vc asked me one hard question in my series a pitch and i completely fell apart. three months of prep. the pitch was actually going well. (I will not promote)

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deck landed, traction was solid, the partner was nodding along. then she asked "what happens to your unit economics if CAC doubles in 18 months." i know that answer. i've stress tested that exact scenario probably a hundred times. but something about the way she asked it made me feel like i was being caught in something and i just. started rambling about market size. which had nothing to do with the question. i could hear myself doing it and couldn't stop. she was polite but the energy shifted and i felt it immediately. didn't get a term sheet. the prep was all there. the model was solid. something about being in the room with actual stakes just made it evaporate completely and i don't fully understand why that keeps happening. has anyone who's raised before figured out how to actually stay sharp when a VC goes off script. not looking for pitch advice, the deck is fine. more like. how do you stay in your body when the pressure spikes and your brain decides to just leave

AI Score Reasoning

While the founder reports solid traction and the ability to secure Series A partner meetings, the admitted failure to handle standard stress-testing questions reveals a significant lack of executive presence. The high level of psychological fragility under pressure represents a major execution risk that outweighs the vague mentions of positive unit economics.

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