How to get buy-in for your decisions

I spoke with a founder this week who was convinced she couldn't tell her mission-driven story in a fundraising pitch.

Too long. Too emotional. Not “business-y” enough.

She's misdiagnosing her problem. She built her self-worth on being a competent operator who “sticks to reality.” Now she has to pitch her vision, and selling feels like becoming someone she doesn't respect—a salesperson who manipulates with emotion.

So she's suppressing the mission story. The exact thing that would make her pitch work.

Investors need two elements to make decisions: emotion and reason.

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Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio discovered something that changes how we understand high-stakes decisions: Your gut makes the call before your rational brain gets a vote.

When you pitch an investor, their body votes “yes” or “no” based on how your story makes them feel—excitement, hope, anxiety, fear. Damasio calls these “somatic markers.” By the time their rational brain analyzes your financials, the emotional vote has already been cast.

When your mission story resonates, the investor's body creates a positive marker: This feels like a winner. That gut feeling guides them toward your deal.

But without financial validation, their body creates a counteracting negative marker: This feels risky. I might lose money. This could be irrational. That marker guides them away.

You need both. The story creates the positive signal. The numbers give them permission to trust it.How the two systems work together

Psychologists call this dual-process theory: System 1 (fast, emotional, pattern-matching) and System 2 (slow, analytical, validation-seeking) work together to produce decisions.

Your mission story activates System 1 pattern-matching: This reminds me of [successful company X]. This founder has the same conviction as [legendary founder Y].

Then your financial projections satisfy System 2's need for validation: The unit economics work. The market size supports venture returns. I can justify this to my partners.

When both systems fire in sequence, you get conviction. The kind that survives due diligence and partner meetings and cold feet at 2am.

What happens when you tell only the data story:

System 1 never fires. No emotional buy-in. No conviction. The investor is “interested” but never moves. You can't figure out why.

What happens when you lead with pure passion:

System 2 finds no supporting evidence. The investor wants to believe you but can't justify it. You get the “I love this but the numbers don't work” rejection.What this means for your pitch

That founder who thought she couldn't tell her mission story? She got it exactly wrong.

The mission story creates the somatic marker that makes an investor willing to spend 40 hours on due diligence. The business case allows System 2 to say “yes, you can trust that gut feeling.”

Founders who close deals architect pitches where both systems fire in sequence:Story first (activate System 1, create the positive marker)Numbers second (satisfy System 2, validate the gut feeling)

This is how human decision-making works.

The problem often times is that you're only firing one system.

P.S. Which system do you over-index on when you pitch? Hit reply and tell me. I read every response.