open - He was not sure he could find the time. - Mister Raw's revenue projection assumed volume he did not yet have. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founders who never hit their own target > Every year they believed they could grow much faster. Every year they did not. In one conversation, he finally said why. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-ca1268-1 A technical cofounder of a bootstrapped, growing software business, UK “We keep working in the business, never on it.” ## Steady, profitable, stuck The beginning Three founders had grown a software business steadily for about five years, to a few hundred customers and a healthy six-figure revenue, mostly in regulated sectors. They built whatever customers asked for and had no marketing skills. They had wanted an advisor for two years, but paid help had burned them before. ## The question he saw coming The conversation Mister Raw asked about monthly revenue and how many customers it took. The cofounder saw where it was going, why not much bigger, and answered before the question was finished. He described faster-paying buyers in the US, and year-long sign-offs from institutions at home. ## Too stupid not to use The turn Mister Raw put the task differently: make the product so simple and so obviously worth it that not using it would feel foolish. Run the business from dashboards, now that they knew what worked. He also flagged a quieter risk: cofounders who do not agree on the price they would sell for. > Not that nice to have or need to have or simply too stupid not to use. — Mister Raw ## Saying the pattern out loud What he decided Near the end the cofounder put his finger on it himself. Each year he thought they could get there, and each year they were never near it, because there was no one to tell them. He said it would be worth working together and that he would take the proposal to his two partners. ## Waiting on the partners Where things stand He was to talk it over with the other founders and set up an introduction. ## Where it led The cofounder named his own pattern: each year they set a far higher goal and never came near it, because no one outside held them to it. > Not that nice to have or need to have or simply too stupid not to use. - **A different perspective · In their words:** The cofounder named the pattern that had held them back for years. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to take the offer to his cofounders and arrange a team introduction. ## Still open - They were wary of paying for advice after past disappointments. - Mister Raw's growth projection was ambitious and not grounded in data from the call. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder hiding behind connection requests > The product was finished. The outreach was polite, automated and almost silent. He was told to pick up the phone, and he argued about how. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-515671-1 A bootstrapped cofounder of a property data platform, UK “The product is ready. I just can't get anyone to talk to us.” ## A finished product and one reply The beginning He and his cofounders had built a data and marketplace platform for a property market in the Middle East. Their first commercial partner had fallen away. He was funding the company with short-term work and doing outreach through connection requests on a professional network. So far it had produced a single reply. ## Mostly his story The conversation Most of the hour was the founder walking through the product and the market. Mister Raw asked what else had happened, and let him talk. > What has happened then, apart from that? Tell me. — Mister Raw ## Stop hiding behind the engine The turn Then Mister Raw pushed. In a conservative business where reputation travels, automated messages read as spam. Find the firms already active in that market, phone them, and win a first few who will speak well of you. A call, he said, is just one person who wants to succeed talking to another. > stop the LinkedIn outreach or hiding yourself behind a marketing engine that really doesn't matter. — Mister Raw ## Yes, but the switchboard What he decided The founder agreed with the principle but held his ground on the method. No mobile numbers. In his experience people in the UK hate being called directly, so switchboards only. The second half turned to Mister Raw's own weekly accountability arrangement. The founder said he would start once an expected payment reached the company. > That's a good point mate — In their words ## A follow-up pencilled in Where things stand A next session was pencilled in for the following week. ## Where it led Mister Raw argued that message sequences put people off in a relationship-driven market, and the founder accepted that direct calls made more sense. > you are in a very conservative business where people matter. - **A different perspective · In their words:** The founder accepted that direct calls suited his market better than automated messaging. - **Business results · Committed to:** He agreed in principle to a paid weekly advisory arrangement, conditional on an incoming payment. ## Still open - He limited calling to switchboards and kept defending part of his existing approach. - Much of the time went on the product and a long tangent rather than on why the first partner fell away. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The man who walked away from what worked > He had already built a fast-growing business once. After it collapsed, he started over in a field he did not know. One question stopped him. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-a59fad-1 A former corporate executive restarting after a business collapse, Africa “I'm starting something new and I need funding to build it.” ## Built fast, lost fast The beginning He left a senior corporate role and built a business in a trade he barely knew, reaching seven figures in revenue within two years. He knew how to win clients and found a partner to do the work. Then the pandemic hit, the partnership broke down badly, and the business went with it. Now he ran a small services company and was starting to build a software tool, looking for funding. ## How do you get from here to there? The conversation Mister Raw asked how he had gone from his old business, to cleaning, to an app. The founder explained the lessons he had learned and the problem he wanted to solve. Mister Raw heard something else in the story. The model had worked. What failed were the partners and the contracts. ## The money in front of him The turn He asked one question and kept returning to it. Why was he reinventing himself, when he had already proven he could do this? After some back and forth, the founder answered honestly. It was excuses. He did not want to go back to something that had been so painful. > So my curious question is, why don't you want to pick up that money? It's just in front of you. — Mister Raw ## Sitting with the question What he decided He pushed back on one point: his name in the old industry, he said, had been damaged. Mister Raw thought that was mostly in his head, though he did not know the industry. The founder said he valued being challenged and needed time. He would sleep on it and talk it through with his partner at home, as part of a bigger decision about the next five to ten years. > I like the way you're challenging me today. I think I needed this. — In their words ## An open question Where things stand He had no budget for ongoing advice, and Mister Raw told him to make some money and come back. ## Where it led The founder stopped defending the new idea and admitted his reasons for not returning to the proven model were excuses. > So my curious question is, why don't you want to pick up that money? It's just in front of you. - **A different perspective · In their words:** The founder admitted his reasons for not restarting the proven model were excuses rooted in old pain. - **A decision · In their words:** He said he would take the question home and make a longer-term decision with his partner. ## Still open - He believed his reputation in the old industry was damaged, and that was never tested. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder whose hot leads never closed > Unpaid for well over a year, he had warm prospects and an investor deck. He had not asked either for a decision. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-de9718-1 A founder of a young regulated financial services startup, Africa “My leads are hot but nothing closes, and I'm about to pitch investors.” ## Licensed, unpaid, waiting The beginning He had spent over a year getting a cross-border payments business licensed, serving wealthy clients and companies. He had gone around eighteen months without a salary. A handful of hot leads kept not closing, and he was about to pitch angel investors. He wanted feedback on the deck first. ## Just ask them The conversation Mister Raw asked for his story and how many leads he was working. Then he gave one instruction. Busy buyers act on a few things at a time. Ask every hot lead the obvious question. > please just ask your warm pipeline. What are you waiting for? — Mister Raw ## Reading it as an investor would The turn Then he read the deck aloud as a sceptical investor. It was twice as long as it needed to be. The problem and the solution were scattered. The target market was practically the whole world. The equity ask suited a fund, not angels. Then he described the business in one plain sentence, and it suddenly sounded investable. > I don't know what the product is. I don't know why you are cheaper and better. — Mister Raw ## Clear and concise What he decided The founder agreed. One slide was in the wrong place. He had a large investor waiting for his pitch and said the timing was perfect. He would rewrite the deck and start asking his leads directly. The delivery was blunt, at moments crude, and he took it with good humour. > Keep it clear, keep it concise. Let it make sense. — In their words ## Where it led After tearing through the deck, Mister Raw summed the business up in one sentence, and the founder took that as the rule for the rewrite. > You know, what I just said, if you get into a lovely beautiful sentence, that's all you have to think. - **A different perspective · In their words:** The founder accepted the deck was unclear and out of order. - **A decision · Committed to:** He said he would rework the deck before pitching a large investor. - **Doing something · Committed to:** He said he would ask his hot leads what they were waiting for. ## Still open - Some of the delivery was crude and generalising. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The CEO betting everything on one deal > The pipeline looked full, the cash was running out, and almost the whole team was working one giant bid. He was hoping to hold on until someone bought him. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-1f1490-1 The CEO of a small professional services consultancy, UK “We just need to stay afloat until the big deal or a buyer comes through.” ## Hired ahead, cash behind The beginning He had grown his consultancy team on the strength of a busy pipeline, then watched contract after contract slip. Costs were high. He had sold reserves and taken on debt that he and his cofounder had personally guaranteed. Most of the team's time was going into one very large bid in the Middle East, and a possible buyer was circling. ## You sounded desperate The conversation Mister Raw opened by naming what he had heard when they last spoke. Then he took aim at the plan to hang on until a sale. > So again and you wanted to sorry I wasn't in England last month you almost sounded desperate. — Mister Raw ## The deal is a bonus, not the plan The turn Buyers pay for a strong pipeline and visible growth, not for a firm that is struggling. Treat the giant deal as a bonus. Get the whole team selling, rather than leaving it all to the two founders. And with the decision maker on the big bid, stop being polite. Ask what it would take. > what does it take for us to get to the next step? How can I help you get us to the next step? — Mister Raw ## From survival to both What he decided The CEO described the shift himself: from just doing enough to get by, to holding short-term revenue and long-term targets at once. He planned to use an upcoming trip to push the big bid towards a decision. He was less sure about the team selling, saying compliance specialists are not natural sellers and need time. ## Times to follow Where things stand Mister Raw offered a paid month of mentoring. The proposed date clashed with a founders' retreat, and the CEO said he would send times. ## Where it led Told that buyers do not pay for a struggling firm, the CEO began talking about holding short-term cash and long-term growth together, rather than just surviving. > they're not going to buy you if you're struggling - **A different perspective · In their words:** The CEO described moving from a survival mindset to holding short-term cash and long-term growth together. - **Relationships · Committed to:** He agreed in principle to meet for a session and said he would send dates. ## Still open - The paid mentoring offer was not accepted on the call. - He partly disagreed about pushing his staff to sell. - A crude analogy from Mister Raw is part of the record. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The cofounders too comfortable to decide > Seven years in, steady revenue, cash in the bank, and a nagging sense they should be much further along. One simple question showed why. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-d76f53-1 A cofounder of a bootstrapped B2B software business, one of three equal partners, UK “We're doing fine. That's the problem. We should be doing so much better.” ## Steady, profitable, and stuck The beginning Three friends had run a software business together for seven years without outside money. It earned a healthy recurring income, mostly through paid search, and there was cash in the bank. Yet one of them could not shake the feeling that they should be far further along, especially next to a competitor many times their size. His two partners had already spoken to Mister Raw. He was the third. ## The urgency had gone The conversation Mister Raw started with what he actually wanted. Sell or grow? Grow, he said, and earn more doing it. Then the picture came out: three equal partners who were also friends and slow to decide anything, two co-CEOs who mostly wrote code, and new sales channels tried half-heartedly and dropped. There was also very little pressure, because the money was there. Mister Raw named it plainly: the comfort had taken the urgency away, and decisions were not being made but avoided. The cofounder did not argue. He said the business had become almost complacent, and wondered whether they had enough pressure. > instead of avoiding the doing this, because that sounds to me, that's what's happening, you know, you're actually avoiding the decision making. — Mister Raw ## Why do customers buy? The turn Then a simple question. Why do your customers buy from you? And if each of the three founders answered separately, how many different answers would come back? He tried, and stopped. He said he did not think he knew; he was only guessing. Mister Raw suggested asking customers directly, so the three of them had one shared picture to decide against. The cofounder saw the point: it could almost anchor their decisions. > What I really know is that you probably don't know, that's what I really know. — Mister Raw ## Get all three in one room What they decided Mister Raw suggested weekly goals with a named owner for each test, and someone finally working on the business rather than everyone working in it. He was frank that he could not recommend a structure before seeing the three of them together. He even raised, as an edge case, that one founder might need to step back. They agreed to meet as a group once a partner was back from holiday. > I think we should get this ball rolling and get you in the same room and have a good talk. — Mister Raw ## Where they left it Where things stand The cofounder also mentioned that his partners might prefer to sell within a couple of years, a difference nobody resolved that day. ## Where it led He realised he could not say why customers buy from them, and that this gap sat under every stalled decision. > What I really know is that you probably don't know, that's what I really know. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He admitted he could not say why customers buy, and accepted asking them as a first step. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He named complacency and a lack of pressure as a cause of their slow growth. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to bring all three founders together with Mister Raw. ## Still open - Whether the founders want to grow or sell was not settled between them. - Mister Raw could not yet advise on roles or structure without meeting all three. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The film makers who kept asking for scripts > Two founders of a small production company were waiting for agencies to send them work. So was everyone else. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-1ed590-1 Two cofounders of a self-funded commercials production company, UK “We need agencies to send us scripts, and they aren't sending enough.” ## A chance meeting, a thin pipeline The beginning A producer and a director had built a young commercials production company with a roster of directors and no outside money. They met Mister Raw by chance and agreed to a call. The problem was simple to state. In a crowded market, they depended on advertising agencies sending scripts to pitch on, and not enough were arriving. A new salesperson had just joined, without industry contacts yet. ## How does a script arrive? The conversation Mister Raw wanted the mechanics first. Did a script mean the job, or just the chance to pitch? And how did scripts reach them now? He said openly he was no advertising specialist. His point was broader. Every competitor was making the same request: have you got a script? They were all asking for work rather than offering anything. > And how do you get a script now? — Mister Raw ## Selling relief, not a service The turn He told them they were not really selling a product or a service, but an experience for their clients. Find out what agencies and brands are struggling with, and help first. The director agreed that asking for scripts was what everyone did, and that asking how they could help was a far more interesting way in. He began thinking aloud about matching directors to what brands actually need. > You're not selling the product. You're not selling the service. No, you know, you're selling an experience, not towards the end consumer, but towards your clients. — Mister Raw ## Not every idea landed The pushback Mister Raw suggested calling the directors' old contacts. The director said they had already tried, and replies were hard to get. When Mister Raw asked whether the company itself was the right vehicle, the producer said firmly that it was, citing good work and happy clients, and Mister Raw softened. They asked about starting a separate business selling direct to brands. He said he could not answer that in an hour, and declined to introduce investors. ## A rethink, and an open door Where things stand At the end the producer called the hour a real rethink, a way of looking at things differently. Both sides talked about a longer session over dinner. > this has been like, a really interesting kind of, mind change, kind of re-approach, rethink, look at things differently — In their words ## Where it led They began moving from asking agencies for scripts towards asking agencies and brands what they were struggling with. > Think yourself as a painkiller. - **A different perspective · In their words:** The director said asking how they could help was a more interesting way in than asking for scripts. - **A different perspective · In their words:** The producer described the conversation as a rethink of how they win work. ## Still open - Working the directors' old contacts had already been tried with mixed results. - The question of a separate direct-to-brand business was left unanswered. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The consultant with a big plan and an empty diary > He came looking for investors for a new school. The harder question was how he would pay his own way this year. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-0a0d62-1 A former corporate finance executive, now a solo consultant to schools, UK “The plan is solid. I just need to find the investors.” ## A detailed plan for a new school The beginning After years in corporate finance abroad, he had come back to the UK and set up alone as a consultant to independent schools. Alongside that, he had designed a new kind of business-focused sixth-form school, with a full financial model and a funding target in the low millions. Most of the call was him walking through the deck. What he wanted most was a route to investors. ## A good idea, told the wrong way The conversation Mister Raw liked the idea and said so. He did not like the pitch. It read as a plan written for its author, not a story an investor would want to repeat to others. He should be selling a dream he was capable of realising. He took it well. His opening, he agreed, had to be the dream. He also explained he had deliberately held the story back until the numbers were solid. > I like the whole idea and the foundation of what you're creating, of the way you present it sucks. Okay. Because I don't know why I'm listening. — Mister Raw ## How do you pay the rent? The turn Mister Raw declined to make introductions. Instead he picked up something mentioned in passing: the consulting work was thin, and money was tight. Before the school could succeed, he said, the founder himself had to. So how was he finding new clients? By building contacts with head teachers online, came the answer. > How do you pay the rent for the next year then? — Mister Raw ## Into the lion's den What he decided Mister Raw was blunt. Building contacts online was running around the battlefield instead of stepping into the battle. Pick ten schools and call them. Then, better, call twenty. The founder admitted he was hesitant to call directly, and said he understood the point completely. He committed to phoning the schools within a week and letting Mister Raw know how it went. > I'm tentative of stepping into the lion's den as well. I get your point. — In their words ## Twenty calls, unconfirmed Where things stand He disagreed that the school idea would be hard to copy, pointing to large school groups with their own investment teams. He wanted the consulting and the school kept separate, and turned down paid support for now because money was tight. ## Where it led The focus moved from investors for the school to his own thin pipeline and his reluctance to pick up the phone. > What you're doing is that you are running around the battlefield instead of stepping into the battle. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted that his pitch had to lead with the vision rather than the financial model. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He admitted he had been hesitant about approaching schools directly. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to phoning twenty schools within a week. ## Still open - He disagreed that the school concept could not easily be copied. - Some of the critique of the pitch was something he already planned to fix. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder walking away from what already sold > Families were buying. So why was he chasing business leaders with an offer he had not yet defined? Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-9609d4-1 A solo founder of a personal storytelling and audio production service, UK “Families like it, but the real money must be in business. I just don't know how to reach them.” ## Building alone The beginning He had left a tech job and put his own money into a service that turns people's life stories into professionally produced audio. A few dozen families had bought it. Now he was turning towards business leaders, working alone, unsure of the message and unsure where older business owners could even be reached. ## What has actually sold? The conversation Mister Raw started with what was already working. How many consumer sales, and at what price? Then a practical puzzle: a CEO who has run the same company for twenty-five years and is not on LinkedIn. Where does he actually spend his time? > So, when you were B2C, did you close any clients? ... And how much did they pay for it? — Mister Raw ## Pivoting away from proof The challenge Then the challenge. He had proof that families would pay. The business offer was still undefined, yet he was planning a three-hour session to brainstorm it. The founder defended the session, saying even one golden answer would make it worthwhile, and said he was not abandoning the consumer side. Mister Raw's advice was to keep it going and build the business offer around it. > And are you pivoting over to something that might work, although you actually just proven that what you do is working? — Mister Raw ## A business expense, a personal reward The idea The idea he liked most came next. A company pays for a podcast for its brand, and the leader also spends two hours making a personal one for the family. The purchase stops feeling like a cost and starts feeling like a reward. Mister Raw added two more: a subscription built on accountability, and asking happy family buyers to pass it on to friends. The founder said he really liked the bundle, because it was personal to them. > But on top of that, we'll spend two hours with you making a personal podcast that you can share with your family. — Mister Raw ## Grateful, but not yet Where things stand He thanked Mister Raw warmly and called the advice invaluable. Even a reduced advisory fee was still a lot of money at that stage, so he said he would think it over and be in touch the following week. > thank you very much for all your advice that you gave me throughout this hour. — In their words ## Where it led Mister Raw proposed a bundle: the company pays for a business podcast, and the leader also gets a personal story for the family. > But on top of that, we'll spend two hours with you making a personal podcast that you can share with your family. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said he really liked bundling a business podcast with a personal one for the leader's family. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised referrals from existing buyers, and merging life and business, as under-used angles. ## Still open - He did not take up paid support, citing cost. - Mister Raw illustrated one point with a retelling of another person's story that got some facts wrong. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The young founder who came to sell > He booked the call to sell his product. He left with a warning about what early success does to founders. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-d5b060-1 A very young cofounder of an angel-backed AI sales software startup, Asia “Revenue is doubling every month. Let me show you what we've built.” ## A sales pitch The beginning He and a friend had built an AI tool for sales outreach. They had experienced angels behind them, a few dozen customers, and revenue that had roughly doubled each month for three months. He booked the call to sell the product to Mister Raw. ## Revenue, or cash? The conversation After the demo, Mister Raw asked about monthly revenue, costs and who owned what. Some of the latest figure turned out to be upfront payments rather than recurring revenue. The founder chose not to share the ownership split. > But that's not your MRR. That's your that's your that's your revenue. That's your cash flow — Mister Raw ## When the ego comes in The turn Then Mister Raw stopped being the customer and gave his advice for free. Two young founders had found traction for the first time. That, he said, is exactly when people start making bad decisions. He was careful to add that this rested on the figures being as described. The shift he described was from hunting customers themselves to organising others to do the hunting. > your ego comes in now you become wow everything is possible we can do this ... and what will happen after this is that you will start failing miserably — Mister Raw ## A week away to plan What he decided His suggestion was practical. The two founders should take a week away together and think through tomorrow, one year, five years and ten years ahead. The founder said it had made him think differently, and that he would speak to his cofounder straight away and come back afterwards. > It made me think differently. Let me have a conversation with him. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand Mister Raw did not buy the product. ## Where it led The call switched from the founder selling to Mister Raw advising both founders to step away for a week and plan. > our next task is to take your friend and you And you have to go for a week holiday somewhere - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the conversation made him think differently. - **A decision · Committed to:** He said he would plan a week away with his cofounder and report back. ## Still open - The founder kept the ownership split private, so the advice rested on partial figures. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who wrote about one problem and talked about another > He wanted to stop being the only person who sells. Then the whole hour went on raising money for something else. