Investor-readiness without the theatrics: Part 2
Staying fundable and focused
In Part 1, we unpacked the concept of the cargo cult trap – where startups imitate the surface-level behaviours, structures, and language of successful companies without the underlying traction, insight, or fit. From inflated org charts to over-polished narratives, it’s easy to mistake form for function, especially under pressure to “look like a real company”.
Now, in Part 2, we go deeper. This isn’t about stripping things down for the sake of being scrappy. It’s about building with precision and purpose. We look at how founders can avoid the empty rituals of startup theatre and instead focus on substance: metrics that actually matter, stories that reflect real insight, and org decisions that align with stage – not aspiration.
The goal isn’t to reject structure or polish, but to earn them. And to ensure that when you step in front of investors, partners and your own team, you’re not just presenting the shape of a fundable business, but the substance of one.
1. Org chart driven by needs over optics
The cargo cult trap
Startups often fall into the trap of prematurely scaling their org chart for the sake of optics – adding layers and roles that mimic what they’ve seen in polished Series A or B pitch decks. It looks like a real company, but it’s form without substance, and it’s problematically bloated. The hires are aspirational rather than essential, and they don’t reflect where the company actually is in its journey – particularly before achieving product-market fit (PMF).
Example: You’ve got a full-looking executive team: your co-founder is COO, running service delivery and community; you’re the CEO, leading go-to-market, maybe with an expensive CRO by your side. You’ve named your accountant CFO, converted two freelance developers into full-time hires to make your engineering function look more “real”, and promoted your most organised contractor into Head of HR. Why? Because you heard that you need a People leader by 50 employees – and your projections show you might hit that in three months… if fundraising goes well. You’re preparing for the startup you want to be, rather than building for the one you are.
Our recommended approach
In a fundable and operationally healthy startup, every hire ties clearly to the next milestone: building product, growing sales, increasing efficiency. Rather than filling out a traditional structure, you’re shaping the org around real needs.
You’ve thought deeply about the transition from founder-led sales to a sales team, and what stage justifies that move. You can explain your decision to keep development partially outsourced or in-house, based on IP sensitivity, speed, and risk – not just optics. You’ve hired full-time senior talent only where it makes sense – such as a Community Manager if user engagement is critical – and you’ve resisted prematurely inflating titles. There’s room to grow and specialise, but only when the function’s scope and workload warrant it.
Investors will think…
This team is deliberate. They make lean, grounded decisions appropriate for their own business. Their use of funds is disciplined, and their hiring strategy shows they understand both their stage and their trajectory.
2. Healthy metrics over vanity metrics
The cargo cult trap
Startups preparing for fundraising often fall into the trap of showcasing flashy but superficial metrics – website traffic, signups, social reach, MAUs – without connecting them to the real mechanics of the business. These numbers look good on a slide and can generate early excitement, but they don’t reveal anything about product-market fit, customer behaviour, or value creation. It’s performance without progress, and it crumbles under investor Q&A and due diligence.
Example: You’ve built a sleek metrics dashboard and can proudly point to 20K monthly site visitors and 5K app installs. But when asked what percentage of users activate, convert, or stick around, things get vague. You’re optimising campaigns to drive traffic, not product or pricing experiments that drive revenue. Your CAC isn’t tied to any real LTV yet – because your LTV is still unclear. You’re reporting surface-level growth to signal momentum, but you're not learning anything that gets you closer to sustainable traction.
Our recommended approach
Track metrics that reflect true signal. What percentage of signups activate? How many convert to paying users, and how long do they stay? What’s your LTV-to-CAC ratio? These are learning metrics – messier, but real. When you focus on understanding why people use (or leave) your product, you’re building a foundation that can scale.
You are brutally honest with yourself and your team: Are you learning something new every week about how to create value and capture it? Are you testing assumptions, or just hitting targets? Are you and the team directly using your key metrics in the most challenging, interesting conversations that propel your business forward next week?
Investors will think…
This is a team that’s not drinking its own Kool-Aid. They’re focused on the mechanics of a real business, and they’re using data to get smarter, not just louder.
3. Narrative integrity over “the done thing”
The cargo cult trap
In an effort to sound fundable, founders often default to startup clichés – grandiose vision statements, comparisons to well-known models, or inflated claims of category disruption. The story becomes disconnected from the product’s reality, customer insight, and actual traction. The result? A generic narrative that signals mimicry, not mastery.
Example: You describe your product as “the Stripe for influencers” or “the Uber of B2B logistics” and claim a $20B+ TAM based on a top-down market sizing slide. You outline your vision as being a “one-stop shop” for your broader operating environment. Your pitch includes all the right investor buzzwords – network effects, AI, virality – but when pressed on what early users are actually doing, or why they’re choosing you, the answers are thin. You’ve reverse-engineered a pitch to match what should work, but it’s not rooted in your unique path to solving a real problem.
Our recommended approach
Build a narrative that only your company could tell. One grounded in something real: customer conversations, usage patterns, unexpected insights. Show how your learnings have shaped the product, the positioning, even the roadmap. That’s the kind of story that lands – because it signals you’re actually close to the problem.
This doesn’t mean being boring. It means being specific. If you're pre-revenue but retention is climbing in a weird user segment, lean into that. If your early adopters are using your product in ways you didn’t expect, talk about it. These are the clues that you’re uncovering something valuable, and therefore fundable.
Investors will think…
This team has conviction rooted in evidence. They’re not borrowing a narrative – they’re creating one. That’s what makes them credible.
4. Learning velocity as a differentiator
The cargo cult trap
Startups often mirror what they see in competitor roadmaps or established product lines, assuming that’s the proven path. But what works for a later-stage or different-context business may be irrelevant—or actively harmful—to a company still searching for fit. Copying features may feel productive, but it stalls learning. Your product becomes a Frankenstack of untested assumptions.
Example: You’ve added a referral feature because your closest competitor launched one. You rushed a new integration because an investor mentioned it in a call. Your roadmap is full, but not focused – features go out the door quickly, but with little follow-up on how they perform. You’re shipping, but not understanding. You’re moving fast, but not necessarily in the right direction. You're iterating on what others are building, instead of learning what your customers actually need. Your “experimental” culture feels a little bit like throwing spaghetti at the wall instead of driving careful hypotheses and failing quickly but well.
Our recommended approach
Treat every feature, message and campaign as an experiment designed to teach you something new about your users. Learning velocity – the speed at which you uncover and act on truth – is one of the only true advantages at the earliest stages. It’s not about how fast you ship, it’s about how fast you learn and adapt.
This means prioritising clarity over volume: fewer features, better measured. It means being okay with throwing away work if the experiment fails. And it means having the humility to admit you’re still figuring it out—while building the systems to figure it out faster than anyone else.
Investors will think…
This team knows how to turn money into insight, not just output. They’re learners, not followers. And that means their trajectory is unlikely to flatten, even when things get hard.
Getting you investor-ready
At Pitchwits, we partner with founders to challenge assumptions, sharpen their story, and align their pitch with genuine traction and strategy – crafting a narrative that not only resonates with investors today but builds lasting credibility and confidence to navigate every stage of fundraising and business growth ahead.
Craft the right pitch for your business with Pitchwits
