It started on the street - in conversation with Sally Wynter and David Morris - Being nearly fired was the best thing that could have happened
Face-to-face fundraising gives you a "godlike power" — Sally describes the confidence to stop any stranger on the street as a superpower so rare and potent it sounds almost cult-like: "It is literally, because you're part of almost a weird cult of people that are completely fucking weirdly confident in just stopping someone on the street, whether they're a CEO or whoever they are." 21:44
The pitch structure from street fundraising is essentially the same as a major donor proposal — David argues the intro → problem → solution → urgency → ask format he used on the street maps almost directly onto written philanthropy pitches, giving him an edge most traditional fundraisers don't have. 17:35
You lose your social skills fast if you stop using them — Sally noticed within six months of leaving face-to-face and going to university, she became visibly shyer and lost many of the soft skills she'd built. Skills she thought were permanent dissolved surprisingly quickly. 25:37
Being nearly fired was the best thing that could have happened — Sally says she needed the rug pulled out on day five. Without the threat of failure, she wouldn't have overcome her crippling fear of stopping people. The near-firing was the catalyst for everything that followed. 14:38