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-1f0957-1 A founder of a profitable, self-funded IT consultancy, Nordics “I want out of founder-led sales, but there's this new thing, and investors are calling.” ## A good firm nobody hears about The beginning He runs a profitable IT consultancy that has never taken outside money. He gets in touch because he wants to step back from being the person who does all the selling. At the same time, he and two senior partners are spinning out an AI sales product. Investors have started calling, and he is not sure he trusts them. ## Mostly listening The conversation For most of the hour he talks: the new product, the investors, the advisor telling him the raise will go well. Mister Raw listens, asks a few questions, and declines to hear the full pitch. Then he stops and asks where things actually stand. > I'm just trying to understand where you are in reality. — Mister Raw ## Two goals, energy for one The turn Mister Raw names the gap. The message was about getting out of founder-led sales. The conversation has been about raising money for a different company. His suggestion is to wait on the raise. Build a story for the consultancy instead, and work the contracts and partner networks it already has. As he puts it, it sounds as if the firm has something true and good, and simply tells nobody about it. > Because to me it sounds like you should wait a little with capital raising, but focus much more on creating the brand and the story. Because there's no story. — Mister Raw ## Not everything lands Where they disagreed The founder agrees at once on one point. The consultancy has no story, he says, and that is one of its big problems. He pushes back on the rest. His product, he says, sells in a way nobody else is doing. Investors are already approaching him. Mister Raw's refusal to hear the pitch may not have helped the exchange. > The only problem with AI in sales is that everyone is doing AI in sales. — Mister Raw ## An open ending Where things stand He calls it an interesting conversation but is unsure what to do with it, and asks for a short note on how Mister Raw works. > I think it's been an interesting beer conversation type thing, but I don't know where to go with this — In their words ## Where it led Mister Raw pointed out that the problem he wrote about and the one he was talking about were not the same, and argued for story before money. > Because to me it sounds like you should wait a little with capital raising, but focus much more on creating the brand and the story. Because there's no story. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He agreed that his consultancy had no story and called it one of its big problems. ## Still open - He was not persuaded that the AI sales market was too crowded for his product. - He did not commit to any further work together. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The startup that was too careful to launch > Ten beta users, a disputed investor plan, and a launch held back because nobody had time for support. The advisors wanted an honest view. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-63011a-1 Two part-time board advisors to an early-stage accounting software startup, UK “We've launched to a handful of beta users, but we're scared we can't support any more.” ## A new advisor joins The beginning Mister Raw has just joined a small accounting software startup as an advisor. Two of the other part-time advisors want his honest view before he meets the chief executive. The product has just gone out to about ten beta users. The investor plan is disputed inside the team. The pitch tries to speak to everyone, from sole traders to large firms, and the one interested investor wants revenue first. ## Where are you, really? The conversation He starts by asking how they feel and what the real trouble is. They explain that the launch has been held back on purpose. Nobody on the team has time to handle customer support, so they have kept it small. > I would like to understand how you feel, where you are. — Mister Raw ## Support as a good sign The turn He names it plainly: they are walking carefully instead of banging their heads into the wall, and you can prepare forever and never get anywhere. Then he turns the fear around. A flood of support requests would be the best news they could get. One paying customer, then forty, matter more than a polished plan. The chief executive alone should carry the raise, with a much shorter deck. > Hopefully, a lot of our clients that we onboard will tell us a lot and we will need a lot of support. Because that means we have a product that actually does something. — Mister Raw ## Money from inside A question nobody had asked He asks how much the existing team could put in themselves, each a small amount. It is a conversation they have never had. One advisor finds it interesting; another says they could raise it and see what it would do. > we've not had that conversation. Interesting. — In their words ## The product still matters Where they pushed back Not everything is accepted. One advisor argues the product needs tightening before they approach bank partners, and only partly agrees with Mister Raw's view that traction fixes the product. He declines to make the investor introductions they had hoped for, and some of his market claims go unsourced. > Don't worry about the product. As soon as we get traction enough, the product will become good. Otherwise, we die anyway. — Mister Raw ## Push the chief executive Where things stand The advisors agree they have always leaned towards caution, and ask Mister Raw to push the chief executive on a tighter message and give him confidence. He is due to speak to him later that day. ## Where it led The advisors admitted the team had been holding back out of caution, and support requests were recast as proof the product works. > Well, what I'm hearing is you are walking very cautiously instead of banging your head into the wall. - **A different perspective · In their words:** An advisor admitted the team had always leaned towards caution about launching. - **A decision · In their words:** The idea of the team putting in its own money came up for the first time, and they agreed it was worth discussing. - **Relationships · In their words:** The advisors asked Mister Raw to push the chief executive towards a tighter story. ## Still open - The disagreement about tightening the product before approaching bank partners was not settled. - He declined to make investor introductions. - Some of his market claims on the call were strong and unsourced. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The consultant who built his business on someone else's brand > His leads came from a software vendor. Then the vendor opened the door to everyone, and the winter got very quiet. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-933d9e-1 An independent software implementation consultant, Europe “My leads came from someone else's platform, and they've dried up.” ## A hard winter The beginning He sets up a popular work management tool for small businesses. For years his leads came from the vendor's partner directory, then from its sales staff. Then the directory was opened to anyone, and after a hard winter the leads have almost stopped. He is widening his network, looking for partners and referrals. ## Whose pipeline is it? The conversation Mister Raw asks how many leads come in a month. Then he puts the situation in one sentence. The consultant does not argue: that is exactly the case, he says. > So, is it fair to say that you have joined a brand? To build your business and you have no control over your own pipeline. — Mister Raw ## A reason to wait The turn His plan is to standardise his delivery first, so he can bring in experts on other platforms and then approach new partners. Mister Raw hears something else: a precondition that will keep him from ever reaching out. > it sounds to me, you are, you're stopping yourself, and giving yourself excuses for not doing what you're supposed to be doing — Mister Raw ## Do it again, on purpose The idea Instead, find young project tools that have just raised money, and offer to be their premium consultant. It is the same move that built his business the first time, with the original vendor. He recognises it: make it up as he goes, as he did before. > And the fun part is this exercise only takes you two, three hours. — Mister Raw ## Standards for a reason Where he held his ground He keeps his view on standardisation. Without it, experts he subcontracts could leave messes with clients that he has to clean up. It is a practical concern that gets little room in the conversation. He hears the monthly fee for mentoring and says not yet, after three hard months. > I believe it can be standardized... I do see a path forward — In their words ## Close the client first Where things stand The conversation ends with a simple instruction: win the work in front of him first, then get back in touch. > Close the client and call me next week. — Mister Raw ## Where it led His plan to standardise before approaching new partners was named as a blockade, and replaced with a short outreach exercise. > So now you're putting a blockade in front of you that you haven't even standardized for existing operations. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He agreed that he had no control over his own pipeline. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised the young-platform outreach as the move that had built his business the first time. ## Still open - He disagreed that his delivery could not be standardised, and the point was not resolved. - He did not take up the mentoring offer. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The sales trainer who wasn't picking up the phone > He had spent years selling for others. On his own, his outreach was polite, slow and only on LinkedIn. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-77a28f-1 A former software sales director, newly running his own sales consultancy, UK “I teach sales for a living, so why is my own pipeline so slow?” ## Starting again, a few months in The beginning After many years selling software, he has left a corporate role and set up on his own, training and coaching sales teams. A few months in, he has one small client on a modest monthly fee, and money to last until the end of the year. He asks whether he is being too hard on himself about how slowly clients are coming. ## How long is the runway? The conversation Mister Raw asks who the client is, what they pay, and how long the money will last. Then he looks at the outreach: a slow, polite sequence of LinkedIn messages. > And when are you running out of money? — Mister Raw ## The obvious thing The turn He pushes back at first. Phoning feels slightly counterproductive, because people do not answer. Asked whether calling would be as effective or more, he concedes it would probably be more effective, partly because so few people call at all. > So why don't you call them? — Mister Raw ## Good clients leave A harder truth There is a second point. When a consultant's client succeeds, the client says thank you and goes. So momentum matters more than any single win. > you need to create an enough momentum for yourself. And that's where most consultants actually fail. — Mister Raw ## A better free offer What he decided Rather than general free help, Mister Raw suggests offering to coach one salesperson inside a prospect's team for a few hours. He had not thought of it. He says he will rework his process to include phone calls and that offer, then work it hard. > that's a really good idea. I hadn't thought of doing that. — In their words ## Let me think about it Where things stand The conversation ends with Mister Raw offering paid mentoring at a reduced rate until he is earning, with no contract. His business account is empty, he says, and he will think about it. Much of the advice echoed what he already teaches others. ## Where it led A simple question about phoning prospects moved him from a LinkedIn-only plan to calls and a sharper free offer. > So why don't you call them? - **A different perspective · In their words:** He conceded that calling would probably beat his LinkedIn-only approach. - **A decision · Committed to:** He said he would rework his outreach to include phone calls and a free coaching session inside a prospect's team. ## Still open - He did not take up the mentoring offer. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The co-founder who hadn't called his own customers > A year and a half in, a handful of customers and no cash. The answer was in the customers he already had. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-78fdaf-1 A co-founder of a small, self-funded leadership software company, Nordics “We have a handful of customers after a year and a half, and no money.” ## Big deals, empty bank The beginning A year and a half in, the company has three people, a handful of customers, mostly in the care sector, and very little recurring revenue. They are chasing a few large enterprise deals. There is no cash. He keeps the team going by consulting on the side. ## What is it, actually? The conversation Mister Raw reads the website aloud and says he cannot tell what the product is. He asks who sells, and why five hours a week of calling is out of reach. The co-founder pushes back. Some vagueness is deliberate, he says, and they have a sales process; the problem is volume and cash. At one point he tells Mister Raw his maths is too glib. > A new standard for organisational tools. What the hell is that? — Mister Raw · Translated ## The segment that already bought The turn The care sector has already bought, without being pushed. Mister Raw argues to repeat that before chasing large firms. First call existing customers and write down how they describe the product in their own words. Then phone a hundred similar managers, at fixed hours every day. The co-founder admits he has been asking himself why he has not already done this. > It would be great if you called your customers and asked how they use the system... Then she tells you in her own words what problems it actually solves. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Half a page What he decided The plan should fit on half a page and be presented in person, not sent. He says he is torn between being sick of advice and badly needing it. He accepts an offer of a few more hours of help and promises to send a plan after the holiday. > I need a plan, a pitch, and 50 phone numbers. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Rough edges What did not sit right The conversation is openly confrontational, and Mister Raw apologises for it more than once. He also floats a shortcut involving a public business subsidy that, as described, would not be above board. It is not advice to follow. He quotes fees, though the co-founder says he cannot pay anything. ## Where they left it Where things stand Mister Raw says he would expect a few new customers within weeks of starting to call. ## Where it led The conversation moved from debating positioning to a plan: call the customers who already bought, then repeat that segment at volume. > Our first task is to multiply by 10 as quickly as possible. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised that he had been avoiding calling the customers who had already bought. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to send a half-page plan, a pitch and a call list after the holiday. - **Relationships · In their words:** He accepted the offer of a few more hours of help. ## Still open - Mister Raw suggested a questionable way to draw on a public subsidy. - He said he could not pay, and no paid work is recorded. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The sales manager measuring the wrong thing > His leads came in by themselves, yet very few bought. He wanted better call metrics. He got a different question. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-6551fc-1 A sales manager at a large professional services firm, Asia “People come to us, but almost none of them buy.” ## Surveys, maps and metrics The beginning Mister Raw is advising his firm on strategy. The manager arrives with survey feedback from prospects who did not buy, a rough customer journey map, and a practical problem. How do you judge whether junior salespeople are having good calls when deals take over a month to close? His idea is to filter calls by length. ## The real trouble The conversation Mister Raw asks how the process runs up to payment. Then he points away from volume. Fifty calls and two sales is not a numbers problem. > the real problem is you don't have good conversations with people. That's the real trouble. It's not the amount. — Mister Raw ## They are calling you The turn These are people who reached out first. So the failure is the experience they have on the phone. He narrows it further: getting people to the first consultation, and how that consultation is run. > This is not about sales. This is about conversation. — Mister Raw ## Listen to every call The plan Record, transcribe and analyse every call, so coaching is about quality rather than length. Put new hires through a bootcamp of their first couple of hundred conversations, with a review after every ten. > I think the best way to start out a new salespeople is to have a bootcamp ... getting through to the 200 first conversations ... for every 10 conversations we have, we have a talk. — Mister Raw ## Not that blunt Where he pushed back Some of Mister Raw's examples are harsh, and the manager says he does not want to build a team that way; he asks for a more motivating approach. A point about a customer app does not quite land. He stays unsure how to run a bootcamp for people who learn at different speeds. ## Rework and reconnect Where things stand He says the inputs have opened his thinking. He agrees to rework the journey map around the two questions, raise transcription with the tech team, and try a bootcamp using older leads. A follow-up is set for the next week or so. > Some of these inputs are actually opening my mind as well — In their words ## Where it led The measure of success moved from call counts and call length to the quality of the conversation. > What would happen if that suddenly became the parameter of success that we have good conversations with our customers? Because this is not cold calling out to people. People are contacting us. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the conversation had opened his thinking about where conversion breaks. - **A decision · Committed to:** He planned to raise call transcription with the tech team and try a bootcamp for new hires. ## Still open - He remained unsure how to run the bootcamp with a mixed team. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The director afraid to fix what wasn't broken > His sales funnel worked, but leaked everywhere. Changing it felt riskier than living with it. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-0ec91e-1 The managing director of a profitable, family-owned private healthcare business, UK “It works, but it's wasteful, and I'm scared to touch it.” ## Growth on volume The beginning He reads a post by Mister Raw about closing and gets in touch. The business is profitable and has grown on volume, but the funnel leaks. Many booked consultations never show up, only about half of those who do go ahead, and there is no real sales leadership. An acquisition is about to add more volume. ## Ask the ones who left The conversation Mister Raw's first point is simple: talk to the people who did not buy. Most leaders, he says, do not really know why customers choose them. > Someone needs to speak to them and ask them, why didn't you buy from us? ... The point is, you think what they would most likely say, but it's usually not. — Mister Raw ## A safe experiment The turn He admits he is scared to change something that is not obviously broken. The answer is not to touch the existing funnel at all. Build a second one beside it, on a small share of new enquiries, and experiment there. Current revenue stays safe. > We're going to do a pipeline next to it, 5-10% of the intakes, and then experiment with those. ... Because then you're safe, first of all. And it doesn't hurt your current revenue. — Mister Raw ## The structure itself A harder question Mister Raw goes further, carefully: the sales structure, perhaps the sales leadership, might need to change too. The director does not resist. He suspects the process needs an overhaul. > I do know that it can't stay like this forever. — In their words ## Courage, then a quote Where things stand He says he has gained a lot of clarity in a short time, and perhaps just needed to hear it. Mister Raw proposes a paid workshop plus customer interviews and agrees to send a quote. The deeper blocker, nobody inside to lead the change, is not solved. ## Where it led His fear of breaking a working funnel was met with a way to test a new one on a small share of leads. > We're going to do a pipeline next to it, 5-10% of the intakes, and then experiment with those. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** He said he gained clarity and perhaps just needed to hear it to find the courage to change a working process. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He acknowledged that the sales process could not stay as it was. ## Still open - Nobody internally was identified to lead the change. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Waiting to feel ready to talk to customers > Three months in, she was still polishing her website and program. In one hour she found her customer's problem in a single sentence, and admitted what was really holding her back. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-7d4eae-1 A solo consultant starting a mentoring service for small service businesses, UK “I'm still building the website. I'll start talking to people once I'm mentally ready.” ## Three months of preparing The beginning She had left a technical profession to start a project-management and mentoring service for small service businesses. Three months on, she was still working on her website and program. The little outreach she had tried brought back one response: who are you? > So what are you going to reach out with to who? — Mister Raw ## The thing most people avoid The conversation Mister Raw named the pattern plainly. Most founders do everything except the one thing that matters, and for three months she had not spoken to customers. She said she needed to feel ready first. He did not think that day would come. > My guess is you will never become ready. — Mister Raw ## Finding the problem, not the service The turn Each time she described her services, he asked what the customer's problem was. It took half an hour. The answer was clients who over-deliver, feel overwhelmed and do not get the value back, often because their contracts and negotiations are weak. He gave her a line and made her say the pitch back to him until it was hers. She admitted the real barrier was not readiness. > I think you are right. It's just like going out of my comfort zone a lot... And probably I don't believe too much in myself as well. — In their words ## Not this week, but a promise What she decided He asked her to speak to five potential customers by Friday. She refused the deadline, saying she already had a plan and that people cannot be forced. She also disagreed with part of his reading of why clients over-deliver. What she did agree to was an email within about two weeks: the problem, her solution and five named prospects. > Send the email, I promise. — In their words ## Where it led After half an hour of circling her services, the customer's problem came into focus: people who over-deliver and end up overwhelmed. > I know that you are over-delivering. I have a solution for that. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She stated her offer as a customer problem for the first time and said it clicked. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She named comfort zone and self-belief, not readiness, as what was holding her back. - **A decision · Committed to:** She promised to email her problem statement and five target customers within about two weeks. ## Still open - She turned down the challenge to speak to five prospects that week. - She disputed parts of Mister Raw's reasoning. - No later evidence that the email was sent or customers contacted. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The exited founder waiting for the phone to ring > He had sold a company before. A month into consulting, he had no clients and found outreach draining. He left with a list to build and someone to send it to. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-8ef0d5-1 A founder turned consultant to software companies, after selling his previous business, UK “Social media has gone quiet, it's summer, and I don't want to spam people.” ## A new practice, an empty diary The beginning He had recently sold his previous tech company and, a month earlier, launched a consultancy for software founders whose growth had plateaued: scale or sell. He had no clients yet. Social media had gone quiet, there was no money to hire someone to sell, and he admitted that reaching out to strangers drained him. > But what are you consulting with? Who are you aiming for? — Mister Raw ## A plan with a number in it The conversation Mister Raw gave him something concrete. Find a hundred software companies that had not raised money and were three to seven years old. Get their contact details cheaply. Message them directly. And send Mister Raw the list. > And why I'm saying send me the list is because then you have accountability. — Mister Raw ## The excuse he named himself The turn When he hesitated over the summer holidays, he caught himself. Mister Raw's deeper point was about the inside game: take a first client at whatever price, because invoicing changes how you sound to the next one. > now it's about getting you to work, because when you get to work and you start invoicing, then your whole mindset changes, and that's something the next client can hear — Mister Raw ## Starting tomorrow What he decided He agreed, a little tentatively, and said he would begin the next day. They swapped numbers so he could send the list. Mister Raw predicted a handful of meetings and a couple of clients from it. That was a forecast, not a result. > Yep. agree with that. — In their words ## Where it led He moved from waiting for inbound interest to agreeing to build a list of a hundred target companies and contact them directly, with Mister Raw holding him to it. > the number one thing is to start walking. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised that his hesitation about timing was an excuse. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to build a list of a hundred target companies, contact them directly and send the list to Mister Raw. ## Still open - His commitment was tentative and he was unsure of the process. - Mister Raw's forecast of meetings and clients is unverified. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # He wanted transactions, not more ideas > For most of a long call he pushed back on every big idea. Then one small, specific question about his existing clients changed what he meant by focus. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-bc6728-1 A founder of a small live entertainment events business, UK “My salesperson books meetings but doesn't close. I don't need ideas. I need deals.” ## Frustrated and at capacity The beginning He ran a small events business with steady venue clients and one salesperson. Larger corporate deals kept slipping away, and the new salesperson booked meetings but rarely closed. He reached out after seeing Mister Raw online, mostly to vent. > So tell me, why did you suddenly make this company, first of all? — Mister Raw ## Resistance The first hour Mister Raw offered broad ideas: content, account strategy, packaging acts together. The founder rejected most of them. He was at capacity, the people he worked with would not like being sold as a package, and he disagreed outright with some of the reasoning. What he wanted, he said, was transactions, not transformation. > You are doing the things that you find most valuable to you at any certain point in your journey as a company owner. — Mister Raw ## Which chains already book you? The turn Then Mister Raw narrowed right down. How many hotel chains already booked shows? Call every other property in those groups, citing the existing booking. Nobody wants to be first; nobody minds being second. > Because then they're not the first one in the group who's taking a wave. — Mister Raw ## Starting tonight What he decided Something shifted. He said he finally understood what focus meant: not calling hotels, but calling one chain with proof in hand. He planned to brief his salesperson that same night, and agreed to weekly check-ins, with any fee deferred until new revenue appeared. > Oh, I see what you mean by focus now. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand A follow-up with the salesperson was set for the next week. ## Where it led Instead of selling to new hotels in general, he saw he could sell to sister properties of chains that already booked his shows, using those bookings as proof. > Because then they're not the first one in the group who's taking a wave. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He re-understood focus as targeting one chain using an existing booking as proof. - **A decision · Committed to:** He decided to brief his salesperson that night on outreach to sister properties of existing hotel clients. - **Relationships · In their words:** He agreed to weekly check-ins, with payment deferred until extra revenue appeared. ## Still open - Most of Mister Raw's broader ideas were rejected. - A claim that Mister Raw could double the salesperson's meetings was challenged; the real problem was deal size. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Get calm first, then build the product > His savings were in the build and launch was a month away. The question was not positioning. It was how to stop making decisions in a panic. