Analyzing Startup Pitches With AI: Keys to Successful Fundraising
Two grad students from Yale’s School of Management used AI to analyze startup pitches. Their goal was to figure out how the delivery — things like facial expressions, wording, or tone of voice — impacted fundraising.
Their surprising finding: “Persuasion delivery works mainly through leading investors to form inaccurate beliefs.”
This doesn’t mean that all successful fundraisers are liars. Instead, the researchers interpret the data to mean that when a startup team is likable and conveys a high degree of warmth and positivity, investors become overconfident in the likelihood of their success and are more willing to invest.
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