By Andrej Persolja, marketing expert and founder of We Fix Boring
Fintechs pitching for investment all understand one thing: It’s all about the numbers. Forecasts, KPIs, CAC-to-LTV ratios, growth rate, burn rate, margin, and exit potential. You’ll dedicate endless hours of your life making your business look strong – on paper. Because that’s what you’ve been told to do, and metrics matter. They matter a lot.
But here’s the thing: numbers aren’t everything. What many founders miss is that while your metrics provide the baseline for your business, they can never tell the full story. That’s really important to know, because at the heart of every investment decision is a human being. And people are rarely guided by logic alone – you need emotion to sell your vision.
Why the human element matters in fintech funding
Investors aren’t algorithms, although it can seem that way when you’re gearing up for a pitch. The instinct is to impress with pure data – financials, growth curves, market size, and revenue models – hoping the numbers will speak for themselves.
But in doing so, you often miss the most powerful tool you have available: emotion. Of course, money matters to investors, but if you can make them believe in your team, product vision, and ability to lead change in a complex industry, the battle is almost over. And for that, you need to tell a story.
The fintech space is saturated with innovation. As such, it takes a lot if you’re hoping to use tech to make your pitch memorable. But when you have a story that resonates, built around a narrative that clearly explains not just what you’ve built, but why it matters, you create an opening for investors to engage.
The power of positioning and emotional pull in fintech pitches
In fintech, innovation often runs ahead of regulation, and profitability can be a long time coming, so it takes something else to motivate an investor to take a chance on an early-stage startup.
Projections play a part, but yours is far from the only fintech in town. So, the real question is, why would they choose to work with you?
More often than not, it boils down to belief. If you can convince a potential investor to believe in your vision and your ability to execute it, and that your product solves a meaningful problem in a way no one else has, you’ve differentiated your offering from everyone else in the field. That’s where strategic positioning, and the emotional resonance behind it, are so vital to the pitching process.
Fintech investors aren’t just reviewing tech stacks and cash flow statements; they want to know what’s at the heart of the business. What does this company represent? What kind of change do I want to support? Which values should my capital reflect?
If your pitch doesn’t clearly answer those questions on both a rational and emotional level, it risks fading into the noise. By effectively positioning your business, you don’t just find it a place in the market; you give it purpose. And when that purpose is communicated through a compelling, emotionally grounded narrative, it transforms your pitch from a business case into a belief system.
It’s at that point that you open the door to commitment. Because in a sector built on disruption, it’s trust, conviction, and clarity of vision that ultimately seal the deal.
Building a brand narrative that investors can believe in
A strong brand narrative isn’t just a nice-to-have; it is a core part of an active investment strategy. And it starts with one deceptively simple question: What is your why? Basically, what real-world problem are you solving, and why does it matter now?
Whatever fintech vertical you’re working on, it’s your deeper purpose that sets you apart. It’s also what investors are increasingly tuned into. That, and a seamless user experience (UX) that shows you not only understand your market, but also your customer.
The underrated investment power of UX
Historically, it’s compliance that has been the primary sticking point for fintech founders. But today, the challenge is twofold: the importance of compliance is equalled by the need for exceptional user experience.
In a digital-first financial world where everyone is promising speed, simplicity, and trust, the way your product actually delivers value to the user becomes a key differentiator.
We can take one of my clients as an example, a SaaS platform built for institutional investors. By redesigning the onboarding flow and simplifying key user journeys, we increased conversion from 0% to 37%. That process wasn’t just about UX, though; it provided hard data that could be used to capture investors’ attention. And it matters because when you’re pitching for funding, every click is evidence.
With fintech investment up 5.3% in H1 2025 compared to the previous year, momentum is building again. But standing out in a crowded field takes more than attractive spreadsheets and appealing projections. Investors are looking for more. They want to see a team with conviction. A product with clear market fit. And most importantly, a narrative that ties the numbers to a strategy and the strategy to a purpose.
It’s that emotional layer that makes the difference.
So yes, if you’re looking to pitch, bring your forecasts, your CAC-to-LTV ratios, your TAM slides, and all the other metrics. Polish them up and make them shine. But don’t rely on them to do the heavy lifting. Because unless you wrap them up in a narrative investors can get behind, a narrative that shows you’re not just building a product, but a company with the potential to lead, to scale, and to matter, you’re going to struggle to secure the capital you need.
Because seasoned investors know projections change. Markets shift. Competition tightens. But a founder with a clear vision, strong user engagement, and a compelling story brings so much more to the table.
Author bio
Andrej Persolja is a global expert in brand positioning, strategy, and growth. Adept at turning complex innovation into clear, compelling narratives that connect and convert, Andrej has built a business around supporting growth-stage CxOs position their companies to scale faster and attract the right customers.