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-a34e23-1 A founder with a sales background launching marketing reporting software, UK “I've put my savings in, launch is a month away, and I'm stuck on positioning.” ## A month from launch, low on cash The beginning After a long sales career, he had folded his small marketing agency into a new reporting software product. He had spent his savings on the build and was earning a thin monthly profit. The plan was to presell yearly memberships, mostly to small businesses. He said he had a mental block about positioning. > And how much are you making in revenue now? — Mister Raw ## Cash before everything The conversation Mister Raw asked about cash before anything else. He questioned whether the current plan was right given how little runway there was, and said the agency pricing looked too cheap to signal value. > to me it sounds like it's too cheap to actually be of any value. — Mister Raw ## Ten agencies as leverage The turn The suggestion was to sign ten agencies as founding partners on a fixed monthly fee. Not as the long-term model, but as a calm base and a lever for what came next. > The point is, the first ten, they're just a leverage for the next hundred. — Mister Raw ## Shifting the focus What he decided He said his thinking had moved toward selling founding places to agencies, and that he would hold off on service work. He was honest that a collaborator had suggested the same idea a week earlier. He also worried the product could drift into an agency tool, away from his aim of educating business owners. That worry was not resolved. > Mate, I might hit it tomorrow. So I might be calling you tomorrow. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand They agreed to stay in touch and talk again once he hit his revenue target. ## Where it led His launch focus moved from small-business presales and agency service work to signing a handful of agencies as fixed-fee founding partners. > So we need to get calm first, because otherwise everything we will be doing will be panic attacks. - **A decision · In their words:** He shifted his launch priority to selling founding-partner places to agencies and paused service work. ## Still open - The agency-first idea was not new to him. - His worry about the product becoming an agency tool was left open. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Thirty years in, and calling himself new > He had decades of experience but introduced himself as a new freelancer, priced like one, and competed with agencies. An old acquaintance asked him to stop. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-308fad-1 An experienced marketing professional newly working as an independent consultant, Nordics “I've only just gone independent, so I can't charge what the agencies do.” ## Safe, but underpriced The beginning After decades inside agencies and media businesses, he had gone independent five months earlier. A few steady clients, uneven monthly billing, low hourly rates, and a website offering broad digital marketing to everyone. He was not under pressure, but he kept being compared with agencies. > No, where are you absolutely sharpest? — Mister Raw · Translated ## The word that was costing him The conversation Mister Raw, who had known him for about twenty years, said his rates were far too low for his experience. Then he picked at one habit: introducing himself as new. Saying it, he argued, put him below everyone else in the room. > If you go around saying you're new, you're less than the others... So remove it. — Mister Raw · Translated ## A different role to sell The turn Mister Raw suggested a different position: the experienced, independent check that makes sure a client's suppliers deliver what they should. When the consultant floated a tagline about cleaning up other people's mess, Mister Raw said it implicitly called clients losers. The consultant agreed and dropped it. > Because you're the rebel. The one who stands out. The one who has had enough. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Ask the clients first What he decided Mister Raw asked what his clients would say he should improve. He did not know. The task was to call the clients he had worked with and ask why they bought, whether they would recommend him, and how he could improve. He said he would start the next day, and accepted a meeting two weeks later to present a strategy for his own website. > I start tomorrow, I have a meeting with one of them. — In their words · Translated ## Where they left it Where things stand Mister Raw offered the help for free. ## Where it led He saw that calling himself new undercut him, and agreed to treat his own positioning as a client project with a deadline. > So remove it. You might as well have been an independent consultant for the last 25 years. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted that presenting himself as new to independent work weakened his position. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He admitted he did not know what his clients would say he should improve. - **Doing something · Committed to:** He committed to asking his clients three questions, starting at a meeting the next day. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to present a strategy for his own website at a follow-up two weeks later. ## Still open - His own tagline idea was replaced rather than built on. - He corrected Mister Raw on how quickly a new site can rank; Mister Raw conceded he was teasing. - No later evidence of the survey, the strategy meeting or a price change. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder feeding the holy grail to a pigeon > She had finally cracked the hard technical problem and was ready to give it away to a small, careful customer. Then someone asked her to step back and look at what she was holding. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-630f62-1 A founder of an early-stage AI data product, UK “I've finally made it work. Now I just need to learn what people will pay.” ## A breakthrough after a hard stretch The beginning She had known Mister Raw for about a year and a half. The last stretch had been difficult, personally and professionally, including a first build that had cost a lot and not worked. A developer partner had rebuilt her AI product, and a few weeks earlier, after nights without sleep, she had solved the data-extraction problem at its core. She came to the call buoyant. Her plan was simple: run free pilots with three small investment firms and learn what to charge. ## Who pays, and how much The conversation Mister Raw started with plain questions about the customer and the money. How much would these firms pay? Who else did this kind of work? As she explained, the picture he formed was of a general engine that fixes what frustrates business leaders about AI, pointed at a small customer with a small budget. Then he asked her to stop and look at herself. > I see you as someone who can create something really big, and you just told me something really big, while you're doing something in the trenches that makes no sense. — Mister Raw ## A bigger buyer for the same engine The turn He put it in one image, and suggested larger companies and private equity firms instead: anyone in corporate strategy who had tried AI and been let down. He told her to go and ask such people what had gone wrong for them. She did not simply agree. She said investment firms do pay, in her experience, and that her path was deliberate, not drifting. She also admitted she knew no one in private equity. But she said the challenge had stretched her strategic thinking, and that big buyers' frustration with AI fitted what he was describing. > you found the holy grail, and now you're trying to feed a pigeon with it. — Mister Raw ## A name for the bigger idea What she decided During the call they looked at web addresses for the broader concept. She said she would go and buy one and tell him what she had chosen. Mister Raw's own claim, that senior leaders would pay a very large sum for a straight answer, was untested. He admitted he had not heard of this category of tool before. > I shall go and buy it... I shall go on and buy one and tell you what I bought. — In their words ## The line went quiet Where things stand Whether she bought the name, changed her target market or ran the pilots does not appear later. ## Where it led She began to see her engine as something far larger buyers might want, not just a narrow tool for a small market. > you found the holy grail, and now you're trying to feed a pigeon with it. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She said the conversation stretched her strategic thinking and that larger buyers' frustration with AI fitted the broader framing. - **A decision · Committed to:** She said she would buy a web address for the broader concept. ## Still open - She disagreed that small investment firms lack budget, and that point was never settled. - Mister Raw declined to make introductions, and she knew no one among the larger buyers he suggested. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder waiting on people who never decide > Months of runway, one big client and a pipeline stuck with slow benefits teams. The fastest route to revenue was already using her service. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-6290ff-1 A founder of a small booking marketplace sold to employers, Europe “I need as many sales as I can handle, and I need them now.” ## A few months of runway The beginning She had spent years building a booking marketplace that employers offer to their staff as a benefit. A few angels and a public programme had funded it. Revenue was small and came mostly from one large employer and a single pilot at a law firm. She had a few months of cash left. She had learned the hard way that corporate benefits teams move slowly. She wanted help landing as many sales as she could handle, quickly. ## Why not ten law firms? The conversation She talked at length. Mister Raw asked how much money was left, then cut in with the question underneath it all. > And my stupid question is, why don't we have 10 law firms paying? — Mister Raw ## The people who already decide The turn In a law firm, he argued, the partners decide, not HR. And several partners were already using her service and liked it. They were the shortest route to new firms. He also urged her to visit every suitable hotel in her city within a few weeks, around ten in a single trip. She was not convinced on every point. A partner she had once helped had passed it straight to HR, and that had taken a year. > But we have, we already have five partners who loves us... We can five double our revenue just by speaking to these five people. — Mister Raw ## Tonight, the partners What she decided She said she would contact the law-firm partners that night and take flyers to more hotels later that week. She also considered an event for the corporate prospects. She pushed back firmly elsewhere. Going straight to consumers too early, or filling supply through local ads, risked the bigger vision: "I won't jeopardize the big vision for the sake of speed." She also preferred keeping pressure on sales to simply raising more from her lead investor. Much of the hotel plan was already under way. > when you can, then it untangles a lot in your head and things become more clear. — In their words ## An answer by Thursday Where things stand Mister Raw ended by offering a paid month of sales support. She said she saw the value and would decide within the week. Her decision, and whether any new law firms or hotels signed, does not appear later. ## Where it led She moved from waiting on HR and benefits departments to selling directly through the senior people who already loved the service. > But we have, we already have five partners who loves us. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She said talking at the big-picture level untangled her thinking. - **A decision · Committed to:** She planned to reach out to law-firm partners that night and to take flyers to more hotels that week. ## Still open - She doubted partners could bypass HR, based on her own experience. - She rejected the push to go consumer-facing early. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The seasoned seller who was underpricing himself > His customers were earning many times what they paid him. He knew it, and had even posted about it. The question was what to do next. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-9597f0-1 An experienced co-founder of a young, self-funded AI sales software company, Nordics “Our customers get far more out of this than they pay. Is that fair to us?” ## Growing fast, priced modestly The beginning He had a long sales career and two earlier exits behind him. About a year into a new company, an AI tool that helps businesses respond to new leads, he had around forty customers and was growing quickly without outside money. He had publicly said that customers were getting far more value than they paid. He wondered whether his pricing was fair to his own company. ## Why not more? The conversation Mister Raw went straight to numbers: how many customers made up the monthly revenue, which sectors worked best. When he heard what a large customer paid, he asked why it was not several times higher. His point was that price is not fixed. It can change for the very next customer. > Price is not static. You can always change the price. You can always change the price for the next customer. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Price the value, not the plan The turn He suggested taking prices off the website and talking price with each customer: ask what an extra sale is worth to them, and price just under it. The co-founder agreed, readily. > It's about capturing the value before they start calculating, because they have their own spreadsheet. — Mister Raw · Translated ## A peer who pushed back Where they differed On almost everything else, he disagreed, with reasons. Pricing per lead was too complex to bill. A big customer with small order values could not carry a much higher fee. Hiring salespeople went against his lean, automate-first approach. Each new customer was not free to serve, because AI and messaging costs grow with use. He already expected to hit the next revenue milestone by year end. He said he would definitely take the advice into consideration. ## A hard stop Where things stand The call ended because he had another commitment. Whether his pricing changed does not appear later. ## Where it led He agreed that price could be anchored on each customer's own value, before they started doing their own sums. > It's about capturing the value before they start calculating, because they have their own spreadsheet. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He agreed that price should be anchored on each customer's own value calculation. ## Still open - He rejected per-lead pricing, a larger sales team and the idea that growth was nearly free. - Mister Raw's conversion assumptions were disputed and not tested. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The product that tried to be everything > Seven months of building, dozens of features, and an investor already saying it covered too much. He came to show how much it could do. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-b54156-1 A solo founder of an AI tool for small businesses, UK “It can do almost anything. I just need backers and my first thousand users.” ## Breadth as the pitch The beginning A long-time enterprise salesperson, he had spent seven months building an AI assistant for small businesses, with dozens of modules running through a messaging app. A few people were paying. He was looking for investors, and one venture firm had already told him he covered too much. He spent most of the call showing what it could do. ## Who is it for? The conversation Mister Raw kept coming back to the same two questions: who is it for, and what do I get? The answers kept widening. Then he said what he was seeing. > Well, while I'm saying it, while I'm asking these questions, I actually thought this would go somewhere else, but you're positioning yourself incorrectly. — Mister Raw ## One trade at a time The turn He suggested it was not a co-founder but a business operator, and that it lacked emotion. Rather than one big brand, it might be many small ones, a persona for each trade. Start where businesses already make money, not with brand new startups. Get the first hundred or two hundred users, then find out who the core users are. And before anything else, nail what it is and how to say it. > Because what this is, it's a business operator, isn't it? — Mister Raw ## Agreement, with limits What he took He agreed the message needed to be much clearer, and said he was already on it. On the specifics he pushed back: he would stay with the messaging app rather than build a dedicated one, he held to a thousand users as his proof point, and he believed tradespeople would adopt it sooner than Mister Raw thought. Funding stayed his priority. > I agree with some of what you've said in terms of trying to get the message much clearer. And I think that will come with time. — In their words ## Open to talk again Where things stand The conversation ranged widely, and near the end Mister Raw admitted he was not sure what its conclusion was. The founder suggested meeting again in six to eight weeks. Whether he repositioned, raised money or came back does not appear later. ## Where it led Mister Raw named the positioning problem and suggested a narrower, more human way to describe what the product was. > Because what this is, it's a business operator, isn't it? - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said he agreed the message needed to be much clearer. ## Still open - He disagreed on a dedicated app, the size of the first milestone and which users would come first. - Mister Raw was unclear about his own role and the conclusion of the call. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Pushing money at people who did not want it > His firm had capital to lend and nobody in one market would take it. He thought it was a distribution problem. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-bc1530-1 A founding partner of a young lending fintech, UK “We have the money. Nobody wants to partner with us to deploy it.” ## Harder pushing, less progress The beginning His firm had a large lending facility and needed to put it to work. In one European region, the brokers and smaller lenders he approached kept saying they were not ready. He kept pushing, and kept getting more frustrated. There was something personal too. He was at a milestone age, after a strong early career and a run of ventures that had not landed. He wanted one more big success. ## The wrong people The conversation Mister Raw listened, then named the pattern. The firm was offering money to people who did not need it. > It sounds to me you're spending your time on the wrong people. What's the real driver behind? — Mister Raw ## From push to pull The turn The problem, he said, was positioning. Rather than pushing into the market, find the companies that actually need this and let them carry the message. A young firm also needs someone else to say it matters: "nobody listens to you because you're no one, so you need to make sure that someone says that you're someone." The founder said it had his mind ticking, and that his own data already showed the strategy was wrong. > And instead of doing the pushing effects, you're pushing into the market, creating a pull effect instead. — Mister Raw ## How, exactly? What he asked for Twice he asked how to act on it. Mister Raw offered nothing concrete beyond getting the story right and finding real users to tell it, and said it could not be solved in one call. The founder asked for a proposal for a monthly advisory arrangement, to be paid by the company if his co-founders agreed. > the data tells you that strategy is not the right strategy. — In their words ## Waiting on a proposal Where things stand Whether the proposal was sent or accepted, and whether the firm changed how it presented itself, does not appear later. ## Where it led He moved from pushing partner by partner to accepting that the story the firm told the market was the real problem. > I think the story is your driver, but you need to get the right story. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the push and pull framing made sense and that his data showed the current strategy was wrong. - **Relationships · In their words:** He asked for a proposal for ongoing advice, subject to his co-founders' approval. ## Still open - No practical plan came out of the call; the how was left for a paid engagement. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The closer booking meetings for everyone else > He came to pitch an agency's services. He left with a question about his own career, and ten meetings to book. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-a326a3-1 An experienced software salesperson working as a consultant, Europe “I'm good at selling. I'm just not sure who I should be selling for.” ## A pitch that never happened The beginning He was a strong closer with a track record in software sales, now working as a consultant and helping a lead-generation agency on the side. He booked the call to present the agency's services. Mister Raw stopped the pitch almost at once. > I want to know about you. — Mister Raw ## Selling for someone else The conversation He asked about his age, his family, his record. Then a simple observation about the agency work. > You're booking meetings to other people than yourself? — Mister Raw ## The scarce piece The turn Mister Raw offered what he called his best advice. Someone who can really sell is the scarce piece in any startup with a sellable product. He should join one early, lead sales as a co-founder, and take meaningful equity and a share of early revenue. Or offer to test a startup's market first, then negotiate. He agreed. It matched something he had already been discussing at home: starting something of his own. > You are the main figure in any startup that has a product that is actually sellable. — Mister Raw ## Ten meetings by next week What he agreed to He was honest about the risk. A salary is safer when you have a family, and he asked whether he should simply drop everything. Mister Raw's answer was to test first. The call ended abruptly with a challenge, and he agreed to it. > And when we talk next week, you have booked 10 meetings for yourself, becoming the CSO and co-founder. — Mister Raw ## No follow-up on record Where things stand The agency he came to present was never discussed. ## Where it led The call turned from an agency pitch into a direct challenge to his career path. > Because you have to stop working for other people. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the challenge matched what he already felt about working for others. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to book ten meetings with startups about a co-founder sales role before the next conversation. ## Still open - His worries about income security were raised but not really worked through. - The purpose he came with, presenting the agency, was never addressed. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The sales coach who needed his own advice > He had trained salespeople for decades. Starting a small business of his own, he priced it low and aimed it at people with little money. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-e6f1ac-1 A veteran sales trainer starting a video side business, UK “My training work has gone quiet, so I'm trying something new on the side.” ## Reconnecting after five years The beginning A long-time sales trainer got back in touch with Mister Raw after about five years. His training work had dried up. He was starting a side business making short customer video testimonials for small businesses, at a low fixed price, and was doing a few for free to build examples. ## The price is odd The conversation Mister Raw asked what he meant by a testimonial, and what happened once someone said yes. Then he said what bothered him. Small businesses have little money and often cannot share their customers' details. He also pointed out, gently, the irony. > But now you're doing what you probably would recommend your clients to do different. — Mister Raw ## Aim where the money is The turn He sketched a plan on the spot. Research around twenty software companies already earning steady revenue. Call them. Offer two testimonials free, then a bundle of more, and raise the price after the first handful of clients. > Talking bigger. I'm thinking about those who have money. Instead of focusing on those who don't have money. — Mister Raw ## A plan, with a hedge What he decided The trainer liked it and recognised it: "Something I would have said to somebody, I agree." He was also candid. He was thinking smaller, wondered how to fit it in with everything else, and said they would see. Mister Raw asked for proof early the following week. > Please just tell me on Monday or Tuesday that you already have two that you're doing. — Mister Raw ## The report back Where things stand Whether he contacted those companies or sold a bundle does not appear later. ## Where it led The offer moved from cheap single videos for small businesses to free samples and paid bundles for software companies with revenue. > Talking bigger. I'm thinking about those who have money. Instead of focusing on those who don't have money. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the advice was exactly what he would tell his own trainees. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to research software companies and offer free samples leading to a paid bundle. ## Still open - He was already doing free testimonials, so part of the advice confirmed an existing plan. - The suggested bundle price shifted during the call. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The big brand selling ice cream > Eighteen months building a new lead product, demoed with pride. The bigger asset was the one the company had never used. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-56738f-1 The founder of an established business data company, Nordics “We've built something new. I want to know what you think of it.” ## A long demo The beginning His company had run for over a decade and its name was widely known in its market. With an eventual exit in view, his team had spent eighteen months on a new lead-generation product. He spent most of the first hour demonstrating it. ## The smallest, hardest market The conversation Mister Raw asked what customers knew the company for. Then he challenged where the new product was aimed. Lead buyers and call centres, he said, were the smallest and most price-driven slice of the market. > It is the smallest market you can go after, and the hardest, because you compete with everyone else too. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Everyone wants coffee The turn The bigger opportunity, he argued, was mid-sized firms that do not really know their own market, reached through finance leaders who already used the company's service. Leads were secondary. And the company was ignoring its strongest asset. > And it is because you sound a bit like you don't understand that you are a huge brand. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Agree here, disagree there What he decided The founder agreed the company was really bad at using its brand and audience, and said the story could take off once a planned feature for finding similar companies launched. He disagreed firmly on pricing, defending a model where each segment pays for what it uses, and doubted the route through finance managers was quick enough. Mister Raw conceded part of the pricing point. He decided to get back in touch with a marketing strategist Mister Raw recommended, someone the company had parked two years earlier. > It is a bit like having the biggest flagship store on the main shopping street, selling ice cream, when everyone wants coffee. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Inspired, and off to a meeting Where things stand He ended for another meeting, called the conversation inspiring and agreed to talk again. Whether he called the strategist or changed direction does not appear later. ## Where it led The founder conceded the company had never made use of its own brand and audience. > you sound like you don't understand that you are a huge brand. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the company had been really poor at using its brand and audience. - **Relationships · Committed to:** He said he would contact a marketing strategist Mister Raw recommended. ## Still open - They disagreed on pricing and on how central leads are. - Mister Raw's estimate of segment sizes was not backed by evidence. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # No growth, no selling, no time > Happy clients, a handful of them, and no repeatable way to find more. He named the loop himself. The fix was smaller than he expected. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-af8b7b-1 A director of a small data and AI consultancy, UK “We're surviving. We just don't have a way of finding new clients.” ## A reader with a flat line The beginning He had read Mister Raw's book and left a review. It put words, he said, to things he half knew but could never articulate. On a catch-up call he admitted the firm was flat: a handful of clients in two years, no repeatable way to win more, and still the old question of what exactly they sold. ## Four happy clients The conversation Mister Raw asked what they were selling, and how many different clients they had had. Four, roughly. All of them happy. Then the director said the loop out loud. > Why is your company not going well? Well, we don't sell enough. Why don't you sell? Well, haven't got time. — In their words ## Make it too simple to skip The turn The routine was small. Go through each happy client's network, pick the people worth selling to, and contact them using the client as the reference. Spend an hour or two building the lists. Then book one hour a day, every day. > It's always just to to make it so simple that there are no excuse for not doing it. — Mister Raw ## An hour in the diary What he decided He promised to put the hour in his diary straight after the call and try the method. He was realistic about its limits: outreach of this kind gets few replies, list-building takes time, and he had tried something similar before without sticking to it. Cash was tight, so he would not hire Mister Raw. The firm had already brought in another consultant on messaging. > I will promise you, Stefan, I will put that in my diary after this call. I will try that LinkedIn method. — In their words ## A month later, maybe Where things stand They planned to catch up in about a month. ## Where it led Selling moved from something there was no time for to a fixed daily hour built on warm introductions from happy clients. > So in half an hour, or whatever, two hours, make the list for each of these four or five, and then book yourself in one hour a day. