How To Make Fundraising More Relatable Through Stories

To all founders trying to raise funds or talking to investors - this one’s for you. Last week at Mercury Spheres, I sat in on a storytelling session by Siqi Chen. He broke down what great investor pitches look like. Basically, he broke down any storytelling as a 3-act structure: Act 1: Origin - Tell them how you discovered the problem. - Don’t drop stats - tell a story. - Make the problem feel real, broken, urgent. Act 2: Now - Present your product as the obvious solution. - Show traction. - Make it clear: this is just the beginning. Act 3: Future - This is where most founders fall flat. - Paint the future. - Show them what changes if you win. - Let them see the upside. Let them want a seat at that table. We followed this playbook at Mailmodo, not intentionally at first. We didn’t sell email features. We sold a future where users don’t click away and drop off. That story got us  - Our first users. - Our first investors. - And it still aligns our team today If you want people along to build your future, make them believe in your story.

They got rejected by 30 VCs. 90 days later, they closed their first lead investor. Same team. Same product. Different story. When they came to me, they were exhausted. Burned by a string of VC rejections and stuck in a cycle of pitch → silence → ghosted. What changed? Not their deck. Not their market. But the way they told their story and the clarity of their ask. Here’s what we fixed: ➟ No more “here’s what we built”. We began with, “Here’s the problem.” ➟ Reframed traction to speak investor language (not vanity metrics) ➟ Built a narrative around momentum, not desperation ➟ Positioned the raise as a growth opportunity, not a lifeline ✅ Clarity of the market ✅Proof of demand ✅Founder conviction ✅A crisp use of funds ✅Evidence of velocity ✅Competitive insight ✅Realistic milestones ✅Aligned ask ✅Simple deck ✅Compelling close 10 lessons that helped them go from ignored to in-demand: 1. Investors fund momentum ↳ Rebuild your story around traction and timing 2. Data is the language of belief ↳ Make every claim measurable and credible 3. The first 10 seconds decide the next 10 minutes ↳ Lead with insight, not your origin story 4. Fundraising is sales with a longer sales cycle ↳ Qualify, follow up, close like B2B 5. A vague raise is a red flag ↳ “$1.5M to do what, exactly?” — Answer it before they ask 6. Pressure kills the pitch ↳ Invite the right fit, not approval from everyone 7. Lead with the problem, not the product ↳ Show you get the pain better than anyone 8. Make it easy to say yes ↳ Fewer slides, clearer ask, sharper logic 9. Own your unfair advantage ↳ Don’t whisper the thing that sets you apart 10. One believer opens the door ↳ The first “yes” is the hardest, then the narrative flips Rejection is feedback, but only if you listen, adapt, and level up. VCs said no. Now they’re getting intros from those same firms. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from rejection? Comment! Repost! ------------------------------------------------------ 💯 Want to qualify for VC funding?   Take your free Fundraising Gap Analysis Scorecard. The link is on my profile page - Leon Eisen, PhD

I've pitched 200+ funding stories to reporters over 15 years. The ones that got covered all broke the same rule: they didn’t lead with the dollar amount. Here's what happened with a Series A announcement last year. The founder wanted to lead with "Company X raises $8M." Standard formula. But I convinced him to flip it: "New Therapy App Translates its Psychiatrist Co-Founder’s Experience into AI." Same company. Same round. Different story. The first version: Generic funding news that would get buried on page 47 of TechCrunch. The second: Three reporters responded within hours asking for exclusives. That's when it hit me: reporters aren't covering funding rounds anymore. They're covering human stories that happen to be validated by funding rounds. The money isn't the story. It's just proof the story matters. Think about every funding announcement you've seen get real coverage lately. None of them led with the dollar amount unless it was massive. They led with the founder who dropped out of medical school to solve healthcare access. The immigrant entrepreneur serving 45 million underserved Americans. The 22-year-old who built something VCs couldn't ignore. The funding validates that this isn't just feel-good content; it's business news their editors will approve. Your next pitch should read like a profile piece that happens to mention funding, not a funding announcement that mentions a person. My point: Stop leading with dollars. Start leading with humans. The next time you draft a funding pitch, ask yourself: Would this story be interesting even without the money? If not, you're pitching the wrong angle.