Why good storytelling will close your next round

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Here's a stat that should stick in the back of your mind if you plan on raising soon:  80% of VCs say they'll reject a startup for lack of differentiation versus competitors. That number comes from a survey we ran with 50+ venture investors on what fundraising looks like in the AI era.

The fundraising bar has moved for several reasons:

1. Last year, funding to AI increased more than 75% year-over-year from the $114B invested in 2024. 

2. 58% of that went straight to the top (megarounds of $500M or more). Anthropic and OpenAI alone took home $80B. 

3. The average AI startup is hitting unicorn status ($1B valuation or more) twice as fast as in previous tech eras. 

Couple that with 90,000 AI startups that are operating as of 2025, it’s no wonder that it’s gotten competitive to raise, especially early on. 

So how do you compete for what's left? You tell a better story. Storytelling helps investors believe you’re uniquely positioned to win, as opposed to just qualified to take on this problem. It enables you to build a moat around your startup before you even have a product. 

In this recorded session from Rippling on the Road Chicago, Sr. Content Marketing Manager Sarah Hallam covers the fundamentals of a compelling story and if you are staring down a blank page, why she believes your "personal why" is the best place to start.