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the book gave him a framework for what he already half knew. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to a daily sales hour and referral lists drawn from existing clients' networks. ## Still open - The question of what exactly the firm sells was left to another consultant. - Mister Raw's funnel numbers were a projection, not evidence. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder with no success story to tell > Years of attempts, none of them big. He decided to build a personal brand, then realised he had nothing to brag about. That turned out to be the point. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-b9b7db-1 A serial early-stage founder working solo, UK “I want to build a personal brand, but I haven't got a success to talk about.” ## All in, low on cash The beginning He had spent years on early-stage ventures: one ended by events outside his control, an agency, a small app, a modest service business still bringing in a little each month. Money was short. He was taking freelance work and had just decided to go all in on a personal brand. Mister Raw had reached out after reading his posts. ## A hard thing to hear The conversation Mister Raw asked what he actually wanted, and why he did not want to make a lot of money. Then he told him bluntly how his recent posts came across. The founder disputed it: he had tried hard not to. He also admitted he had dropped the ball with people before, including an earlier time Mister Raw had helped him. > you're whining okay and people who whine they don't make money because people don't want to work with people who whine — Mister Raw ## The failures are the story The turn Mister Raw turned the problem around. Someone who keeps building, failing and trying again is interesting to follow. The founder picked it up himself and sketched a video series on it, including helping small businesses to their first revenue on camera. > You're a success being a failure. That's what you're telling me. — Mister Raw ## Interview better people The practical bit Mister Raw added a few concrete points. Interview people who are better at outreach than you, and your own campaigns improve. Keep posting even when early videos flop. Send a one-page summary rather than a long report. The founder said he would move towards long-form video while taking freelance work for cash. He hedged too: past video attempts had found almost no audience, money came first, and he could not afford paid advice. > What if you then interviewed a guy who just nails call outreach campaigns, then both your own campaigns will perform better — Mister Raw ## A loose catch-up Where things stand They talked of speaking again in a couple of weeks. ## Where it led He moved from 'no successes to share' to seeing his run of attempts and failures as the content itself. > You're a success being a failure. That's what you're telling me. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the framing of himself as the one who keeps failing was true and could work as content. - **A decision · In their words:** He said he would move towards long-form video content alongside freelance work. ## Still open - He disputed the criticism of his posts and that his goals should be fixed. - Earlier help from Mister Raw had not been acted on. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The specialist who might be a salesman > He was fully booked, working long weeks and planning to grow several times over. Mister Raw suggested his real talent was not the work at all. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-c7f533-1 A solo paid search marketing specialist with a small team of helpers, UK “I'm at capacity, I've set a big goal, and I need to buy back my time.” ## Full, busy and ambitious The beginning He runs paid search campaigns for around a dozen clients. The fees are healthy, the weeks are about fifty hours long, and he has just set himself a five year goal of growing several times over. He has already done a lot of thinking. He wants to hire to free up time rather than to grow, and to move towards larger online retailers. He sees himself as a craftsman, someone who wants to be excellent, not a manager. ## What do you really want? The conversation Mister Raw starts with the numbers: how many clients, how much revenue, how many hours. Then he asks the question underneath them. He also tests the plan to chase bigger retail clients. Is there proof that they are better, or is it a feeling? And he flags the one thing that worries him: there is no time left to take on anyone new. > I think my real question is to, what do you really want to do? — Mister Raw ## Maybe the craft is not the asset The turn Mister Raw points out something the specialist had not framed this way. Most small marketing shops struggle to find clients. He does not. He wins them. So why not build his own group? Sell the work, and pay other strong specialists to deliver parts of it. The specialist recognises himself immediately: it is, he says, the description of his professional life. > what you have proven now is that you can close clients. The biggest problem for most marketing solopreneurs or small town agents is to get the clients. — Mister Raw ## Not yet What he decided He pushes back on one point. His channel changes constantly and is hard to turn into a procedure, so it is not something anyone can simply learn. He sees the potential in a network of specialists but says he is not quite there yet. He wants to stabilise first. He also turns down an offer of paid coaching, wanting to protect his time and cash flow. ## The idea is parked Where things stand He left with a different picture of where his value might lie, and a clear sense that he would decide when to use it. Much of his clarity was his own, built before the call. ## Where it led His strength was reframed from doing the work to winning the clients. > what you have proven now is that you can close clients. The biggest problem for most marketing solopreneurs or small town agents is to get the clients. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised Mister Raw's description of a specialist who wins clients but is squeezed for time as his own situation. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He agreed that once income stabilised he had turned work into a fight for survival. ## Still open - He chose not to build a delivery network for now. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The new coach who felt like an impostor > He had built and sold a company, then lost his way for a while. Now he was coaching founders, and worried he had no certificate to show for it. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-20e5bb-1 A former software founder who had sold his company and recently started coaching founders, Europe “I've started coaching founders, but who am I to do it without a certificate?” ## After the exit The beginning Some years ago he sold a software startup. What followed was a long, hard stretch, then years of travel, music and inner work. Recently he started charging for coaching other founders. He came to learn how an experienced advisor runs his practice. He also admitted something: without any coaching certification, he felt like an impostor. ## Did you find what you were looking for? The conversation Mister Raw wants the backstory first: when things went wrong, how big the exit was. It matters, he says, to understand where someone is. Then he asks whether all that searching actually led to a purpose. And he questions the choice of clients: why spend energy on startups that have no money to pay? > No, it's important to understand where you are. — Mister Raw ## The licence nobody issues The turn The certificate worry gets turned on its head. Having built something, sold it and come through the other side is exactly what founders need from a coach. The coach agrees. It is, he says, why he chose this work: he learned so much from that difficult period. > You have the biggest license that people a lot ignore, and that is life experience. — Mister Raw ## A different way to charge What he took away Mister Raw suggests dropping hourly fees for a fixed monthly retainer, starting promising founders on a short free period and converting them afterwards. The coach calls it a cool business model and a very good idea. He disagrees elsewhere. He loves the earliest stage of company building and will not move away from it. And he does not want to persuade anyone into coaching. He wants people who are ready to do the work. ## Energised, on his own terms Where things stand He left saying the conversation had given him a lot of energy. ## Where it led His worry about credentials was reframed: what he had lived through was the qualification. > You have the biggest license that people a lot ignore, and that is life experience. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** He agreed that lived experience, not a certificate, qualifies him to coach founders through hard times. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He took away the monthly retainer model as an alternative to hourly pricing. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** He said the conversation gave him a lot of energy. ## Still open - He rejected advice to move away from very early founders. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Five unpaid years and nobody buying > The product finally worked and the savings case was strong. Public buyers still said no, and he wanted to know what he was doing wrong. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-b57986-1 A founder of a care technology product sold to the public sector, Nordics “It works, it saves money, and still nobody signs. I must be doing something wrong.” ## Out of beta, still waiting The beginning For five years he has built a video calling product for older people in care, without a salary, freelancing on the side to get by. A single backer has kept development going. The product has finally left beta. Free trials are on offer and the cost case is solid. Yet no public authority has bought, and new investors are not coming. He asks plainly what he is doing wrong. ## One door at a time The conversation He has been approaching buyers one department at a time, most recently procurement. Mister Raw says that is wrong. Each authority needs conversations with around ten people, and each call should mention the person spoken to last, so the chain builds on itself. The founder pushes back. Care homes cannot buy on their own, many people already like the idea without anything happening, and officials are hard to reach. > That's wrong ... It's quite simple with municipalities. — Mister Raw · Translated ## The fatigue shows The turn Mister Raw is warm about the person and blunt about the pitch. The story is too long, maybe wrong, and after five years of telling it, the tiredness comes through. The founder disagrees that buyers can hear it. But he also says something has to change, because what he is doing now obviously does not work. > you have been running around singing the same hymn, and that also means that when you start singing again, whoever you sing for, they can hear that there is damn metal fatigue at home. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Start calling next week What he decided Mister Raw sets a rhythm: twenty calls a day, adding up over a few months to dozens of meetings and a handful of closed deals. The founder calls it a concrete tip and says he will give it a chance from the start of the next week. He keeps his own view on funding, preferring one larger investor to many small ones. When Mister Raw mentions a monthly fee for help, the founder says in effect that he cannot afford it. > make sure you call at least 20 a day — Mister Raw · Translated ## Where it led The problem moved from the product to the way he was selling it. > you have been running around singing the same hymn, and that also means that when you start singing again, whoever you sing for, they can hear that there is damn metal fatigue at home. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He admitted his selling, not the product, was where things were going wrong. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to start the referral chain calling approach the following week. ## Still open - No later evidence shows whether the calls happened or a buyer signed. - He could not afford paid help, and funding remained open. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Growth or a quiet cabin > Fresh from his best trade show ever, he was told to step out of the engine room. He answered with the question he had really been weighing. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-77454c-1 A leader of an established food ingredients producer selling to businesses, Nordics “The show went brilliantly and I'm exhausted. I'm not sure how much bigger I want this to get.” ## Straight off the show floor The beginning He comes back to Mister Raw just after a trade show that went far better than expected: around two dozen strong leads, some with very large restaurant chains. His lead generation runs on a disciplined, written process. He sees growth as mostly a matter of time. He is also worn out. ## Why so small an ambition? The conversation Mister Raw asks how much the factory could really produce, then why the plan is not to fill it. He is provoked that a company this capable cannot find time for a few dozen calls that could add a lot of revenue. And he asks why so few of the best leads were the leader's own. > Now we can't manage to make calls in the company, but we don't want to earn the 20 million extra? Hello? Sorry to say it like that, but it provokes me a bit. Because you are impressive. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Out of the engine room Later in the hour The suggestion: write the job down, hand it to others, and become the face of the company. Mister Raw also notices the sales director sounds more like an operations chief, meaning the administrative help may already be in the building. The leader pushes back. He is poor at in-person relationship meetings and would rather hire a chief executive. He doubts a cheap remote team could handle real accounts. When he asks whether Mister Raw has managed to systematise himself, Mister Raw admits he has not. > I would jump out of the engine room and build an engine room. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Ten million or a cabin The turn Mister Raw describes his worst regret: a success that could have been ten times bigger. The leader answers with his own version. For him the alternative is not more money. It is a quiet life somewhere remote. He puts it simply: it is a question of maximising money or maximising freedom. > I have stood with 10 million in my hand that could have been 100. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Keep the course What he decided He says one point, keeping an eye out for new kinds of customers, makes good sense. The rest he cannot take in right now. He will continue the line he has set and see what happens. Mister Raw tells him to get in touch when he is ready. ## Where it led He named his real trade-off himself: more money or more freedom. > the most terrible thing ... is when you have made a success and you realise the success could have been much bigger if you had just done this and that ... I have stood with 10 million in my hand that could have been 100. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He framed his own choice as maximising money versus maximising freedom. - **A decision · In their words:** He decided to keep his current strategy for now rather than restructure. ## Still open - He did not commit to stepping out of day-to-day selling. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Two customers, both from his own circle > His mission-driven side venture had customers, but only friendly ones. He came looking for a connection and left with ten doors to knock on. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-8d26cb-1 A finance professional running a mentoring venture for small businesses alongside his main work, Africa “I believe in this, but the people I want to help don't seem to get it.” ## A side venture with a mission The beginning A few months ago he started a venture that matches experienced mentors with small, often informal, businesses. It runs alongside the finance work that pays his bills, and that work is funding it. There are two customers. One is connected to his family; the other is his own firm. He arrives hoping mainly for a connection. ## Who is actually buying? The conversation After Mister Raw tells his own story at some length, the conversation narrows quickly. How many customers? Who are they? The answer makes the point on its own: neither came from the market he wants to serve. Mister Raw's view is that the network is not the issue. Nobody out there understands what is being offered. > How can I, how can I make you more successful? No, you tell me. — Mister Raw ## Ask for their help first The turn The prescription is simple and uncomfortable. Knock on the doors of ten local business owners, ask for the owner, sit down over a coffee. Explain the offer, then ask them to explain it back. He agrees the offer has to be put so simply that anyone can follow it, and that real use cases and word of mouth are what will carry it. He also says he is an introvert who dislikes this kind of thing. Mister Raw brushes that aside rather than working with it. > you tell them, I'm going to help you, but I need your help first. — Mister Raw ## Ten conversations, then report back What he decided He agrees to do the ten conversations and talk again the following week to go through what he heard. Mister Raw predicts a handful of clients from a single day of this, a confident forecast with nothing yet behind it. > That sounds like a plan, Stefan, I can do that. — In their words ## Waiting on the doorsteps Where things stand He left saying it was exactly what he needed to hear that day. ## Where it led The problem shifted from building the mentor network to testing whether anyone understood the offer. > you tell them, I'm going to help you, but I need your help first. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted that the offer had to be explained in language a small business owner understands. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to hold ten face-to-face conversations and report back the following week. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** He said the conversation was exactly what he needed to hear. ## Still open - His discomfort with door-to-door selling was dismissed, not addressed. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Better product, cheaper price, no funding > Her competitors with less to show were raising money. She kept explaining her lower fee. Mister Raw told her to stop comparing and start a mission. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-be01e7-1 A bootstrapped founder of a cross-border business payments company, US “We're live in lots of markets and cheaper than everyone, but nobody is funding us and growth is slow.” ## Live everywhere, funded nowhere The beginning Her payments infrastructure has been live in many countries for about a year. She has a few business customers and banks in the pipeline, but no outside money, and she is watching a narrower competitor raise a large round. She joins a three-way call with Mister Raw and a sales advisor he knows. What she wants is revenue from businesses, quickly. ## Who wants this, and what do you want? The conversation After a long detour into general talk, Mister Raw gets to her business. Who is interested? How many banks? What would she like to happen? He is also blunt about her website. She has been working through options one by one. He wants to try them all at once. > What do you envision? What would you like to happen? — Mister Raw ## Too stupid not to have The turn Competing on a fee comparison, he argues, will never land. Turn the story around: a mission, built on one simple round number. Use investors as a way into their portfolio companies. Ask outsourcing firms to recommend the service to their own clients. She loves the reverse channel, calling it a beautiful point, and takes on the idea of being a product too obvious to refuse. > you have a nice to have, need to have, but what you really need to be ... is simply too stupid not to have. — Mister Raw ## Some yes, some firm no What she decided On a lower headline fee, she says it is something they can definitely think about, while explaining her current price comes from careful costing. She pushes back hard on one market he suggests, saying large banks already own it. And she prefers to narrow her ideal customer before attacking everything at once. Then she asks to meet again to talk about working together. She needs this help right now, she says. ## A second meeting agreed Where things stand A follow-up was agreed for the next week. ## Where it led Her pitch moved from a fee comparison to a mission, and her outreach from one channel at a time to many at once. > we need to turn your story the complete other way around, because it's about, you are on a mission to democratize any transaction on this planet. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She embraced the idea of outsourcing firms recommending her service to their clients. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She adopted the aim of becoming a product too obvious not to have. - **Relationships · In their words:** She asked to meet again to discuss working together. ## Still open - She rejected one of the target markets Mister Raw pushed. - A lower fee was only something to consider, given her cost analysis. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Pitching a movement, not an app > He had a working product, interested customers and a fund ready to lead a modest round. Mister Raw told him the pitch was far too small. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-6c39af-1 A founder of a media verification startup with a small team, Europe “We have a fund interested in leading our seed round. I just need to close it.” ## A modest, sensible plan The beginning He came to startups later in life, after a career in business. His app locks proof of time and place into photos and videos taken by ordinary people, so newsrooms can trust them. He has a small angel round, an open beta, letters of interest from regional media and a fund interested in leading a modest seed round. His plan reaches break-even in about two years. ## Show me the pitch The conversation Mister Raw asks who uses it, then asks him to pitch. What comes out is technical and careful. Mister Raw's verdict: he sounds like someone who has made a little piece of software. > So, okay, so how do you pitch it? — Mister Raw ## Start with the fake The turn Mister Raw performs his own version. Open with viral images investors already believed, reveal they were fake, and only then present the company as a new standard for truth. Not a company, he says, a movement. Some figures in his example are made up on the spot, which he partly admits. For a company selling truth, they would need checking before use. > This is not a company. It's generally not a company. It's a movement. And that's what you need to make it into. — Mister Raw ## Ask for more, ask everyone What he took away Mister Raw tells him the round is far too small, suggesting roughly four times as much, and to stop waiting on one fund. Contact dozens of impact funds at once, using the interested lead as leverage. The founder says he understands, and that he has been studying Mister Raw's delivery, the pauses and energy, as he talks. His own two-year break-even plan is not really examined against the bigger ask. > I would stop sitting and just sitting and talking about one fund. I would reach out to all the funds, all the impact funds — Mister Raw ## Happy to reconnect Where things stand He leaves saying he loved it and found it very insightful, and that he would be glad to talk again. ## Where it led The pitch was reframed from a technical tool into a story that first shows investors how they have been fooled. > the best way you can show me that it's needed is that you show me how I have fooled myself. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted that the round was too small and the pitch needed a movement framing. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said he was studying Mister Raw's delivery to use in his own pitching. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** He left energised and keen to reconnect. ## Still open - No evidence the round was enlarged or the funds contacted. - The larger ask was not checked against what the business could use. - Invented figures in the example pitch would be risky if repeated. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The sales leader who was working for free > Six months into working for himself, he was busy, helpful and barely paid. One short conversation named why. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-b75b99-1 A former enterprise sales leader starting out as a part-time commercial lead for tech companies, UK “I know how to sell. I just haven't got the clients.” ## Twenty-five years in, starting again The beginning He had spent a long career selling enterprise software. Now he was on his own, offering part-time sales leadership to technology companies. Six months in, with breaks along the way, he had one small paying engagement and a lot of unpaid work helping young startups through a university programme. He did not dress it up. He said he was struggling. ## A few plain questions The conversation Mister Raw started with the basics. How long had he been doing this? How many clients did he have? Was the problem simply that he was not charging enough? The answers pointed somewhere else. Price was not the issue. He was spending his days with people who could not pay, and not talking to the people who could. > Are you struggling actually because you're not charging enough for what you do? — Mister Raw ## Helping people who cannot buy The turn Mister Raw was blunt. Startups have no money, he said, and when they do get funded, they forget to put you in the budget. Accelerators and incubators welcome free expertise. They just never become customers. The alternative was to act like a supplier who lets serious buyers try before they buy: list funded technology companies, call the people who run revenue, and offer a small piece of work that proves the difference he could make. > What you're doing now is you're trying with accelerators and incubators, giving them drugs. ... They love the drugs, but they can't pay for them. — Mister Raw ## Stop faffing, start calling What he decided He played the plan back in his own words: drop the networking events and side work, build the list, call and meet. He pushed on the details too. Should he send something first? Would a free trial just get used and dropped? Mister Raw admitted that would probably happen sometimes. He also disagreed, politely, that posting online was pointless. Near the end he put the whole hour in one line. > It's a bit like a slap in the face and a cold shower at the same time. — In their words ## Call me in a couple of months Where things stand Mister Raw's parting instruction was simple: make the list, get going, and call back to say it worked. > No, make the list. Get going. Call me in a couple of months and say, , it worked. — Mister Raw ## Where it led He stopped seeing his unpaid startup work as a route to clients and saw it as the reason he had none. > They love the drugs, but they can't pay for them. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He restated the diagnosis himself: stop the side activity and go straight to technology companies that can pay. - **A decision · In their words:** He accepted that each no from a buyer brings him closer to the one who says yes. ## Still open - His questions about whether the proof work should be free or paid got only a general answer. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who said yes to everything > His life had just turned over and a big funding round was weeks away. He said he was fine. Mister Raw took him at his word, and set him a challenge. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-012f86-1 A founder of a growing creative-industry marketplace, close to a funding round, UK “I'm in a good place. I'm keeping busy and saying yes to everything.” ## Everything changing at once The beginning He came to an introductory call with no problem to solve. On paper, things were moving: his marketplace was weeks from closing a large round, and he planned to hire a senior operator so he could step back from day-to-day running. At home, everything had changed. A long relationship had recently ended and he had just moved into a new place. He was coping, he said, with the gym, with work, and with a new rule. ## A rule turned back on him The conversation He told Mister Raw he had become a yes man. Any invitation, any idea from his friends, he would say yes. Mister Raw listened, then used it. The challenge was a few days abroad, on his own, the following week. Not a holiday with friends. Not a reward for later. Just time away from the new house and the routines that kept him busy. > Then I have a challenge for you. — Mister Raw ## Out of the house, out of yourself The turn He said he would go once he had settled in. Mister Raw would not let it slide. The point was not rest. It was to stop filling the space, and to let the change actually land. Mister Raw described the second day alone, when restlessness and a little loneliness set in, as the moment that matters. > That's not why I want you to get out. I want to get yourself out of yourself. — Mister Raw ## Flights on Monday What he decided He resisted, said he needed to check his diary, then conceded, half laughing. He agreed to look at schedules and flights on Monday, and to call back, possibly from somewhere else. He also pushed back on Mister Raw's view that posting on social media is worthless. Quite a lot of the hour went on Mister Raw's own stories rather than his. > All right, deal. I'm going to do that. On Monday, I'm going to look at schedules and I'm going to look at flights. — In their words ## Where it led He moved from 'I'll go away once I'm settled' to agreeing to look at flights for a few days alone the following week. > Then I have a challenge for you. