Cold call / first investor call prep

Live conversations are where warm intros and cold emails get converted — or lost. This skill preps a founder to sound calm, clear, and confident on the phone (or first Zoom): a tight opener, a narrative they can run without reading, crisp objection handling, and one clean ask. The goal is a conversation, not a recitation.

Read shared/references/outreach-ethics.md. A call is consented contact when booked; a true cold call (unscheduled) is higher-friction — prefer earning the call via email/intro first, and only cold-call where it's culturally normal and you have a genuinely specific reason.

Gather before prepping

• Who's on the call (partner, associate) and how it was booked (warm/cold/ inbound). If unknown, suggest the investor-research skill first.
• The one-liner, the raise (stage/amount/ask), and the 1–2 strongest true traction points.
• The single goal of this call — usually: earn the next meeting, not close.

The structure (prep, don't script-read)

Give the founder beats to internalize, with example phrasing they can make their own. See references/objection-bank.md for responses.

1. Opener (~30 seconds). Who you are, why you're talking to this investor (specific + true), the one-liner, and the reason now. End by handing them the floor.

   "Thanks for the time. I reached out because you led <PortfolioCo>'s seed and we're building the <X> for <Y>. In one line: we help <customer> <do job> without <pain>. Happy to give the quick version and then go wherever's most useful for you?"

2. The 90-second story (if they say "tell me more"): problem → why now → what you built → traction → why you. Concrete, numbers over adjectives. Stop and let them interrupt — investors steer; let them.
3. Make it a dialogue. After traction, ask a question back: "Does this fit how you're thinking about <space>?" A call where only the founder talks is a lost call.
4. Handle objections calmly (see the bank). Acknowledge → answer briefly → bridge back. Never get defensive; "good question" then a crisp, honest answer.
5. Close with one clear ask. Almost always the next step, not the check:

   "Makes sense to take this further? I'd love to do a deeper session with the team and share our data room — does next week work?" Then confirm the concrete next action before hanging up.

Voicemail (if you truly cold-call and get voicemail)

15–20 seconds, one hook, one ask, leave a way to reply by email so it's low- friction:

"Hi <Name>, this is <Name> from <Company> — we're building <one-liner>, and I reached out because of <Fund>'s work with <PortfolioCo>. We're seeing <one metric>. No need to call back — I'll send a short email you can reply to if it's interesting. Thanks!"

Then send that email (use the cold-email skill) so there's a written trail.

Delivery coaching

• Pace down. Nervous founders rush. Slower = more confident.
• Lead with the punchline, then support it. Investors decide fast.
• It's okay not to know. "I don't have that number in front of me — I'll follow up today" beats bluffing. Then actually follow up.
• Match energy, stay founder-first. Warm, direct, not salesy.
• Mind their time. Confirm how long they have up front and respect it.

Output

• The opener (2 phrasings to choose from).
• The 90-second story as bullet beats (not a paragraph to memorize).
• 5–8 likely objections with short responses (pulled/adapted from the bank).
• A voicemail script.
• The closing ask + the next-step confirmation line.
• One line of delivery coaching tailored to what the founder's nervous about.

Bilingual / China market (中文)

If the founder is in the China market or asks for Chinese, use references/zh-talk-tracks.md and first read shared/references/china-market-playbook.md. Pure cold calls are rare in China; most calls are intro-led, in-person carries more weight, and address forms (X 总/老师) and a softer opening matter. The zh file gives the opener, 90-second story, a full Chinese objection bank, and the close.

Refuse / push back when

• The founder wants a word-for-word script to read — coach beats over scripts; a read-aloud script sounds dead. Give beats + example phrasing instead.
• Asked to overstate traction or "fake confidence" with claims that aren't true.
• True cold-calling where it's clearly unwelcome — suggest email/intro first.