Imagine, as an example, the owner of a small coffee roaster in Goiânia, in central Brazil, who has signed up for the first online business round of her life. Her profile is filled in, the pitch is rehearsed and yet, the night before, she still cannot picture what will happen when she logs in. Will someone be waiting? Who speaks first? What if time runs out in the middle of a sentence? This uncertainty is common, and the fastest way to clear it is to see the screens beforehand. The Business Round Simulator shows the real room, with no camera and no sign-up, in less than a minute. This article follows the same path, moment by moment, with what you see and what you are likely to feel at each one.
This is not about signing up or preparing. For that, there is the guide on how to take part in a business round and the plan for how to prepare for a business round. If you want to understand the mechanics of the format, the guide to how a business round works explains where it comes from and why it works. The focus here is the experience: what happens to you in your first business round, from the minute you open the platform to the following day.
Before you join
Nerves usually show up about half an hour before. That is normal: you are about to talk to people you do not know, in front of a camera, on a fixed clock. It helps to know that the platform handles almost all of the logistics. You do not look for a room, you do not send a link and you do not watch the clock. You only need to be there, with a clear head.
Your side, ready
No list of companies arrives beforehand: the pairs are formed live, among the people who are present, by matching what one offers with what the other is looking for. So the last review is of your own side. Read your profile and pitch once, without trying to memorize anything, and remember the opening question that works for any buyer. If you feel the urge to rewrite your pitch, resist it: at this point, the version you rehearsed is better than a new one written in a hurry.
The preparation room
A few minutes before the start, you enter the preparation room. Everything happens in the browser, on a computer or a phone, with nothing to install. There you confirm that your camera and microphone work, check your profile and wait for the countdown. This gap is a good moment to breathe, fix the lighting and close whatever might distract you. People who arrive at the last second skip this moment and start their first conversation still adjusting their headset.
The first conversation
When the round starts, the first conversation opens on its own. There is no button to press and no queue to wait in: suddenly, there is a person on the screen. For many people, this is the tensest second of the day, and it passes quickly. The other person is probably just as alert as you are, and wants the same thing: to find out whether it is worth continuing.
What appears on the screen
Next to the video, the platform shows the person's name, their company, what it does, what it is looking for and the reason the two of you were matched. Use that to your advantage. If you freeze, read the other company's card and start from there: "I saw you are looking for a coffee supplier for your office, is that right?". A concrete question takes away the pressure of opening the conversation by talking about yourself.
The first few seconds
After the greeting, one of you introduces themselves. If it is you, the short pitch you prepared comes in here: who you are, who you sell to and what you are looking for. If you do not have one yet, the Pitch Generator builds a version from your answers, and the article on the 60-second sales pitch has templates and examples. In the first conversation, the pitch usually comes out faster than it did in rehearsal. That is fine: end with a question and let the other side talk.
The pace
For first-timers, the surprise is usually the time. Each conversation lasts a few minutes and ends sooner than it seems. The platform helps you keep this pace, and knowing what each signal means saves you from being caught off guard.
A timer shows how much time is left and whose turn it is to speak. Near the end, it changes color and a notice reminds you to agree on the next step. That notice is your cue: stop whatever you are explaining and say what you propose, whether it is a longer meeting, sending some material or a visit.
| Moment | What the screen shows | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation room | Camera and microphone test, your profile and the countdown | Adjust light and sound, breathe and close distractions |
| Start of the conversation | The other person's video and their company card | Say hello and open with a question about them |
| Middle of the conversation | The timer and whose turn it is to speak | Introduce yourself in a few sentences and listen |
| Near the end | The timer in a different color and the next step reminder | Propose a concrete next step |
| Room change | The next conversation, opened in the same place | Write one line about the previous conversation |
| End of the round | The summary and your connections | Sort your contacts and block time for the follow-up |
After the first few conversations, the pace stops being scary. You realize you do not need to tell the whole story of your company. The goal of each meeting is simpler: to find out whether a second, calmer conversation outside the round is worth it.
The room changes
When time runs out, the platform ends the conversation and opens the next one in the same place. Nobody clicks anything or looks for another room. The first time, the change can feel abrupt, especially if the conversation was going well. Remember that the conversation does not end there: if both sides are interested, it continues afterwards.
The interest button
During the conversation, a button on the screen lets you say whether you want to keep in touch. The other company does the same, without seeing your answer. When the conversation ends, the platform shows the result, and contact details are only shared when both sides mark it. This removes a weight many people feel in their first round: having to say no while looking at someone. If it did not make sense for you, simply do not mark it.
One line between conversations
Keep a pen and paper next to your keyboard. At the end of each conversation, write down the company's name and what was agreed, in a single line. It seems like little, but by the end of the day the conversations blur together, and that note is what separates "the distributor that asked for a catalog" from "the one that wants a visit".
If your connection drops
It happens, and it is not the end of the world. Just log in again through the same link: you wait in the room and join the next conversation. Come back as soon as you can, because the clock keeps running the same way for everyone.
The end
The last conversation ends and the screen shows the round summary. Connections with mutual interest are saved in My Connections, with the details you need for the follow-up. Some people feel relief, others feel they could have said more. Both reactions are normal in a first business round.
It is also common to finish with fewer connections than conversations, and that does not mean the round went badly. A conversation without mutual interest saved your time and the other side's time. Many of them still teach you something: an objection that came up more than once, a question you had no answer for, a type of company you did not expect to meet.
Before you close the browser, take a few minutes to complete your notes. For each connection, write down the next step and when you will take it. Once that is done, get up from your chair. One conversation after another is more tiring than it looks.
The next 48 hours
Once contact details are shared, the other person has already said they want to continue. What you do next matters more than anything you said in the conversation. The practical advice is to send your first message within two days, while the person still remembers your face and the subject. The article on following up after a business meeting shows what to write and when to try again.
- On the same day: reread your notes, sort your connections from warmest to coldest and send the material you promised.
- On the next day: send a message to each connection, mentioning what you talked about and proposing the next step.
- By the end of the second day: put in your calendar the date of the next contact with anyone who has not replied yet.
Use these hours to look at yourself as well. What worked in your opening? At what moment did you freeze? The after section of the Preparation Checklist helps you review what to do with your contacts and keep track of what to adjust next time. The second round tends to be calmer than the first, precisely because you already know what it looks like from the inside.
Where to start
If your first round is not booked yet, start with the simulator: in less than a minute, you go through the preparation room, the conversations, the automatic room change and the final summary. Then choose a round, rehearse your pitch and log in a few minutes early. The platform takes care of the rest.
Your company's first online business round is on us: all you need is an active Brazilian CNPJ (the Brazilian company registration number), once per CNPJ, and contact details are only shared when both sides mark interest. See the upcoming business rounds and pick yours to live all of this for real.