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to look at flights for a short trip alone the following week. - **Relationships · Committed to:** He agreed to speak to Mister Raw again, possibly from abroad. ## Still open - Mister Raw raised whether investors would accept him stepping back, but the question was not explored. - His plan to hand over day-to-day running was not challenged. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who had never been asked why > He had a plan to win a hundred customers, one video at a time. Then someone asked why his price was what it was. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-0adfa1-1 A co-founder of a small bootstrapped software product for small businesses and solo operators, US “We've launched, we have a few users, and the plan is to grow slowly through content.” ## A product, a handful of users The beginning He and a small team had recently launched a ready-made customer management system for small businesses and people working alone. They had a handful of paying users and modest monthly revenue. The plan was to reach a hundred users in six months through organic short videos on social media. ## Where did the price come from? The conversation Mister Raw asked how far along he was, then went straight at the numbers. Why that monthly price? What did each customer cost him on the platform underneath? He did not know the cost. And on the price, he said nobody had asked him before. Mister Raw also told him plainly that he had visited the landing page before the call and could not tell what was being sold. > I went to the landing page last time when we set up the meeting. And I have no clue. — Mister Raw ## Proof before revenue The turn Mister Raw argued that the first hundred customers were not really about what they paid. They were about who they were. Find well-followed professionals on a business network, set the system up for them for free, and ask for a public testimonial and later payment in return. The founder put the difference in his own words, and pushed back too: the product was already real, not just a front. > You're absolutely right. And I'm coming from a place of building a steady MRR from zero and doing it one customer at a time. — In their words ## Taking it to the team What he decided Mister Raw's numbers on what a hundred such users could bring were a rough sketch, not a forecast, and he said as much: you only learn by starting. The founder said he would take the idea to his partners straight away. > The point is, you have to start running in order to find out whether you fall or not. — Mister Raw ## Where it led He saw that he was building revenue one customer at a time, when what he needed first was visible proof from people others listen to. > The point is, you have to start running in order to find out whether you fall or not. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He admitted he did not know his cost per customer and had never been asked to justify his price. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He named his own plan as slow recurring revenue and saw the alternative of building proof first. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to bring the hundred-testimonials idea to his team that week. ## Still open - The revenue figures discussed were untested estimates. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # A year waiting on one plot of land > He needed a loan within a week to buy one site, and everything else hung on it. Mister Raw told him what a year of that looked like from outside. He did not agree. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-9c9c43-1 A founder planning off-grid charging hubs for electric vehicles, pre-revenue, US “I'm one loan away. Once I buy the land, everything else follows.” ## A deadline and a big vision The beginning He was building charging hubs for electric vehicles that would run off the grid, powered on site. To buy his first plot of land before a deadline, he needed a short-term loan within about a week. Once the land was his, he said, an equity round, public grants and bank debt would follow. He joined a call with Mister Raw and a co-founder of Mister Raw's networking community, whose event he had attended. ## Who else needs this? The conversation Most of his time went on the scale of the vision. Mister Raw tried to bring it back to the ground. Fuel station owners, he suggested, know they need a future use for their sites. And why not ask the neighbour who owned the land to put it in as equity rather than sell it? He was honest about the past year: an investor had pulled out and he had been scrambling since. > Why doesn't your neighbor go in and invest in the company and get shares in the company by having the lot as collateral to the investment? — Mister Raw ## Stuck, or nearly there? The turn Near the end Mister Raw said it plainly. A year had passed with everything tied to one site. Look for other plots, other landowners willing to invest their land, and stop waiting on one sequence of money. He would not accept the word stuck. He said he was on the borderline of success. Mister Raw answered that he had said the same a year ago. > If you don't do it in another way, then you'll just be stuck like this a year from now. — Mister Raw ## Help from the other side of the call What came out of it Mister Raw admitted he did not know how to help with the urgent loan. The practical offer came from his co-founder, who knew people who make short-term loans. The founder agreed to write a short summary so those introductions could be made, and offered to bring a few interesting people into the community. During the call, his vision kept growing rather than narrowing. ## Where it led Mister Raw named that nothing had moved in a year because everything depended on one site, and told him to open other sites with landowners putting in their land as equity. He disputed it. > But nothing has happened for a year because you have had troubles with that one plot of land. - **Relationships · Committed to:** He agreed to send a short summary so introductions to lenders could be made by Mister Raw's co-founder. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said he had failed at fundraising and had learned from it, though this came before and around the challenge rather than from it. ## Still open - He rejected the reading that he was stuck. - Mister Raw could not help with the urgent loan. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The coach selling to people who could not pay > She trained people to get paid for speaking. Mister Raw got in touch because he thought she was helping the wrong ones. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-a58db9-1 A coach running a small business that helps experts become paid speakers, UK “I help people get paid to speak. Most of them aren't there yet.” ## He came to her The beginning She ran a small coaching business, with a team behind her, teaching experts how to position themselves, reach event organisers and get ready for speaker agencies. This time she had not asked for the call. Mister Raw had reached out because he thought she was aiming at the wrong customers. ## Four kinds of speaker The conversation Mister Raw sketched four groups, from hopefuls to stars. She was selling to the two groups with the least money. He suggested a reason: confidence. It feels safer to help beginners than to approach people who are already being paid. She did not argue. She knew the beginners were hard work. > The ones you're aiming for right now are the two lowest brackets. And I wonder why. — Mister Raw ## Not a coach, an agent The turn The shift came in one word. Working speakers rarely have a full calendar, Mister Raw said, and would pay a good commission to someone who fills it and raises their fee. Finding them was easy, because events publish their line-ups. She only needed the ones without representation. > It's bloody easy to find them. Everybody's announcing who's coming to speak. You already know them. You just need to find those who doesn't have an agent. — Mister Raw ## Yes, then a think What she decided She said the conversation had her thinking, and that she would add an agency service and get her team to change direction. Then she tried to fit it into her existing programme, with graduates becoming agency clients. Mister Raw had to repeat that her graduates were too junior. By the end she said she would go away and think. She also turned down his push to learn AI tools herself: she liked people. > They're just never going to get paid. And I need people to be getting paid so that they can then pay me. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand Mister Raw signed off with a cheerful instruction to go and triple her revenue. That figure was his assertion, not a forecast. > Go triple your revenue, please. — Mister Raw ## Where it led She stopped seeing herself only as someone who prepares speakers for agents, and started to see that she could be the agent for speakers who already earn. > you are the agent. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She agreed she had been selling to people who could not afford her. - **A decision · In their words:** She said she would add an agent service for already-paid speakers, later softening it to thinking it over. ## Still open - The new idea had not fully landed; she first tried to fit it into her existing programme. - She resisted the advice on AI tools. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # A subscription for people with no spare cash > His deals were working and he wanted a cheap monthly product for artists. Mister Raw asked who, exactly, would be paying for it. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-2a5130-1 A broker matching musicians with funds that invest in music rights, early revenue, US “The deals are closing. Now I want something that scales.” ## A few deals, a bigger plan The beginning A few months into the business, he and a partner were connecting musicians with funds that buy or lend against their song rights. A handful of deals had closed, each bringing a healthy fee. Next came a web app to show artists the money was real, and perhaps a cheap monthly subscription for artists. ## What is a deal worth? The conversation Mister Raw began with the numbers: what each deal earned him and how many he could do. Then he was honest about the subscription. To him it sounded like the wrong move. The people with rights worth selling were mostly the ones short of money. He pushed back: even for a few dollars a month? > my first idea to say is that to make it into a subscription or service sounds like a stupid thing to do. — Mister Raw ## Go where the artists already are The turn Instead of chasing artists one by one, Mister Raw suggested partnering with services that already hold them: music platforms, local booking agents, small managers with a handful of acts. And since he already knew the funds, he could go back and ask them exactly what they were looking for. > if you already know the funds, then go back to the funds and ask for the specifics in regards to what they're actually looking for, and then go out and look for that. — Mister Raw ## A second opinion What he took away He said it helped to hear a second opinion on things he had been turning over alone. He picked up the point that the web app was really about presentation and trust. He did not drop the subscription on the spot, and kept his plan to launch the app first. A good part of the hour was Mister Raw describing how he works with clients. > It definitely helped because I've been kind of like thinking through my head a lot about it. So it's definitely great to hear a second opinion too. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand He said he would get back in touch after the launch. ## Where it led The subscription idea was tested against the simple fact that the people it served had catalogues, not cash, and a route through partners was put on the table instead. > So that means anyone who should subscribe to your service won't have the money to subscribe. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said a second opinion on the subscription and channels helped his thinking. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He framed the web app as a way to make the opportunity easy to trust, echoing Mister Raw's point. ## Still open - It is unclear he accepted the argument against a subscription. - At one point in the call Mister Raw made an off-colour remark that did not belong in a first meeting. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The student who asked who to sell to > He wanted to be told which customers to chase. He left with a two-week list instead, and someone to answer to. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-8e4968-1 A final-year university student starting a small automation consultancy, UK “I want to start consulting, but I don't know who my customer is.” ## A book, and a question The beginning He was in his final year at university, studying data science but pulled towards building something of his own. He had read one of Mister Raw's books and already accepted its main point: he needed to go and speak to customers. His plan was a consultancy helping traditional small businesses automate their work. His question was simple. Which customers should he go after? ## Who are you to a buyer? The conversation Mister Raw did not give him a segment. He asked what kind of customers the student would like to work with, and where the money and the growth actually were. Then he looked at it from the buyer's side. If a stranger offers to fix your business, the first question is who they are. The honest answer, for now, was no one. > What is growing? Who has money? And what are they growing with? — Mister Raw ## Learn by doing the work The turn Consulting, Mister Raw argued, is the fastest way to learn how customers behave and where their limits are. The first few projects do not need to make money. They need to work, so people say good things. Rejection was part of it. Failing was how he would make progress. > if you don't fail, you don't progress. Failure is good. — Mister Raw ## Thirty companies in two weeks What he decided The call ended with an assignment: thirty target companies, a pitch, a website and three events to attend, all sent to Mister Raw within two weeks. The student liked having someone to answer to and gave his word. > Okay. That's actually really good. Some accountability... I'll do it. You have my word. — In their words ## The list is still to come Where things stand When he asked directly which segment to pick, the answer was that he had to go and explore. ## Where it led A question about which market to target became a concrete two-week task list with someone checking on it. > Send me the list of the 30 companies you want to get in contact with, send me your pitch, send me your website and send me those three events that you're going to attend within the next two weeks. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to sending a target list, pitch, website and three events within two weeks. ## Still open - He never got a direct answer on which customers to target. - There is no sign the task list was delivered. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The product was ready. Nobody had bought it. > He came to ask about raising money. He left planning to pick up the phone and knock on doors himself. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-c5a7a9-1 A self-funded cofounder of a scheduling platform for care providers, UK “It's built, it's tested, it's live. Should we raise money now?” ## Live, certified, unsold The beginning He and his cofounder had built a scheduling platform for home care providers. It was live, tested and certified. They had funded it themselves, and he had recently gone full time on it. There were no paying customers. He wanted to know whether to raise money or keep building. ## Do we have any clients? The conversation Mister Raw stepped around the funding question and went to traction. Who was he, and did they have any clients yet? The answer was no. Revenue was not the point at this stage, he said. What mattered was people actually using it, becoming happy, and being willing to pay something. > the revenue is not relevant. It's not relevant at all, actually. What is relevant... is that they actually use it, not only just test it, but actually use it, becomes happy, and is willing to pay something. — Mister Raw ## Customers decide when it's ready The turn The plan was simple. Find ten providers willing to try it. Fully onboard three of them over a few months without charging, then agree a price they are happy with, so they become proud references. And the founder had to do the selling, by phone or in person, before hiring anyone else to do it. > you don't decide now if it's ready to go to market. Your first clients decide whether you're ready or not. — Mister Raw ## Calling and visiting himself What he decided He pushed back. Providers are tied into long contracts and dread switching systems, and he wanted a public-sector listing first for credibility. He also said much of this matched what his team already thought. Even so, he said it had clarified things, and he committed to calling and visiting providers himself. > from now on, physically, I need to get involved. I need to be calling people myself, physically appearing into the local businesses — In their words ## An offer to think over Where things stand Mister Raw offered a paid monthly advisory arrangement. He said he would discuss it with his cofounder. ## Where it led The question moved from whether to raise to how to win ten willing customers, with the founder selling himself. > you don't decide now if it's ready to go to market. Your first clients decide whether you're ready or not. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the conversation clarified how to approach the market. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to personally calling and visiting providers to find pilot users. ## Still open - He doubted ten free pilots were realistic given long supplier contracts. - He did not take up the advisory offer on the call. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The stylist who came to sell, and stayed to listen > She opened by offering to style him. An hour later she was rethinking how she finds clients altogether. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-059764-1 A solo personal stylist for wealthy professionals, UK “My clients are wealthy people, but I'm finding them through LinkedIn and search.” ## An offer to style him The beginning She had worked in luxury retail serving very wealthy clients, and now ran her own styling business for high-earning professionals. She hoped Mister Raw's network might become her clients. She opened by asking how he saw his own wardrobe. He wore the same T-shirt everywhere, he said, and did not need styling. Then he turned the hour to her. ## Online looks hungry The conversation She was finding clients through online outreach and search. Mister Raw said that in a market that buys exclusivity and trust, reaching out online sends the wrong signal. > If you are reaching out on LinkedIn, then you are not exclusive, then you are hungry. — Mister Raw ## Style the people who gather them The turn His alternative: style, for free, the people around the wealthy. Gallery operators, event organisers, family office staff, personal assistants. Grateful, they would talk about her in the places that mattered. He made it concrete. Walk into the next gallery. Contact the assistants she already knew. Two days of work. > You can just walk out the door, take the tube, go to the next gallery, find the operator, make her look good. You can contact the five PAs that you already know... That's two days of work. — Mister Raw ## A plan by tomorrow What she decided She only partly agreed. These events are often invitation-only, and wealthy people usually already have stylists. She asked for real examples of the approach working, and did not get one. Still, she said nobody had ever centred a conversation on her like this. Pressed three times for a date, she promised a written plan by the next evening. > No one ever did this for me... today, the conversation was about me. — In their words ## Where it led She stopped looking for wealthy clients directly and started looking at the people who gather them. > I'm saying it's not your actual client, it's the client, it's the one who can activate your client. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She said the conversation gave her a lot of new thinking about finding clients. - **A decision · Committed to:** She committed to sending a written client plan by the end of the next day. ## Still open - Her question about proof that the approach works went unanswered. - Her concern that wealthy people already have stylists was not addressed. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Every door said no, so she tried another > Banks, public bodies and accelerators had all turned her app down. She had not thought about angels until this conversation. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-bd6e51-1 A solo operations consultant with a care coordination app on the side, UK “Everyone says it's too early, or too late. I can't find the first money.” ## Two things on her mind The beginning She helped small, founder-led online businesses sort out their operations and systems, and was designing a twelve-week group programme. On the side she was building a care coordination app, born from her own family's experience of a parent's serious illness. Banks, public health bodies and accelerators had all said no. ## Why twelve weeks? The conversation Mister Raw asked why twelve weeks. Nobody recognises twelve, he said. Many people have heard of a hundred-day plan. She began playing with the idea as a title for the book she was writing. > Because I don't care about 12, because I never heard about 12. — Mister Raw ## Angels with the same story The turn On funding, he was blunt. Stop chasing venture capital. Look for angel investors who have lived through a parent's illness themselves and have written about it, and open with her own story. She had not considered angels at all. > VCs, forget them. Angels. — Mister Raw ## Ten conversations next week What she decided He made it practical: use AI search tools to find founders and angels who have written about it, then find them on LinkedIn. She called it a great idea. She also accepted an invitation to a networking evening he runs, and joked she would report back within two weeks. > No, that's a great idea, actually. I hadn't thought about angels. — In their words ## The original reason went nowhere Where things stand The partnership Mister Raw had wanted to explore did not fit her clients, and nothing came of it. ## Where it led Her stalled fundraising shifted from institutions to angel investors who share her personal connection to the problem. > VCs, forget them. Angels. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She saw angel investors with a personal link to the problem as a route she had not considered. - **Relationships · Committed to:** She accepted an invitation to his networking evening. ## Still open - His promise of ten angel conversations within a week was confident but untested. - The partnership he came to explore did not fit. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # One price for every expert > He had asked so many experts and AI tools for advice that he was confused. One simple picture of a shop shelf settled his pricing question. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-9b709b-1 A self-funded founder of an expert-advice marketplace in beta, UK “Everyone gives me different advice. I don't know what to charge or who to talk to.” ## A marketplace in beta The beginning He was building a platform where founders book short paid sessions with experts. Every expert was offered at the same fixed price. He funded it with IT and marketing work on the side. He had the usual two-sided problem: needing buyers and experts at once. He had collected advice from many consultants and AI tools, and it conflicted. ## The experts are not your clients The conversation Mister Raw called it free advice and got into it. How much did the side work pay, and what was the go-to-market plan? Communication was strained at times, and Mister Raw said he felt his questions were being talked over. His first point was that the experts the founder kept consulting were not the people who would buy. > the experts are not your clients. — Mister Raw ## The shelf where everything costs the same The turn The hinge was a picture. Imagine a shop where every item on the shelf, from the cheapest to the best in the world, costs the same. Buyers start to doubt the whole shelf. Experts are not a fixed commodity, so a fixed price makes no sense. The buyer sets the price, not the platform. > I'm asking you a lot of things, but you're ignoring me. So, let me be clear with you. The price, I don't believe you decide. I believe the price is set by me. — Mister Raw ## No fixed price What he decided By the end he said it was clear. He would drop the fixed price and let experts set their own. Mister Raw's next step was to pick one category, find around seven experts at different prices, buy traffic to one page and talk to every buyer. Pivots come after a hundred customer conversations. The founder noted the platform was already built. > So no price. I will not do that. will not do it. Today it's clear to me. — In their words ## Pricing settled, testing not Where things stand He said he would change the pricing and later invite Mister Raw to give advice through the platform. He was still unsure about session length. ## Where it led He dropped one fixed price for all experts and decided to let experts set their own. > The price, I don't believe you decide. I believe the price is set by me. - **A decision · In their words:** He decided to replace one fixed price with prices set by each expert. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He saw that a uniform price makes buyers doubt quality. ## Still open - He was less open to testing demand before building, since the platform already existed. - Session length was still undecided. - The opening jokes did not land, which Mister Raw acknowledged. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The connector who had started begging > She had built a business on matching funders with good causes, then spent her last savings chasing money for one project of her own. One conversation turned her back round. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-f41014-1 A solo founder of a social enterprise matching funders with projects, a former media executive, Asia-Pacific “I'm good at making other people successful. Right now I can't get anyone to fund me.” ## Three years in, savings gone The beginning She had left a long media career to build a solo social enterprise connecting wealthy funders with purposeful projects. Three years on she had earned very little, her savings had run out, and she was about to take a job. Most of her energy had gone into raising a large sum for one media project she owned. She came wanting a push. ## Asking for the wrong thing The conversation Mister Raw heard the gap quickly. She said she was brilliant at making other people succeed, yet she was asking funders to back an idea they had never asked for. He suggested reversing it. Call the people she already knew, ask what kind of projects they would find exciting, deliver that, and only then bring her own idea. > because now you're inventing something maybe no one wants. — Mister Raw ## Naming the energy The turn Then he named what he was hearing in her voice. She admitted she felt she was pushing the money away, and that asking first had been her original plan before she strayed. She became emotional and said she needed to hear it. She also said, more than once, that she already knew most of this. > Because level-ish, you are down here saying, hey, come to me, come to me, come to me. Begging. But you can't. No one wants to help a beggar. — Mister Raw ## A story, not a pitch What she decided She had a dinner that weekend with a well connected host. Mister Raw told her to stop selling and bring a story people could retell, one that moves rather than one about the past. He asked for a one minute practice version before the dinner. She resisted rehearsing, saying she works in the moment, then agreed. She turned down his idea of producing for an established brand: she wanted to build her own. > You have static stories, and you have stories that move. When you talk about the past, it's static. — Mister Raw ## A weekend test Where things stand She left planning to send the practice story the next day and to try the new approach at the dinner. She also asked Mister Raw to mentor her. > Will you be my mentor, then? — In their words ## Where it led She saw she had drifted from her own model of asking funders what they care about into pushing one project from a place of need. > No one wants to help a beggar. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She recognised she had strayed from her own ask-first model by putting everything into one project. - **Confidence and control · In their words:** She said she needed to hear it after a lonely period of not believing in herself. - **A decision · Committed to:** She agreed to send a one minute practice story and to test the approach at a dinner that weekend. - **Relationships · In their words:** She asked Mister Raw to be her mentor. ## Still open - Much of what he said was, by her own account, already known to her. - He dismissed one of her ideas quickly with little exploration. