The demo went well. The questions were engaged, the reactions positive, and there was no obvious friction in the room. And yet, momentum slowed shortly after. In situations like this, the demo is rarely the issue. What tends to surface instead is something unresolved earlier in the process — an assumption that was never challenged, a concern that stayed implicit, or a decision criterion that was never fully aligned. These moments often become visible only after stakeholders have seen the product, when they start mapping it back to internal realities. By then, the conversation is no longer about features, but about confidence, risk, and ownership. This is usually where deals pause — not because the solution failed, but because clarity arrived late.
