Marcus Rodriguez pitched his sustainable packaging startup to twelve venture capital firms in 2019. Every single firm rejected his proposal,...

Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage

Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table

Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements

Visual Structure Map:

INITIAL EFFORT: Marcus pitches to 12 VC firms (2019)
COMPLETE FAILURE: All 12 firms reject proposal
MISSING CONNECTOR
UNEXPECTED SUCCESS: 3 Fortune 500 contracts via trade show (6 months)

Main Point: Despite being rejected by all venture capital firms, Marcus Rodriguez quickly found success through an alternative path.

Argument Flow: The passage establishes Marcus initial failure with traditional funding sources, then shows how he achieved success through a completely different approach. The missing transition needs to highlight this contrast between failure and success.

Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely

This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.

Step 3: Prethink the Answer

• Based on our analysis, we need a transition that shows the contrast between two opposing outcomes - complete rejection by all VC firms versus successful contracts with major companies
• The logical function needed here is to signal contradiction or contrast, not similarity, cause-effect, or simple time sequence
• The relationship type needed is contrast/contradiction because what happens after the blank directly contradicts the failure described before it
• So the right answer should signal that despite the rejections, something contrary happened