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The cold pitch that landed on the wrong person > He found Mister Raw on a bought list of investors and asked him for millions. Mister Raw was not an investor, so they talked about the pitch instead. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-fe8110-1 A founder buying historic properties to sell in fractional digital shares, pre-revenue, Europe “I need an anchor investor, and I'm working through a list of names.” ## A name on a bought list The beginning He had bought and restored one historic property and wanted to buy more, selling fractional digital shares in them while a non-profit ran the buildings. He needed a large anchor investment. He had found Mister Raw on a cheap list of investors and booked a call to pitch him. > So tell me why we are here. — Mister Raw ## Not that person The turn Mister Raw told him straight away that he was not an investor and did not take referral fees. Then he stayed on the call and started asking the questions an investor would. Had he sold any shares in the property he already owned? Why not simply sell that one and use the money? > I'm asking this question, because that's the question the investor asks you. — Mister Raw ## Dream first, numbers second The conversation Mister Raw suggested a smaller first ask, one a wealthy person would treat as play money. He urged him to open with the dream of owning a piece of history before showing any figures. For channels, he proposed premium estate agents who already know wealthy buyers, and events where people already understand digital assets. > You need something a little before to awake my emotions if I'm an investor. — Mister Raw ## One idea taken, two rejected What he decided He turned down the estate agent route, saying they lacked the right experience and he would rather do the work himself. He defended the larger raise, and said his deck already led with emotion. Mister Raw's own view on the ticket size moved during the call. He did agree to go to digital asset networking events to find investors who already understood the model. > Correct. I will do this. — In their words ## A deck to send Where things stand He was going to send his pitch deck, and Mister Raw said they could stay in touch. ## Where it led Mister Raw said plainly he was not an investor and turned the call into advice on how to pitch and where to look. > I'm not an investor either - **A decision · Committed to:** He said he would go to digital asset networking events to look for investors. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He agreed the pitch should lead with the dream before the numbers, though he felt his deck already did. ## Still open - He rejected the main channel suggestion and the smaller first ticket. - Mister Raw's advice on ticket size shifted during the call. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The maker who stopped picking up the phone > He left a long partnership, launched on his own and did well on the clients he brought with him. Then the pipeline thinned and the cash ran low. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-6aa5f4-1 A craftsman who recently went independent after a partnership split, selling high-end work to private clients, UK “The first months were good. Now it's gone quiet and I've got about two months of cash.” ## Starting again after a split The beginning For around fifteen years he had helped build someone else's business, eventually as a partner. The split was painful. In the spring he launched under his own name. The early months ran on clients who followed him. By autumn the pipeline had thinned and he had roughly two months of cash. His plan was more outreach on social media. > And how much money do you have on your bank account? — Mister Raw ## Building from pain The conversation Mister Raw named a pattern. People who start out of anger hunt hard until they feel safe, then stop, and then panic. He also asked why the craftsman was still tiptoeing around a former partner he did not like, when there was a long list of past clients he knew personally. > Because usually when you work out from pain, when you work out from pain, you stop hunting when you feel saved. And then you fall and... And then you go desperate. — Mister Raw ## Back to what built the book The turn The skill that had built his original client base was the phone. Mister Raw pointed him straight back to it, and did the sum: a couple of sales a week would cover him. The craftsman named his own weak spots: daily discipline, asking for referrals, budgeting. > So what I'm saying is just double down on what you're very best at. — Mister Raw ## Four to six, every day What he decided He committed to a two-hour calling block every weekday afternoon and set it as a repeating calendar event while they were still talking. He agreed to call the past clients he knew. He also raised a real worry, that his former partner might go after his clients. Mister Raw brushed it aside rather than exploring it. By his own account, he had already decided the day before to knuckle down. > Four to six. I accept four to six. — In their words ## Invigorated, not yet proven Where things stand He called the session invigorating and offered to be held to account. > It's been invigorating, I think is the right word. — In their words ## Where it led He moved from a plan built on social media and referrals to a fixed daily block of phone calls, set in his calendar during the call. > Just do between four and six, and you'll be a success. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to a fixed daily calling block and set it in his calendar during the call. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He recognised the gap was his own inconsistent selling, not the market. ## Still open - He had already resolved to work harder the day before the call. - His concern about his former partner's reaction was dismissed, not examined. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who kept saying she needed investment > She was building an app alone, after hours, on her own salary. She was about to go hunting for investors at a big conference. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-91d4ed-1 A solo founder of a newly launched consumer networking app, building alongside a full-time job, UK “I've launched, I'm paying for it myself, and I need investment to build a team.” ## Built after hours The beginning She had just soft-launched an app for finding people and events. She was building it alone, around a full-time job and a family, and paying for it out of her salary. She wanted money to hire a team, and was thinking of going to a large tech conference to look for backers. > And are you looking for investors or what's your dream with this? — Mister Raw ## What need sounds like The conversation They were both building in the same space, and the call began as a swap between peers. Then Mister Raw turned to her fundraising. His point was about the words. Saying you need investment shows how you feel, and the right investors hear it. > Because the part, the point is when you say you need investment, it's how you feel. Otherwise you wouldn't say it. — Mister Raw ## The story they retell The turn He sketched what an investor might say to friends about her: a founder holding down a job and a family while putting everything she earns into the business. That, he said, is what people buy into. She pushed back that she was not desperate and had already turned down offers that were the wrong fit. She agreed with the principle. > I think your ambassadors are your investors. — Mister Raw ## Asking instead of telling What she decided She said she would spend the rest of the day at an expo asking people who they would like to meet, rather than explaining what her app does, and report back. They booked a free session for the following week to sharpen her story, and he invited her to one of his events. > Okay, so I would just ask, who would you like to meet? — Mister Raw ## Where it led The fundraising question moved from finding investors to telling a story about herself that an investor would want to repeat. > So, in regards to raising money, the first problem is anyone who needs an investment doesn't get it. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She accepted leading with her story and with questions rather than with what the app does. - **A decision · Committed to:** She said she would try asking people who they wanted to meet at an expo that day. - **Relationships · Committed to:** She booked a follow-up session to work on her investor story. ## Still open - She disputed that she was approaching investors from need. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The positioning expert who couldn't say what she sold > She helps other people find their position. Asked what a client actually gets, she kept answering with the word branding. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-1733a1-1 An independent positioning consultant with first clients, Europe “I help founders with their brand. I'm just not sure people get what that means.” ## A catch-up between peers The beginning She had become an active connector in Mister Raw's networking community. The call started as a catch-up. She gave him frank feedback on his own platform and floated an idea for a spin-off community. Then the conversation turned to her. > And what do you actually do? — Mister Raw ## No outcome in the word The conversation Mister Raw pointed out that calling her work branding promised nothing a buyer could picture. Her website, he said, mostly described what she was not. She agreed it was a valid point, and that it was not clear on the website either. > So all you talk about is what you don't want. You don't talk about anything else, actually. This is what we're not. — Mister Raw ## So what do I get? The turn He played the sceptical client and kept asking what he would actually get. Slowly a phrase emerged: helping founders who had plateaued start growing again by stepping out of comparison with their industry. She repeated it back, testing it. > So you give me the ability to grow more or you're giving me the ability to start growing again? — Mister Raw ## Help the connectors first What she decided He suggested she win referrals by helping a few super-connectors grow again themselves, and asked her to change her website before they spoke again. She liked the connector idea. She questioned whether rewriting the website was the best use of her time, and disputed his claim that only he could do this kind of work. > No, because what you really need, you need to help three super connectors. Enabling them to grow again — Mister Raw ## An idea to test Where things stand She called the conversation thought-provoking and left with a sharper line for her work. ## Where it led Under repeated questioning, her offer moved from branding to helping established founders start growing again. > But if you make me grow again, that's powerful. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She arrived at an outcome-based way to describe her work instead of branding. - **A different perspective · In their words:** She recognised her website leaned on what she was not. - **A decision · In their words:** She took up the idea of working with super-connectors for referrals. ## Still open - She did not commit to rewriting her website. - The spin-off community she proposed was not taken forward. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The CEO hiring someone to be him > He was his software company's only salesperson and wanted to hire a marketer to be the industry voice. Mister Raw thought he had it the wrong way round. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-123ebe-1 A founder-CEO of a breakeven B2B software company in construction, Nordics “I'm the only one selling, and I can't find a marketer to take the thought leadership off me.” ## Back in the chair The beginning He ran two businesses in construction technology. When the software company ran short of cash, he stepped back in as chief executive. It was now breakeven with a few dozen customers. He was its only salesperson, and had spent two weeks failing to hire a marketer to be the voice of the industry he wanted to be. > How many customers do you have? — Mister Raw ## Do you really know why? The conversation Mister Raw asked why customers bought from him. Then he suggested that, like most founders, he only thought he knew. He also said the founder should know his core numbers every morning. > And I know for a fact that there's a 5% chance statistically that you know it. Meaning there's a 95% chance that you think you know it. — Mister Raw ## You are the thought leader The turn The reframe was simple. The best salesperson is the thought leader, and that was him. What was missing was a mapped sales process someone else could follow. Someone other than the founder should call recent customers and ask why they bought. > But he simply calls them and asks, why did you buy from us? And I'm sure that the answer will surprise you. — Mister Raw ## A different hire What he took away He said the conversation had made him think he should be the thought leader himself, and that he needed to understand better why customers buy. He still insisted the groundwork was mostly done. Mister Raw offered a three-month paid engagement in stages. The founder noted it looked like an earlier arrangement with someone else that had brought meetings but no sales. > I was just thinking, actually, from what you are making me say in this call, is that I should actually be the thought leader. — In their words ## I'll let you know Where things stand He left saying he would think about the offer. ## Where it led He stopped seeing himself as the person to replace and started seeing the missing piece as a sales process built on why customers buy. > before there is a house, there's nothing. And you are not the house. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He reconsidered his hiring plan, seeing himself as the thought leader and the gap as sales. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted he needed to find out more precisely why customers buy. ## Still open - He maintained that business development was largely finished. - He did not commit to the paid offer and compared it to an earlier engagement that had not produced sales. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The sales leader who knew nobody next door > His company had won most of the startups at home. Breaking into neighbouring markets meant meetings with people he had never met. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-5aabea-1 A commercial leader with a small equity stake at a seed-funded B2B software and services company, Nordics “We've won at home. I don't know anyone in the next market over.” ## Winning at home The beginning He led sales at a seed-funded company with a few dozen staff and recurring revenue in the low millions. Most of the promising startups in its home market were already customers. Now he wanted to win trust and meetings in neighbouring markets, where he knew few people. > Are you part of the owner? — Mister Raw ## Sales or proof? The conversation Mister Raw questioned the regional focus and argued that a seed round is for proving a model that scales, not for a sales push. Otherwise, he warned, companies drain their cash. He disagreed on both counts. Proximity and trust matter in his field, and the company's prepaid model needed little capital. > what you need to prove now, is that you can scale... So I would still, I would not be in a, can you call it, in a sales mood, I would still be in a business development mood — Mister Raw ## The doors you already have The turn The idea that landed was practical. Every customer already works with local accountants, investors and partners. Map them and ask for introductions. He called it not a bad idea. > Because the easiest gateway is always to take your existing clients and ask for the access. — Mister Raw ## A follow-up booked Where things stand He asked for introductions; Mister Raw declined, saying he does not make referrals, and proposed a paid session of a few days to map the routes. They booked a follow-up for the next week to discuss it. > I really appreciate your openness and your feedback. — In their words ## Where it led The question shifted from how to get meetings in a new city to using existing customers' local partners as a route to warm introductions. > Because the point is, each and every of all the companies you have as clients also have local accounts and companies. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He found the route of warm introductions through clients' local partners a useful idea. - **Relationships · Committed to:** He booked a follow-up to discuss a possible paid collaboration. ## Still open - He kept his own regional-first plan and rejected the broader framing. - He disagreed that cash would be a problem. - His request for introductions was turned down. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who hated cold outreach > He had a small product with loyal customers and no appetite for selling. The leads, it turned out, were already in his own history. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-101016-1 A solo founder of a small self-funded software add-on for agencies, Nordics “I've never found a comfortable way to turn a relationship into a sales pitch.” ## A side project ready for more The beginning For several years he had built a small app that sits on top of the software agencies already use. It had a modest base of paying customers. He was leaving a salaried consulting job to give it more time, and planned to grow by partnering with the vendors whose systems his app plugs into. He disliked cold outreach and had never found the right moment to turn a relationship into a pitch. ## Where the users went The conversation Mister Raw asked about customers and prices, and then about everyone who had used the app over the years. Most of them, he guessed, had since changed jobs. Instead of cold leads, the founder could follow former users into their new agencies, starting each time someone left a customer. ## Not how it works, but worth a try The turn The founder pushed back. People who have to log their hours do not want more of it, so former users are not natural champions. And the arithmetic Mister Raw offered was too simple. Still, he came round to the core of it. > I actually think it's useful input. I'm not shooting it down. It could be fun to try — In their words · Translated ## A case for the partners What he took away Mister Raw also suggested comparing hours logged with and without the app, and turning that into a case for the vendor partners. He backed the partner strategy itself. The founder turned down the idea of working from a shared space with other founders, having tried it before. When paid help came up, he said he would revisit it once revenue grew. ## Where they left it Where things stand They agreed to stay in touch. ## Where it led He moved from dismissing former users as a channel to calling the idea worth testing. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said following former users into new jobs was useful input worth testing. ## Still open - He doubted former users would want to bring the app with them. - He declined paid help until revenue grew. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Tired, close, and tempted to sell > A big event weeks away, heavy costs up front, and two companies asking to buy him out. He was tired. Mister Raw told him to pick up the phone that day. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-f8dd64-1 Founder of a membership and events community for business leaders, UK “Two companies want to buy us, the summit is costing a fortune, and I'm tired.” ## Weeks before the big event The beginning He ran a paid community and events business for senior people in sales. A large summit was weeks away, with heavy costs to cover first. Two event companies had approached him about buying the business, on terms that would likely leave him a small stake and a job running it. He was tired after a long stretch of building. He wanted to work with Mister Raw, but felt he could not commit any money until the summit was over and paid for. ## More buyers, not fewer The conversation Mister Raw's first point was about leverage. Two interested buyers was good. More conversations with similar companies would create competition and a stronger hand. The founder took that on board. His second point was about timing. Mister Raw thought he was close to the stage where growing the business would beat selling it, while admitting he did not remember all the numbers. > you're also very close to actually becoming a real success and and it's tiresome the whole journey you've been on — Mister Raw ## Call them today What he decided Two large prospects had been left waiting until after the event. Mister Raw's view was that they had already made up their minds, so there was nothing to gain by waiting. Closing them now would also free up cash to start working together, which Mister Raw was open about. The founder agreed he had a point. He said he would definitely call both prospects that day and push them to sign, rather than wait until after the summit. > because they already took a decision and if they didn't take a decision they're not going to take a decision anyway. — Mister Raw ## Where they left it Where things stand He promised to message the result. If the deals closed, they would start that week. If not, after the summit. This was their only real conversation. ## Where it led Instead of waiting until after his event, he agreed to call his two biggest pending prospects that same day. > Honestly, I suggest you call those two big clients and say let's go because I think we should do it now - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to push his two biggest pending prospects to close straight away. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted that more acquirer conversations would strengthen his negotiating position. ## Still open - He deferred starting work with Mister Raw unless the deals closed that day. - There is no evidence of the deals closing, a sale, or the engagement starting. - The advice to scale rather than sell rested on thin information. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Looking at new markets before his own numbers > He wanted to talk about expanding abroad. Mister Raw wanted to know what he earned, what he paid himself, and why his clients chose him. He could not quite say. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-95b4ba-1 Owner of a small tax and compliance consultancy serving small-business clients, Middle East “My market is saturated, so I want to expand into the UK.” ## A saturated market and a plan to leave it The beginning He ran a small consultancy handling tax, bookkeeping and banking compliance for business owners setting up in his region, most of them from Europe. Competition had grown, clients compared his fees with cheaper accountants back home, and the local market felt saturated. So he booked an introduction with Mister Raw. What he wanted to talk about was the next step: expanding into the UK, where he thought there was more room to grow. ## Rapid-fire questions about money The conversation Mister Raw went straight to the numbers. How many paying clients. Monthly revenue. Costs. What the owner paid himself. The answers came back as ranges rather than figures, and he admitted he had never worked out his own pay. Mister Raw's point was that the business was already doing well on a small cost base, and could be doing much better, if its owner looked at it properly. > you have forgotten look at your own business you are not looking at your own business and you're just trying to look forward — Mister Raw ## Your clients know your value The turn Before chasing a new country, Mister Raw argued, he needed to know why existing clients had chosen him. He did not know himself what he delivered. His clients did. The suggestion was simple: ask every current and former client why they bought. The owner answered that they already collected testimonials from happy clients. Whether that was the same as asking why people bought was not settled before the call ended. > You have to use your superpower. ... you don't know yourself what you are delivering. Your customers know what you're delivering. — Mister Raw ## Homework, then silence Where things stand Mister Raw set homework: a list of every client, what each paid and for what, how leads arrived and how long they took. He said he would only be paid once the value was visible. The owner agreed and said a colleague would book a follow-up. No follow-up took place that we know of. > make a list of all your clients how much they pay on a monthly basis. Tell me how you gain new leads. Tell me how long the lead time is. — Mister Raw ## Where it led The talk moved from a new-market plan to the owner's own unknown numbers and why clients buy from him at all. > It's about understanding why people are buying from you. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to prepare a client list with fees and services and to book a follow-up. ## Still open - There is no evidence the list was made or clients were asked. - The UK expansion question was never revisited. - Mister Raw opened with personal remarks that missed the mark; the owner deflected them politely. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Not deciding anything while burned out > His big contract had just fallen through after nearly a year. He had no revenue, no salary and an offer of a paid job. He asked what to do with his company. Mister Raw told him not to decide yet. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-a78157-1 A bootstrapped founder of a B2B software product with no paying customers yet, UK “The deal I spent a year on just fell through. What would you do with the company?” ## A year of work, withdrawn The beginning He had built a working software tool for businesses but had no paying revenue. A large contract he had chased for almost a year had been pulled the week before. He had cut company costs to almost nothing and had not paid himself in a long time. He had also just been offered a salaried CEO role at a new fund. He asked Mister Raw what he would do in his shoes. ## You look burned out The conversation Mister Raw asked for the numbers first: monthly costs, current revenue, what could realistically come in within four weeks. Then he stopped and named what he saw on the screen in front of him. The founder had ideas for the company, such as bringing in a salesperson for equity. Mister Raw did not engage with them. His concern was the person, not the plan. > You look burned out. — Mister Raw ## Get paid, rest, then decide The turn Mister Raw's advice was to decide nothing about the company now. Take the paid role, which the founder had already been leaning towards. Take two weeks to recover. Walk. Meditate for forty minutes a day, not twenty. Then look at the company again with a clearer head. The founder pushed back on one point: he had admitted how hard things were many times at home, and it had not got easier. But he agreed to plug out and promised to take it easy. > when you get the first money in on the account, life changes once again. — Mister Raw ## Where they left it Where things stand They planned to speak again in two or three weeks. This was their only real conversation. > So just let it flow. Don't overperform. Take it easy. — Mister Raw ## Where it led The question moved from what to do with the company to not deciding anything until he had rested and was earning again. > now your brain, your mindset, you already feel that you crashed and burned, so any actual decision you're taking right now is, it's not going to benefit anyone, especially you, but also your company - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted that deciding the company's future while burned out would be a mistake. - **A decision · In their words:** He leaned towards taking the salaried role, with two weeks off first, an option he had already been considering. ## Still open - The business question itself, how to sell the product, was not addressed. - He said that admitting the strain had not made things easier for him. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The builder with a waitlist and no time > He wanted to know where to find customers. Mister Raw's one question suggested a thousand of them were already waiting. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-6c1049-1 A solo software engineer building an AI writing tool, Europe “The product works and people are waiting. I just don't know how to reach more customers.” ## Six months alone with the code The beginning A software engineer who also writes fiction had spent six months building an AI tool that writes in a user's own voice. A separate automated business covered his costs. He had around fifty beta users and roughly a thousand people on a waitlist. He wanted two things: for Mister Raw to try it as a writer, and advice on finding customers. ## A thousand people waiting The conversation A first attempt was lost to bad audio. The second lasted about ten minutes. Mister Raw asked what he wanted and how he paid his rent. Then he pushed once: if a thousand people were already waiting, reaching an audience was not the problem. The implication was that his time, spent alone on code, was. > So why isn't it 10,000? Because it sounds to me if you can get a thousand on a waitlist, then you don't have any troubles with getting to your audience. — Mister Raw ## An invite, still to come Where things stand Mister Raw offered to test the product on the spot, but there was no sign-up flow yet, so the call ended with a promise to send an invitation. The customer question was never properly discussed. > Why don't you send me the link now? — Mister Raw ## Where it led One question moved the bottleneck from reach to his own time, though the thread was never followed up. > So why isn't it 10,000? Because it sounds to me if you can get a thousand on a waitlist, then you don't have any troubles with getting to your audience. - **Relationships · Committed to:** Agreed that Mister Raw would test the product and give feedback once invited. ## Still open - His question about reaching customers was not answered. - The product could not be tried because self-serve sign-up had not been built. