Wanjiru runs a small fintech in Kilimani and is excited as she prepares for her first round of investor meetings. She tells her staff that how one presents themselves means a great deal to investors and turns up in a stiff new suit that does not really feel like her style. Her investor pitch goes well enough, but everyone around the table gives only a lukewarm reception.
Later that week, she repeats the same pitch in jeans and a simple t-shirt to a different investor group because she had to rush from a client visit and did not have time to change.
The second investor conversation felt easier. Investors lingered after the meeting just to speak to her. Nothing in the pitch deck changed between the first and second time. Only how believable she seemed as a person.
Brand new multi-country research by Henrik Lekkas, Torben Antretter, Vangelis Souitaris, Dean Shepherd, and Joakim Wincent helps explain why that happens. When early-stage investors look at founder entrepreneurs to ascertain whether they want to invest or not, the entrepreneur’s clothing quietly shapes a first impression regarding authenticity.
Surprisingly, casual dress tends to make founders seem more genuine to investors. That early preliminary sense of investors seeing the entrepreneur as a real person then boosts investor evaluations of their business.
Even more interesting, the halo effect of authenticity can inoculate against later negative signals like a thin track record or previous bad experiences in entrepreneurship.
In the study data, casually dressed business founders were rated highly whether or not they had prior entrepreneurial experience, while formally dressed founders were marked down when inexperience appeared, as if they were trying to portray professionalism in formal dress when a history of professionalism did not exist.
The research shows this pattern across hundreds of Shark Tank-style pitches, a real angel investor group’s deal flow, and a randomised psychological experiment with investors.
As entrepreneurs across East Africa rejoice at the latest rigorous entrepreneurship study, please note that the research does not present itself as a blanket rule to be sloppy. It serves as a reminder that investors are indeed human and value the honesty that authenticity brings.
In short, a pitch is not only an investigation into a business, but it is also a human test of whether the person in front leading seems to match and genuinely embody the story they are telling the investors.
Just like body posture, clothes too provide a fast psychological cue. If your outfit matches your usual style, people tend to feel you are performing. But if you look like you are wearing a costume, other people may suspect you are trying too hard to falsely impress them.
That little suspicion can spread to how they then hear everything else you say. It is like a lens through which they filter everything else they see and hear.
Entrepreneurs can also learn a timing lesson as a result of the study in that early cues stick. Many investors form a view in the first moments and then do not fully psychologically update that view when richer more complete information is provided later.
Sadly, it forms the basis for human unconscious bias. That is how a founder who looks real can get the benefit of the doubt when the slide on experience shows only one small prior venture. It is also how a founder who looks overly polished can trigger extra scrutiny on the same slide with negligible experience.
The study does not mean that all investors are careless. However, it means that the human attention span is limited and a strong first sense anchors the rest of the discussion even for smart and diligent people. The research does not give a specific fashion rule but instead gives a people rule.
Appear as yourself, then make it easy for others to see the truth of your work, especially for your specific industry. Some sectors are more informal or formal than others. Investors are busy and their pipeline is crowded.
The founder who feels genuine and then shows clear proof will move faster. Of course, investors will still demand results post-investment and teams will still need to execute. But when your first impression matches your daily reality, you remove silent friction and let the real strengths of your venture come through.
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