Tweet: How founder passion affects investors of different levels

This study explored how variation in entrepreneurs’ displayed passion affects informal investor interest in start-up ventures by examining neural responses to entrepreneurs’ pitches using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).
It found that founders displaying high passion increase investor neural engagement by 39% and investor interest in the venture by 26% over those displaying low passion.
A one standard deviation increase in neural engagement is associated with an 8% percent increase in investors’ interest in investing in a start-up company relative to the mean.
These findings indicate that neural engagement may account for some of the effects of founder passion on investor interest.