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The operator who wanted to stop operating > He wanted to work less and earn more next year. First he had to admit he was still doing everything himself. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-8eef8d-1 A founder of a small lead-generation business, UK “I want to work less and earn more, but I'm still the one doing everything.” ## Busy, small and spread thin The beginning He had run his lead-generation business mostly alone for several years. Nearly all of his clients were small firms with small budgets, and some took hours of advice for very little pay. His wish for the coming year was simple: work less, earn more. He also had ideas for workshops, a move abroad and an unrelated consumer business on the side. ## Naming the pattern The conversation Mister Raw summed it up quickly. He was the operator, and what he wanted was not to be the operator. The founder agreed at once. Mister Raw also suggested he had probably underpriced even his newest and largest client. The founder partly disputed this, saying he had already raised that price. > I would call you, you are the operator and what you're trying not to be is to be the operator, correct? — Mister Raw ## Out of the pond What he decided Rather than solve it on the call, Mister Raw proposed meeting face to face to lay out a plan for the year, then checking in a few times a year to keep it on track. The founder said it sounded like a good plan and that he looked forward to working together. > when I'm speaking with you in the grot You know, I'm talking to a guy who can barely look out Look at the surface From the little pond you're swimming in. — Mister Raw ## Where they left it Where things stand A proposal was to follow by email and a meeting in the new year. ## Where it led He agreed to step out of the day to day and build a proper yearly plan in person. > I'm talking to a guy who can barely look out Look at the surface From the little pond you're swimming in. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed in principle to an in-person planning session to map out his year. ## Still open - The side venture was not questioned, despite the overload he described. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # One investor offer on the table > After a hard-won first big client, an investor came knocking. The question was whether one offer was enough. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-91dfbe-1 A founder of a growing compliance and supplier-verification business, Africa “We finally have an investor interested. Should I just take it?” ## Good news since last time The beginning He came back to Mister Raw with an update. Since their last talk he had closed a large corporate client, hired an operations lead to bring order to the business, grown his admin team and added services that answered a common objection from bigger buyers. One deal from their earlier conversation had fallen through when the client chose to do it in-house. ## A single offer The conversation He also had an offer from an investor who would provide incubation and access to a fund, with a valuation under way. That was the part that worried Mister Raw. According to the meeting notes, he urged the founder to approach many more potential partners and investors, to see it as offering an opportunity rather than receiving one, and to gain leverage and better terms. > the only thing that actually worries me now is that you are telling me that you have won a potential investor who's looking into investing — Mister Raw ## Where they left it Where things stand The notes record a plan to contact around twenty potential partners and to catch up every quarter. ## Where it led Mister Raw voiced concern about depending on a single investor and urged him to widen the field. > the only thing that actually worries me now is that you are telling me that you have won a potential investor who's looking into investing - **Business results · In their words:** Before this conversation he had closed a first large corporate client and received an investment offer. - **A decision · Committed to:** The meeting notes record a plan to approach around twenty more potential partners or investors. ## Still open - A prospect from the earlier conversation fell through. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The community builder who argued back > He ran a large founder community alone and wanted it to pay. He heard a challenge on almost every point, and answered most of them. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-ab99dc-1 A solo founder running a large online community for founders, Europe “I've built the community. Now I need it to give me a steady income.” ## A first paid test The beginning A former studio owner, he had run a large online community for founders on his own for about a year and a half. He had recently made it private and was two weeks into a first paid programme, a cohort where members help promote each other on social media. He wanted steady income from it, and was not sure why Mister Raw had asked to talk. ## Money or belonging? The conversation Mister Raw asked how he made money and what he wanted to achieve. The answer moved between income and being part of a community. So the first suggestion was to write the vision down, because that was what members were really buying. > What I would encourage you to do is actually to write down the vision. Because your vision. Is your value proposition to the market? — Mister Raw ## A good excuse The pushback He planned to bring in someone else to host live sessions; an earlier group had faded, and he did not see himself as the best host. Mister Raw said it sounded like a good excuse, and that hosting gets better only with practice. The founder disagreed. Another host would serve members better, he said, and communities succeed on execution, not members' budgets. He had failed enough already and was now testing more carefully. > Well, at least it's a good excuse — Mister Raw ## One idea to adapt What he took away Mister Raw suggested smaller paid subgroups by type of member. The founder doubted they would pay enough to justify the work, but said the idea might work if he adjusted it to his situation. He thanked Mister Raw for the time. > it's a great idea if I will just adjust it to my situation, maybe it will work. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand They parted politely, with Mister Raw invited into the private group. ## Where it led Mister Raw pushed him to write down a vision as his offer to the market and to host himself; he took one idea and pushed back on the rest. > What I would encourage you to do is actually to write down the vision. Because your vision. Is your value proposition to the market? - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said splitting the community into smaller paid groups could work if adapted to his situation. ## Still open - He rejected the push to host live sessions himself. - He disagreed with Mister Raw's view of why founder communities struggle to earn. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The owner who wanted out but not yet > He had built a group of small software firms on instinct. Now he wanted something he could sell, and was not sure how to get there or who should help. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-ef8c6c-1 The owner of a bootstrapped group of software and design businesses, Europe “I don't want to run this forever. I want to build something I can sell.” ## Clients drifting, a decision made The beginning An engineer had grown a self-funded group of around six software and design businesses across two continents. His main unit was losing long-standing clients and was back to short, small contracts. He had brought in a commercial managing director and concluded that he wanted to build businesses to sell, not run them indefinitely. He did not know how to make intuition-led operations saleable. ## Where do you want to go? The conversation Mister Raw asked where he wanted to end up, who really drove change between him and his co-owner, and how ownership was split. The owner set out his own options: keep pushing, hire a manager, sell, or close. Mister Raw added one he had not listed: a management buyout. > Oh, there is also a fifth one, and that is a management buyout. — Mister Raw ## Naming the need The turn The owner said what he probably needed was a different perspective, to get clear on where they were heading and the steps. He was frank that he did not know how partners who ran on instinct would use it. He also asked whether this was business advice or personal coaching. Mister Raw said both, but mostly business. > the best way to jump off the edge is hold somebody's hand — Mister Raw ## Probably not right now What he decided He said he was probably not ready to jump in, and had a few boxes to tick first. He questioned the value of workshops, saying change happens in small steps. He left the door open for another session and offered a separate conversation about doing business in his other region. ## Where it led The owner named what he needed, an outside view on direction and steps, and also decided he was not ready to start. > the best way to jump off the edge is hold somebody's hand - **A different perspective · In their words:** The owner said he needed an outside perspective to get clear on direction and next steps. - **A decision · In their words:** He decided not to start working with Mister Raw yet. ## Still open - He doubted how his intuition-led partners would act on outside input. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Three founders who kept drifting back to product > They agreed goals, then went back to building. He was shopping for an advisor to hold them to it, and comparing more than one. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-10e830-1 The sales cofounder of a small self-funded software company, UK “We set goals together and then nothing changes.” ## A big goal, no one to hold it The beginning Three founders had grown a software business through a sharp change of direction, and now wanted to more than double revenue within a year. They kept agreeing goals, then drifting back to product work. None of them understood marketing. His own calendar was wall to wall with meetings. ## He named it himself The conversation The cofounder described most of this unprompted. Mister Raw named it back: they had spent too long working in the business, and five minutes working on it changes nothing. > when you do everything, you do nothing — Mister Raw ## Find out why they buy The turn Mister Raw laid out a sequence. First learn why customers buy. Then put that into marketing. Then hand simple selling to salespeople. He warned against hiring a cold-outreach salesperson before that work was done, because the hire would fail again. ## Still choosing Where things stand The cofounder agreed with the diagnosis. He was also candid: cost was his biggest worry, and the team was comparing advisors and needed a choice all three could accept. Another cofounder was due to book a call. > That's exactly exactly what it is — In their words ## Where it led The cofounder agreed that the founders had been working in the business too long to develop it. > when you do everything, you do nothing - **A different perspective · In their words:** The cofounder agreed the founders were stuck working in the business rather than on it. ## Still open - He was already hiring a salesperson, and there is no sign the advice to wait was taken. - Cost was his main concern and no decision was made. - A stereotyping remark from Mister Raw about offshore developers is part of the record. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The young dealmaker afraid of being a middleman > He wanted to work with wealthy family investors but worried he added nothing. He was offered a bigger way to see his role. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-9723a3-1 A young founder building an investment and deal advisory practice, Nordics “I don't know which investors to go after, or why they'd need me.” ## Too small, too young The beginning He was in his late twenties, shaping a mix of venture investing and deal advisory, working with family offices. The large ones had their own teams. The small ones behaved like angels. In a small home market he worried he was just another middleman. ## What does the investor really want? The conversation Mister Raw was direct about his age, and asked which side of the table he was really on. Then he offered a view: the younger generation now running family money wants something exciting to talk about with their peers. > You're still, excuse the expression, a young lad — Mister Raw · Translated ## Think bigger than home The turn His advice was to find smaller family offices and bring them interesting deals, and to stop thinking locally. Present his region's opportunities to family offices in a bigger financial centre. > I see you more as positioning yourself as the one who presents Scandinavia — Mister Raw · Translated ## Cautious, for now Where things stand The founder said he had already been trying something similar and the doors were hard to open. He also asked plainly why the help was free, and said one could be suspicious of it. A follow-up was agreed for later that week. ## Where it led Mister Raw suggested he stop thinking like a local intermediary and become the person who presents his region's deals to family offices abroad. > I see you more as positioning yourself as the one who presents Scandinavia - **Relationships · Committed to:** The founder agreed to a second conversation later that week. ## Still open - He said he was already trying a similar approach without much success. - He questioned why the mentoring was offered for free. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The coaches who had set the bar too low > Corporate budgets were shrinking and the inbound work had slowed. The first question was what success would actually look like. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-d30700-1 One half of a husband-and-wife team coaching business, UK “Work used to come to us. Now it doesn't, and we have to go and find it.” ## When the work stopped coming in The beginning He and his wife run a business training corporate teams to work better together. Their earlier work had built a following and plenty of inbound enquiries. Then HR budgets were cut and corporate revenue fell. He connected with Mister Raw mostly out of curiosity. He already knew the answer in outline: stop waiting, and start selling directly to business owners. ## What does success mean, in money? The conversation Mister Raw asked what success would mean each month, in money. The first answer was a bare minimum. Pressed, it became roughly three times what they were currently earning. He pushed it higher still, arguing that low goals produce low results. At one point he misheard their revenue as far lower than it was, and had to be corrected. > How much money are you two bringing into the household on a monthly basis when it's a success? — Mister Raw ## Almost, but not fully The challenge His read was that they were a brand trying to change the world but not yet a brand. They were close on communication, close on pricing, close on a sales process, and complete on none of them. He suggested going back to past clients and asking plainly for help, something he bet they had only half done. > You know how to communicate, but you almost do it. You know how to put your pricing point, you almost know how to do it. You almost have the sales process going, but you don't have it fully. — Mister Raw ## A conversation to have at home Where things stand Mister Raw offered paid monthly support and declined to make introductions. The founder said he would talk it over with his wife and arrange a joint call. ## Where it led Asked to put a number on success, his target moved from a bare minimum to about three times current revenue, and Mister Raw pushed it higher. > How much money are you two bringing into the household on a monthly basis when it's a success? - **A different perspective · In their words:** He acknowledged they had relied on inbound work and now had to be proactive, a view he largely held before the call. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to discuss next steps with his wife and set up a joint call. ## Still open - Much of the diagnosis was already his own before they spoke. - Mister Raw misheard their revenue and had to be corrected. - No follow-up conversation is recorded. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The coach who kept starting again > Years into coaching founders, he was still unsure where to live, what to charge, and which clients were serious. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-fcd4e0-1 A solo business coach and former enterprise salesperson, working between the Nordics and Asia “I can help people. I'm just not sure who's serious, or where I should be.” ## A new life, an unsettled business The beginning He had spent years selling enterprise software, then sold everything, travelled for a year and set up as a coach for CEOs and founders. Now he worked remotely between the Nordics and Asia, unsure where to base himself. His bigger worry was not delivering value, but spending his time with the wrong people. ## Founders rarely have money The conversation It was a loose conversation, much of it Mister Raw describing his own practice. Founders rarely have money, he said, so he had raised his prices sharply and moved to a fixed monthly fee for a short weekly session. The coach was most interested in the mechanics: how to package an offer, and how to tell who is serious before giving them his time. > no founder has any money anyway — Mister Raw ## Why keep reinventing yourself? The challenge Mister Raw asked why he had started building a public voice and then stopped. He said it had not produced results and he had run out of energy. Mister Raw did not dig further. His wider point was that the coach kept reinventing himself instead of building on what had always kept him going: selling. The coach agreed it was best to play to his strengths. > Why do you put in front what you are incapable of achieving, when you can just put something in front of you that is achievable and then build on what you dream of? — Mister Raw ## Hard to say Where things stand Near the end Mister Raw told him he was close to real success and holding himself back. The coach's answer was that it was hard to say, and Mister Raw admitted he was speaking after only thirty minutes. A free follow-up was booked. > I think you're so close to becoming an actual success. I think you're holding yourself back. — Mister Raw ## Where it led Mister Raw gave a direct personal read that he was holding himself back; he neither accepted nor rejected it. > I think you're so close to becoming an actual success. I think you're holding yourself back. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He agreed he should play to his strengths rather than keep reinventing himself. ## Still open - He did not accept the read that he was holding himself back. - Parts of the conversation were blunt generalisations that did not help his question. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who wanted introductions, not advice > His lead investor wanted a stronger advisory board. The offer he got looked too good to be true. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-094fee-1 A founder of a consumer wellness app in the middle of a seed round, Europe “My lead investor wants a stronger advisory board before committing.” ## A gap in the round The beginning The app has relaunched with a small group of paying users, and a first small round is done. A potential lead investor for the next round wants to see a stronger advisory board before committing, and a sizeable gap remains. He is looking for advisors. ## An unexpected offer The conversation Mister Raw asks briefly about users, team and money, then offers to join the board himself, with no fee up front. The founder is openly wary. It looks too good to be true, he says. What does Mister Raw get out of it? And he has no money to pay. > Put me on the advisory, that brings value, that's fine. — Mister Raw ## Not a Ferrari dealer The turn He keeps asking for investor introductions. Mister Raw refuses: an advisor who earns from intros is not a good advisor. What the founder needs is to run the raise well himself. After the car line, the founder says: fair enough. > But what is really needed is not me to do an intro. What really is needed is that you do the right things. — Mister Raw ## Interested, not convinced Where things stand He agrees to send a proposal for an advisory arrangement. Mister Raw says he could help close the gap within two weeks, without saying how. The founder admits he is not ready for this conversation and asks what the next step is; the answer is another call. ## Where it led His request for investor introductions was turned into a question about whether he could run the raise himself. > I don't bring in Ferraris. I make sure you know how to drive a car. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted, at least out loud, that knowing how to run the raise mattered more than introductions. - **A decision · Committed to:** He agreed to send a proposal for an advisory arrangement. ## Still open - The disagreement about introductions was deflected rather than resolved. - The two-week claim was not backed by anything specific. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The side business that became the whole business > A catch-up between old acquaintances turned into a blunt question about what he was really building. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-5f2f4c-1 A self-employed entrepreneur running a small online affiliate business, Nordics “It started as a side thing, but right now it's all I've got.” ## A catch-up The beginning An old acquaintance joins for a catch-up. He is running a small online affiliate business full time and earning little from it, while keeping several loose options open in health and life sciences. ## Not in control The conversation Mister Raw asks about the economics and what he spends on ads. The niche, he says, has run for decades, is crowded, and is controlled by others. Things can change in a week. > It sounds like a side hustle you are running full time because there are no other alternatives. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Sell what you are good at The turn He turns to what the man could sell instead: business development for life science companies, priced as a fixed fee plus a small licence on what sells. Help twenty, and one takes off. He also advises taking a day off to walk and think when money first comes in, because relief leads to bad decisions. > If you can do business development in biotech, I guarantee there is not a single biotech company that knows how to sell. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Keeping his course Where things stand He agrees the affiliate business may not be the right vehicle, finds the idea exciting, and wonders aloud about hiring someone for it. But his short-term plan is already clear, he says, and he does not see what help he needs. They part with a loose promise to see if ideas come up. ## Where it led The talk moved from his affiliate business to selling his own business development skill to a sector that badly lacks it. > So I actually think it is a good business idea to go out and help biotech companies with business development. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He acknowledged that the affiliate business might not be the right vehicle. ## Still open - He kept his focus on the affiliate business. - No next step was agreed. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Looking for someone to open the doors > He hoped to find a well-connected seller who could walk a profitable brand into retail abroad. The conversation ended somewhere less comfortable. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-887c87-1 An executive overseeing a portfolio of health businesses, Nordics “The product sells well at home. I just need someone with the contacts to get us into shops abroad.” ## Profitable at home, stuck at the border The beginning He oversaw several companies for a family investment office. One, a supplement brand, was profitable online and in some domestic chains, but could not get into large retailers in other countries. There was no budget for a full-time salesperson, and he sat across five businesses himself. ## The person he wanted does not exist The conversation His hope was a seller who already knew the buyers. Mister Raw said that person, if real, would cost far more than he could pay. Most of the work, he argued, was outreach anyone could do: a list of thirty to fifty European retail buyers, a pitch built on sales per square metre of shelf, and the founders giving it an hour a day. > It's about how much revenue do I make per square metre in my store? — Mister Raw · Translated ## Not what to say, but who to reach The pushback He pushed back twice. Shoppers do not buy supplements at airports, he said, when Mister Raw suggested airport retail. And his problem was not the message but how to get hold of buyers at all. Still, he admitted where it landed. > It's just the classic cold approach... and that's also what we need to get started with. — In their words · Translated ## Left to reflect Where things stand He said the call had sparked thoughts he needed to reflect on, and that he might find room in the budget for help. He made no commitment. > if you don't do it yourself, nobody else is going to do it for you. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Where it led He accepted that no affordable door-opener exists and that his own team would have to start the outreach. > if you don't do it yourself, nobody else is going to do it for you. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He acknowledged that cold outreach by his own team was the step they needed to start. ## Still open - Mister Raw's message framing did not answer his real question of how to reach buyers. - He doubted the airport retail idea. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # When the pitch keeps getting longer > Four years into a building technology startup, the people she pitched could not be bothered. Fifteen minutes later she had a question to open with instead. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-5a6789-1 A founder of a building technology startup with a hardware product, UK “The product works and saves energy, but nobody I pitch seems to care.” ## A good product, the wrong conversations The beginning Her startup made technology that monitors conditions inside buildings and automates systems to cut energy use. It had been running for years on grant money. Building owners often outsourced their facilities, and the installers she approached showed no interest. She was not sure who her buyer really was. > what is your sales approach, who are you targeting? — Mister Raw ## Drop the clever words The conversation She explained the product in technical terms. Mister Raw said founders' pitches tend to grow longer the more they work on them, and asked her to strip out the jargon. Offer a capability, he said, not a promise of savings. > Don't say HVAC... Don't say hard words. Don't say clever words. — Mister Raw ## Open with their problem The suggestion His main idea was to approach facility management firms with a question: do your clients keep asking you for cost savings? Listen, use their words, then propose a meeting. She was unsure what kind of partnership he meant, and noted she already approached people from that angle. Installers, she said, simply did not care. > The most powerful pitch is a question. — Mister Raw ## A tentative yes Where things stand She said she would try it. The conversation also went the other way: she gave Mister Raw feedback on one of his own side projects and offered to help him build it. > Okay, okay, I'll try that, I'll try that. — In their words ## Where it led The pitch moved from a technical explanation to an opening question about what the buyer's own clients were demanding. > The most powerful pitch is a question. - **Doing something · Committed to:** She agreed to test a question-led opening with facility management firms. ## Still open - The suggestion did not address why installers were uninterested. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # He came to sell, and could not say what he did > A young founder reached out to sell his marketing service. A few simple questions later, he realised he could not explain it. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-b60ddc-1 A young founder of a small marketing service for coaches and consultants, Asia “I build funnels for coaches. I have five clients and want many more in a few months.” ## A cold message, a sales call The beginning He ran a small service building lead-capture funnels for coaches and consultants, and approached Mister Raw online hoping to sell him exactly that. He had five clients and wanted many more within months. > Then I want to ask you, the first question is, what do you want to achieve? — Mister Raw ## What are you actually doing? The conversation Mister Raw asked what he did for clients. The answer came back in general marketing language. He asked again, and again. Each time the reply stayed vague, and the vagueness became the point. > When you work with a client, building a funnel is just saying, I'm doing something. What are you actually doing? — Mister Raw ## A hundred sellers on the same trail The turn Mister Raw used the image of a hundred people selling the same necklaces along the same busy trail. The answer was to ask the walkers what they actually needed. In practice: call his five clients and ask why they bought. The founder said it was clear, and that positioning was where his effort had to go. > I should work more onto the position side of things and how should I explain it — In their words ## A different kind of deal What they decided Then the call changed direction. Mister Raw proposed that the founder build a newsletter and funnel for Mister Raw's own business, for a share of any revenue. Mister Raw was blunt about the founder's means, and the founder politely called some of his claims very bold. He agreed to bring a plan the following week. ## Where it led He recognised that his offer sounded like everyone else's and that he could not describe it concretely. > Everybody's doing it. And when everybody's doing something in a market, you know what happens? It doesn't work. