About 90% of investor outreach fails for reasons unrelated to the pitch itself, according to Jan Verkooijen, an investor at New VOC Management BV.
It is common for founders to forward the same pitch decks to investors who are not interested in their business stage, sector, or area of focus. While generative AI enables more pitches to be sent more quickly, it does not make them more relevant.
The report from Working In Your Shoes surveyed founders, investors, and media professionals about public relations and communications in startups as AI-generated content becomes more common.
About 98% believe that good public relations helps to speed up investment. Nearly one-third estimate its current impact on investor awareness and securing the next funding round at up to 50% and expect the effect on funding to double within a year. Yet only around 35% of startups use PR and communication to attract investment. For the most part, they see it as a means of increasing brand visibility rather than as a way to raise funds.
The sameness problem
Up to 95% of startups are currently using AI in their communications. The desired level of AI for building relationships is predicted to increase from 35.6% to 53.3% within a year.
Investors do not find this trend exciting.
“In the era of AI, everyone is focused on what to do with AI. But the real question is what do we do with people,” said Gianni Giacomelli, a founding partner at kAIgentic.
The founders are aware of the risks.
According to the survey, when questioned about relying too heavily on AI in communications, the loss of personal touch or authenticity was rated as the most significant (64%) risk, followed by a reduction in critical thinking and judgment (62%) and the possibility that messages would sound identical (54%). Another significant AI-related risk named by startups was the spread of misinformation and AI-generated fake content (34%).
Ran Wei Baker, senior director at Microsoft for Startups, noted that AI can assist start-ups in scaling their communications when their resources are limited, but it should not replace authentic messaging, since founders still need to review AI-generated content to ensure it matches their brand’s voice.
Shaloo Garg, Microsoft’s managing director for the AI startup ecosystem, added the change more directly as “AI deals with 80% of the volume while humans handle 80% of the value.”
She also argues the judgement problem gets harder as we enter the era of AI agents, when AI moves from tool to teammate: “AI is excellent at patterns and behaviours, but it struggles with high-stakes ambiguity. Only humans can make decisions when data is conflicting or incomplete.”
Theo van Leest, chief executive at Aqara Investment, frames it as a governance question rather than a technology one: “The key question is not about what AI can do, but whether humans are prepared to stay in control of the decisions it informs.”
Startups keep waiting too long to build trust
Further, 75% of startups wait until they have achieved traction or generated revenue, and only 18% think that communication should start at the pre-seed stage. Investors and experienced founders see this method as misguided.
“Startups often underestimate the power of communicating their story early. It helps external audiences understand your vision and internally aligns the team,” said Dr. Lucia Brandt, accelerator program manager at xdeck.
Alexander Nechaev, who is an investor with Founders VC, points out that the threshold for getting started is very low, since “founders can help get on investors’ radar with simple weekly updates on LinkedIn or X even before they begin fundraising.”
Uday Khanna, co-founder at 1406 Park Lane Partners VC, ties this directly to how his firm sources deals: “Some investors prefer founder referrals because someone has already done the homework. We believe the real work is finding founders before everyone else does.”
The CEO visibility gap
While 46% say that it is important for the CEO to be visible, the same group are not pursuing visibility.
Mark Liepinsh, ex-Pulsar VC, explains why investors are concerned: “In the early stages investors look at the team; if the team isn’t visible then it is outdone by more publicly known CEOs. Some investors base their decisions on the team’s experience and on the overall atmosphere. You have to be known and effective communication helps reduce the distance.”
Ivan Shkvarun, chief executive and founder of Social Links and Trusterity, views this as a career-stage issue: personal branding becomes increasingly important as a company matures and the founder’s communication role evolves.
The reasons founders give for skipping this are consistent: limited time, limited budget, and a narrow focus on the product itself.
Garg says that gap will get more complicated as AI agents start participating directly in workflows: “A new era of AI agents has arrived, bringing new leadership challenges for startups, especially around how to manage and work effectively with AI agents. Instead of chatting with a bot, humans are now managing swarms of AI agents.”
The takeaway
The report’s framework — Strategy, Measurability, AI mindset, Relationship-building, Transformation — can be summarised simply: use AI for speed and research, keep positioning and relationship-building human, and begin earlier than you think is necessary. The full report is available at the following link.
Sunshine Burri, an international startup ecosystem expert based in Japan, concludes: “AI has made building great products faster than ever. But if I can build it, chances are five other people are building it at the same time. That’s where smart PR becomes a competitive advantage as it builds credibility and trust.”
For founders seeking next steps, TFN‘s overview of PR and communications agencies hired by startups in 2026 is a practical resource. If generic pitches are the issue, TFN‘s review of32 successful pitch decks from 2026 offers valuable insights. For more on AI-agent leadership, see our earlier coverage of Europe’s AI agent startups targeting a $52 billion market.
This article is produced in content partnership with Working In Your Shoes.
