Why Your 6-Week Meeting Wait Was Doomed from the Start

Early in my startup journey, I made a classic mistake: I spent weeks coordinating a meeting with five stakeholders from a major corporate client. The idea was simple — get everyone in the room, pitch once, move fast.

After six weeks of emails and scheduling headaches… two people showed up. No decisions were made. No ownership for next steps. It fizzled.

Coming from a corporate background myself, I should have known better. However, I overlooked a crucial detail about decision-making in large companies.

👉 The truth is: decisions in large companies rarely happen in big joint meetings. They happen in internal meetings — the ones you’re not in.

If you're a startup trying to break in, waiting for “the perfect group slot” is usually a waste of time. You're much better off meeting people one-on-one — faster to schedule, and more effective for building trust.

Once interest is there and real discussion starts, a larger meeting can be useful.

But that should be step two — when everyone has context and it’s about alignment or bringing all stakeholders on board, not just introducing your solution.

Here’s what works better:

✅ Prioritize 1:1s early on — easier to get, better for relationship-building. ✅ Use those to map stakeholders and identify your Champion

✅ Only bring people together once they’ve been prepped and are ready to engage

💡 It feels slower. But in the end, it's actually faster — and far more effective.

👋 Have you ever been burned by the "big meeting myth"? I’d love to hear your story — or help you avoid that trap.