I have a habit I am not proud of. When a founder starts presenting, I quietly start a timer in my head. By the time it hits sixty seconds, I usually already know if I am leaning in or leaning out. Not because I decided fast. Because the founder told me everything in that first minute, whether they meant to or not. Most decks lose the room before slide three. And it is almost never the market size, the team, or the product that kills them. It is the opening. The first minute i