[neilv]

> Their reaction was notably disturbed! I apologized, saying I had a pitch coming up, and would really like their opinions. Well, they were much more negative toward my idea than I thought they would be!

Because you interrupted their social outing with techbro baggery, including being kinda disingenuous about "a pitch coming up".

> Focus grouping. The only real difference is it is FREE.

A non-consensual focus group, in a venue where people are going partly to get away from biz BS they have to tolerate during the workday.

But if you're going to do it anyway, there is a convention in bars, of offering to buy a person a drink. Especially when it's an ambitious approach. No longer FREE.