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He acknowledged he needed to work on positioning and on explaining what he does. - **Relationships · Committed to:** He agreed to draft a revenue-share plan for Mister Raw's own marketing and present it the next week. ## Still open - The agreed next step served Mister Raw's business, not the founder's own client interviews. - No evidence he interviewed his clients or repositioned. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # A target set by the household budget > Four months of cold email had brought real customers. His goal for the year came from what the household needed, not from what the system could do. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-d8f17b-1 A repeat founder running a bootstrapped software product alone, US “Cold email is working. I just need to hit my number by year end.” ## Something that works The beginning He had built and sold a company before. Now, working alone on a new software product, he had signed about five business customers in four months using cold email. He took the call after Mister Raw messaged him about paid lead generation, though he was wary of ads after losing money on them before. > I'm trying to figure out, are you stressed? Are you running out? Or are you fine? — Mister Raw ## Four months, or four days? The conversation Mister Raw asked how the year-end target was set. It came from what the household needed. He pushed back: if the actual selling in those four months took only a few days, the same results could come in one focused month. > what you have done within four months, I bet the actual sales part of that is four days. — Mister Raw ## A one-month sprint What he decided The founder agreed throughout, and noted it matched what he had planned: do more of what already worked rather than open new channels. Mister Raw also suggested calling each customer to ask why they bought, how to improve, and for three leads. > If I have something that's already working, I might as well just keep doing the thing that's working. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand He said he would do it, then left in a hurry before a follow-up was booked. ## Where it led His target was challenged as anchored on personal budget, and he agreed to treat the next month as an all-out sales sprint. > So what you have done within four months, you just need to do in one month. - **A decision · Committed to:** He said he would spend the next month scaling his existing cold email approach toward a much higher target. ## Still open - The main advice largely confirmed a plan he already had. - Mister Raw's original lead-generation offer was set aside. - No follow-up was booked and nothing later is known. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who asked for too little > After a larger raise went nowhere, he scaled his ask down. Mister Raw thought he had scaled it down too far. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-4e3aa5-1 An early-stage founder of a platform for expert content, UK “The bigger round didn't land, so I'm raising a small one to keep going.” ## Growing, not earning yet The beginning His platform is less than a year old. It has a few thousand users, a large social following and rising search traffic. Revenue will come later through paid content. An earlier, larger raise fell on deaf ears, so he is now raising a small angel round. The conversation starts after an exchange on social media, and the first half is getting to know each other. ## Make every post count The conversation Mister Raw offers quick ideas: approach the biggest creators, repost their work and tag them, and keep the bar high so every post genuinely inspires. The founder is already doing several of these, and says top creators are hard to reach. They agree on one thing firmly: it should not look like generic filler. ## Too modest The turn Mister Raw's main challenge is the size of the round. He offers a session on fundraising and is confident it would let the founder raise far more, a prediction that does not engage with the failed larger raise. > Because you're so modest. With the ask. — Mister Raw ## A follow-up, later Where things stand The founder likes the tone and agrees to talk again after two weeks of conference travel. ## Where it led The conversation moved from the product to the size of the raise. > Because you're so modest. With the ask. - **Relationships · In their words:** He agreed to a follow-up conversation about fundraising. ## Still open - The push to raise more was not tested against his earlier failed raise. - Most product ideas were already under way. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # A thousand target companies, one channel at a time > His market was the biggest companies in the world, and he was testing channels one after another. Mister Raw suggested the opposite. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-3f6f99-1 A head of sales and marketing at a small business software firm selling to very large corporates, UK “We know exactly who we want to sell to. Getting their attention is the hard part.” ## A side topic becomes the topic The beginning He first got in touch about something else entirely, a personal project of his own. The conversation soon turned to his day job: leading sales and marketing at a young firm that sells AI-assisted decision reports to some of the world's largest companies. Revenue had grown, a target list was being worked through, and social media was used only for brand awareness. ## Several channels, at once The conversation Mister Raw's view was that a defined list of large companies should be worked with stories, paid ads and direct outreach together, not one after another. He added a warning about content written by machines, and said bluntly that the website did not tell him what the firm did. He agreed about the website, but had already said the same internally, and a fix was planned. He politely rejected Mister Raw's advice to drop his branded video background, saying large clients liked the consistency. > I would say any AI-delivered promotional storytelling will fade out faster than it is published. So everything needs to be built on actual real story. — Mister Raw ## An offer, accepted Where things stand Mister Raw told him he did not really need help to apply the approach, and offered a short follow-up session anyway. He accepted. > I think I can, in half an hour, one hour, push you. — Mister Raw ## Where it led He heard that a market of a thousand named companies is narrow enough to work several channels at once, rather than trying and dropping them in turn. > But what people usually do is then they try one thing, and then they fail with it, and then they try the other thing... When what would actually have worked, because when you have 1000 companies, it's a very, it's very defined market. - **Relationships · Committed to:** He accepted the offer of a short follow-up strategy session. ## Still open - The website point confirmed what he already thought rather than changing it. - No follow-up session or change in approach is recorded. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The big health idea with no first product > He had a vision for the whole of preventative health and was looking for a partner to build it. The first question was simpler than he expected. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-8570fb-1 A corporate life-sciences professional planning his own health venture, UK “I can see the whole platform. I need someone experienced to build it with me.” ## Everything, end to end The beginning After a long corporate career in life sciences, he wanted to start something of his own in preventative health. He described a platform that would link testing, supplements, coaching and the health system. He was looking for an experienced entrepreneur to build it with him, as a partner. He did most of the talking. ## One plain question The turn Mister Raw cut through with a short question. His answer was honest: not definitively. Mister Raw then floated a narrower idea, a daily supplement adjusted to a person's latest health data. He liked it, called it science fiction, and played it back in his own words. They disagreed on whether health can ever come from a pill, and on whether an advisory arm was worth building. > So you don't know what you're building yet? — Mister Raw ## Partner or adviser What was offered He had come looking for a partner with shared stakes. Mister Raw offered paid monthly advice instead, with a partnership only if the venture became real. It was not what he had asked for. He said the hour had helped him pull his thinking together, and that he would come back. > It's been really useful for me to just kind of synthesize some of this with you. — In their words ## Where it led Asked directly, he admitted he did not yet know what he was building, and then took up a narrower product idea. > So you don't know what you're building yet? - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the conversation helped him organise his thinking, and he took up the idea of a data-driven daily supplement. ## Still open - He wanted a co-founder and was offered paid advice; there is no sign he took it up. - He pushed back on Mister Raw's view that health could come in a pill. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who said he was no salesman > He had turned his consulting work into a product and let his first clients shape it. He still thought he could not sell. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-29719d-1 A first-time founder of a data reporting product for businesses, UK “I'm a technical person. I'm not a sales guy.” ## From consulting to a product The beginning A data and IT specialist, he had spent six months turning work he kept repeating for clients into a reporting product. Two early clients had already pulled it towards something simpler, and he was happy to follow them. He had no particular problem to bring. He answered Mister Raw's outreach quickly, and described himself as no salesperson. ## Ask why they bought The conversation Mister Raw turned the self-description around early. Then he shared three questions he asks of customers: why did you buy, how happy are you, and what should we improve. A data person, he said, looks at the numbers but not at why the numbers exist. > So you're looking at the data, but you're not looking at why the data has even come there. — Mister Raw ## Instead of guessing What he decided He said he would put the three questions to both early clients, and take them into every conversation from now on. He was honest that he hoped he would have got there anyway. Mister Raw agreed he was already doing things the right way. > I will. Instead of guessing. — In their words ## Where they left it Where things stand He called it one of the most refreshing calls he had had in a long while. ## Where it led He heard that caring about customers is the selling skill, and agreed to ask his first clients why they bought instead of guessing. > The best salespeople are those who think they're not good salespeople. - **A decision · Committed to:** He committed to ask his two early clients why they bought, how happy they are and what to improve. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He said the conversation gave him a boost and confirmed his customer-led approach. ## Still open - He was already working this way, so the change may be small. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # From prototype to billions, with nothing in between > He had a flying prototype and a plan to list on a stock exchange at a huge valuation. Mister Raw asked about the steps in the middle. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-48645f-1 A co-founder of a personal aircraft hardware venture, on hold, Asia-Pacific “We just need one anchor investor, then we list and build the factory.” ## A project on ice The beginning He ran a property business and had co-founded a venture building a small electric aircraft that takes off vertically. A prototype had been flight-tested, but the project was on hold. He named two problems: finding an anchor investor, and finding a stock exchange that would list the company cheaply at a valuation in the billions. ## A lot in between The conversation Much of the hour wandered across history, money and the future of technology. When it came back to the business, Mister Raw was blunt. A listing without a product in production would not work, and the plan jumped over too many steps. He answered by describing his certification route and safety design, and repeated that the anchor investor would let them list. > it sounds to me, you're trying to make leaps instead of a floating in. ... Yes, it is getting an anchor investor and then be worth billions. There's a lot in between. — Mister Raw ## Another hour, maybe Where things stand Mister Raw made clear he was not an investor, suggested a roadshow to build awareness and close a round, and said he had more ideas but had to leave. The roadshow advice sat awkwardly next to his own challenge. They talked about booking another hour. > I'm not an anchor and master. — Mister Raw ## Where it led Mister Raw named the gap between an anchor cheque and a valuation in the billions. He did not accept it. > I don't think you can have a successful launch IPO with a product that doesn't exist. - **Relationships · In their words:** Both suggested booking a further session. ## Still open - He did not change his plan on the call. - Mister Raw's advice was thin and he left before sharing more. - He appeared to hope for investment, which Mister Raw ruled out. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder with two products nobody bought > His service business was profitable. The two products he had built beside it were not selling. One idea changed who he thought should be doing the selling. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-9f4763-1 A founder of an established, self-funded software services firm, Asia “The company makes money. The two products I built next to it just sit there.” ## A good business with two stuck products The beginning He had run a profitable, self-funded software services firm of around twenty people for years. Alongside it he had built two products: an AI tool that helps rewrite old code, and a simple feedback app for teams. Neither was selling. The HR departments he pitched the feedback app to had no budget. For the other tool, he was weighing an expensive membership with an analyst firm to give it credibility. ## Most of the hour went elsewhere The conversation The two men talked at length about their lives before business came up. When it did, Mister Raw asked for the basics first: revenue, costs, where the company really stood. He was direct about the analyst firm. His advice was to stay away from it, at least for now, rather than spend heavily on validation before anyone was buying. > What's your revenue? What's your cost base? Where are you? That's more what I'm trying to understand. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Partner products, not direct sales The turn In the last minutes Mister Raw gave his view. Both products were the kind that need constant effort to sell directly. The better route was to teach others to sell them: implementation houses, consultancies, HR advisers. The founder agreed it could be right. He said he was already trying partnerships of that kind, so this was less a new idea than a firmer version of one he had started. > it's not about you having to sell something. I see both elements as partner products. They are partner products. — Mister Raw · Translated ## Not a connector What was asked, and refused He asked whether Mister Raw could open doors through his network. The answer was no. Mister Raw said that if he wanted introductions he should look elsewhere, but if he wanted help scaling what he had built, they should keep talking. > So if you're looking for a connector, you should look somewhere else. If you're looking for someone who can help you scale what you have built, then we should talk further. — Mister Raw · Translated ## A second conversation booked Where things stand They agreed to speak again the following week, when Mister Raw would set out how he could help. ## Where it led Both products stopped being things he had to sell himself and became things partners could sell for him. > it's not about you having to sell something. I see both elements as partner products. They are partner products. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He accepted a partner-led route for both products, though he had already begun moving that way. - **Relationships · Committed to:** He booked a second conversation for the following week. ## Still open - He wanted introductions and was told plainly that was not on offer. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Twenty customers and the urge to raise > Early customers, good feedback, and the question every young software company hits: is it time for investors? Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-003aef-1 A cofounder of a young, self-funded CRM software company, Nordics “We've got our first twenty customers. Do we need investors to go faster?” ## Three colleagues start again The beginning He and two former colleagues had watched the software company they worked for get bought and mismanaged. So they built their own product and started selling a few months earlier. They had around twenty small customers and good feedback. Revenue covered little, and they felt they needed an engine to grow. ## Do you have a dashboard? The conversation Mister Raw asked what twenty customers meant in monthly revenue, and whether he tracked it. The founder had to estimate. He had only just set up a revenue dashboard. When investors came up, the founder said he would rather do without them. > But do you have a dashboard? — Mister Raw · Translated ## Do the same thing five more times The turn Mister Raw agreed strongly. If they had got this far, they only needed to repeat it several more times to break even. And reaching that point, he argued, changes how founders behave. > The whole mindset changes. Now you start chasing something that isn't there, but when you suddenly stand on a platform that actually exists, you think completely differently. — Mister Raw · Translated ## A confirmed instinct Where things stand The conversation confirmed what he already leaned towards rather than changing it. ## Where it led Reaching break-even on their own was framed as the milestone that changes how founders think. > The whole mindset changes. Now you start chasing something that isn't there, but when you suddenly stand on a platform that actually exists, you think completely differently. - **A decision · In their words:** He agreed with staying self-funded and growing to break-even, a view he already held. ## Still open - He could not yet say his monthly revenue with confidence. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # Making the plan is your job > He wanted help getting into new markets. He learned the first move was his: bring a plan. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-2d50f7-1 An experienced professional starting an AI and analytics consultancy, Asia “I've just started my consultancy and I want to get into Europe.” ## A referral and an ambition The beginning He had years of experience and had recently started a consultancy in AI and analytics. Someone from Mister Raw's network referred him, with the aim of help entering the UK and European markets. ## Mostly a conversation about AI The conversation Much of the half hour went on Mister Raw's own work and his views on where AI is heading. The founder offered an idea of his own: that work is shifting from job descriptions to outputs made by a person working with an AI agent. On strategy, Mister Raw suggested focusing on mid-sized companies. That was already his plan. > So I think from a strategic perspective... I think one should... focus on the mid-market. — Mister Raw ## Bring your own plan What was agreed Asked how he works with people like this, Mister Raw said he does not sell a framework. He makes sure people execute. The first job was the founder's: to write down what he already knew. > You need to unload your knowledge and wisdom, thoughts and ideas, because you already have one. — Mister Raw ## An intention to talk again Where things stand They ended warmly, with a plan for him to prepare his thoughts and book a follow-up. ## Where it led The responsibility for the next step was put back on him: write the plan, and Mister Raw would hold him to it. > but it's simple. We make the plan, you execute the plan. - **A decision · In their words:** He confirmed a mid-market focus, which was already his intention. - **Relationships · Committed to:** He agreed to prepare a plan and book a follow-up conversation. ## Still open - No new insight for him is recorded. - Some of Mister Raw's claims about AI were confident but unsupported. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who could not slow down > After years of scraping by, the business was finally paying its way. He was told this was the moment to relax. He said he could not. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-060e27-1 A self-taught founder running a shift staffing platform with a partner, UK “We're finally self-sustaining, and I want to go much bigger.” ## The corner turned The beginning Two founders had built a staffing platform for care and warehouse shifts, writing the software themselves, while one worked shifts to keep things afloat. Now they no longer needed outside support. Monthly revenue was rising and the business paid its way. The founder was also about to take a well-paid contract role alongside it. ## Show me the numbers The conversation The founder talked through his systems and very large plans: public sector contracts at national scale and a pilot overseas by the end of the year. Mister Raw mostly asked for numbers. Revenue last month. Costs per month. > How many costs do you have per month? — Mister Raw ## Relax, he was told The turn Mister Raw said that a few more months of doing exactly what they were doing would bring real profit, and that was the point to relax. He also doubted the overseas plan. > I want you to have more traction if you ask me — Mister Raw ## Not in my nature What he decided The founder disagreed. He had no safety net, and relaxing was not how he was made. He held to the overseas pilot. Mister Raw had offered to work with them earlier. They said they would come back in a few months. He said the earlier price would not hold. > It's not in my nature to relax — In their words ## Where it led Told that a few more steady months would bring real profit and room to breathe, the founder said relaxing was not in his nature. - **A decision · In their words:** The founders put off working with Mister Raw for a few months. ## Still open - The founder rejected the advice to slow down. - Mister Raw's doubt about expanding overseas so soon was not taken up. - A dismissive generalisation from Mister Raw about offshore developers went unanswered. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder asking for just enough > A year after a low point, he had raised money and finished a first collection. Then the cash ran out before the last steps. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-c21536-1 A founder of an early-stage fashion brand, Europe “I only need a small bridge to get the photoshoot and website done.” ## A year on from a low point The beginning They had spoken once before, a year earlier, when the founder had no revenue, no investor and no clear way forward. Mister Raw got back in touch to see how things had gone. Since then he had raised a modest round from existing and new shareholders, finished a first collection, and, through hundreds of cold messages, found an experienced potential partner abroad. ## Still no sales, and no cash The conversation There were still no sales, and the money had run out before the photoshoot and the website. Much of the call was a two-way catch-up, with Mister Raw sharing his own year too. He asked how much outreach it had taken to find that one partner. A great deal, it turned out. ## Why ask for so little? The challenge The founder said a small sum would get him moving. Mister Raw asked why not three to five times as much. Ask for a small amount, he argued, and you will not even get that. Ask for more, and someone may meet you partway. The founder explained that the small figure was only a two-week bridge inside a larger planned round. The challenge partly missed what he was already doing. ## No help needed Where things stand When Mister Raw asked how he could help, the founder said he did not need help; he was doing well. A follow-up was booked for a couple of weeks later. ## Where it led Mister Raw questioned the size of the ask; the founder explained it was only a short bridge inside a larger round. ## Still open - The challenge on the size of the ask partly missed a plan he already had. - He said he did not need help, and no follow-up conversation is recorded. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # The founder who kept his own launch plan > A month from launching a premium product, a young founder heard bold ideas on price, timing and scarcity. He listened, agreed on one, and kept his course. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-3378d5-1 A young founder launching a premium consumer product brand, UK “We launch next month. Small batch, organic social only. I think we're ready.” ## Six months on, a month from launch The beginning He had spoken to Mister Raw once before. Now, about half a year later, he was a month from releasing a very small first batch of a premium product, still holding down other work. A newly hired marketing advisor was shaping the plan: organic social media only, no paid push. > Where are you now? Have you quit your day job? — Mister Raw ## Questions about timing and price The conversation Mister Raw went straight at the plan. He questioned the launch month, which he saw as the quietest of the year, and steered the talk away from social media and toward actual sales. He suggested the price could be close to double for a luxury brand, and that even a strong response should feel like a tiny, exclusive circle. > So, do you want to start the deadest month of the year? Basically... Any other month would be better. — Mister Raw ## Showing less, not more The one point that landed On one thing they met. When Mister Raw said that building exclusivity means not revealing much, the founder agreed at once. Behind-the-scenes material could wait. Mister Raw also offered an introduction to a senior contact at a large luxury retailer. > No, and that's the thing. — In their words ## His plan, his pace What they decided On price, timing and the retail introduction, the founder held his position. He wanted limited batches and slow growth, and he wanted the brand established before any big retail conversation. They agreed to catch up again in a couple of months. > definitely let's have another call, but I want to establish the brand first — In their words ## Where it led There was no single turn; the founder agreed that exclusivity means showing less, and held his ground on the rest. - **A different perspective · In their words:** He agreed that an exclusive brand should hold back behind-the-scenes content for now. - **Relationships · In their words:** An introduction to a senior luxury retail contact was offered and left open until the brand was established. ## Still open - He kept his launch timing despite the challenge. - He kept his price and batch size. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) --- # When the advice was nothing new > He wanted more leads and more salespeople. What he heard was something he already did, and both sides said so. Source: https://mister-raw.com/stories/mr-5a4c19-1 The founder and chief executive of an established niche software company, Europe “I want to double sales, and my team isn't proactive enough.” ## A goal and an outreach message The beginning He runs a long-established software company serving a narrow transport niche. After outreach from Mister Raw's side he joins a call. His goal is to double sales within a couple of years, and he feels his small sales team waits for inbound interest. ## Map the whole market The conversation Mister Raw asks why he joined and what he thinks is wrong with the pipeline. His argument: a small, well-defined market can be covered completely. Find the companies that look like your best customers and reach everyone who matters in them. He also gets the buyer wrong at first, and apologises when corrected. > mapping out the twin companies around the world that match the same profile as your beloved customers — Mister Raw ## Already doing it The turn The chief executive says this is nothing new; they already map their market. He does not think the process is broken. He needs more capable salespeople. He adds that the outreach had made the offer sound like a magic wand for leads. Mister Raw says he has never seen that kind of magic work in real life, and agrees the match is not a good one. > I have never seen that happen ever in my life. — Mister Raw ## No proposal, no next step Where things stand Asked for a written proposal with targets and cost, Mister Raw declines without more discovery. They leave it loose. ## Where it led Both sides recognised the offer did not match what he needed. ## Still open - He wanted a lead-generation result, which was not what was on offer. - The outreach promise and the actual offer did not line up. [All stories](https://mister-raw.com/stories) ---