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Associated Press
4 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
The Startup Storytelling Reset: Rajiv Nathan on What Investors Actually Want to Hear
Hint: It's not enough to be the best—you have to be the only. 'It's amazing how much further you'll get with an investor by showing them you know how to speak to your customers.'— Rajiv Nathan, Startup Hypeman CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, June 4, 2025 / / -- If your pitch still starts with, 'We're an AI-driven solution,' Rajiv Nathan has some advice: stop. At a recent pitch competition in Miami, one founder ditched the jargon and opened with a story: 'Logistics lives and dies by the motto, 'Time is money''. Judges leaned in. Investors asked to hear more. That pitch—crafted with the help of Rajiv 'RajNATION' Nathan—wasn't packed with buzzwords. It was built to form an emotional bridge. As the founder of Startup Hypeman, RajNATION is helping startups ditch generic jargon in favor of storytelling that actually resonates. His pitch philosophy—don't be the best, be the only—has become a rallying cry for founders looking to create new categories, not just compete in crowded ones. At events like Startup Grind's Global Conference in Silicon Valley and Startup Mania in Miami—where several of his clients captivated investors and judges—and through his work with Series A down to pree-seed founders in Chicago, RajNATION is leading a much-needed reset in startup messaging: one that speaks human, not jargon. 'Founders get stuck trying to prove they're better than the competition,' says RajNATION. 'But investors aren't looking for the next best version of something—they're looking for something that feels new, necessary, and memorable. That starts with emotional clarity, not feature lists.' So what gives RajNATION his unique insight into what startups need to succeed? In addition to serving as Chief Pitch Artist of Startup Hypeman, he's also a rapper, MMA ring announcer and broadcaster, and yoga instructor. That means he's been on just about every kind of stage imaginable—and knows what it takes to capture an audience, hold their attention, think on your feet, and deliver under pressure. It's a background that gives him a deep understanding of the founder mindset and what it really takes to show up and stand out. He also advises startups to speak like real people, not pitch decks. 'Get in touch with your customer-facing message and let that guide your investor pitch,' he says. 'It's amazing how much further you'll get with an investor by showing them you know how to speak to your customers. For example, instead of leading with a statistic or market size, can you get them to feel the emotional pain? They want to see strong numbers and market potential—but they need to feel it matters first. Emotion gives context to your numbers, and numbers without context inherently don't carry emotion.' Hear more from RajNATION in an interview recorded live for Expert Connexions during Startup Grind's Global Conference in Silicon Valley. About Rajiv Nathan Known as the Voice of Startup Culture, Rajiv 'RajNATION' Nathan is Founder & Chief Pitch Artist of Startup Hypeman, helping startups ensure a bad pitch doesn't get in the way of a great product. He was named an 'Agent of Change' by Huffington Post, has given a TED Talk, and been featured in Inc, Forbes, and more. He's also a hip hop artist, yoga instructor, and professional MMA announcer. Startup Hypeman helps startups not just go to market, but become The GOAT to market through pitch and narrative development. Founders and CEOs at startups of all stages collaborate with us to convert their Vision into pitches for capital raises, customer acquisition, and category creation so their audience doesn't acknowledge them as the best, they acknowledge them as the ONLY. Learn more at and check out the podcast, The GOAT to Market Show on all streaming platforms. About Expert Connexions Expert Connexions is a YouTube interview series hosted by entrepreneur and marketing strategist Julie Holton Smith, featuring business leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs from across the country. Learn more at and Julie Holton Smith mConnexions +1 517-208-2087 email us here Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Time of India
03-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom calls out AI firms for ‘juicing engagement'
Synopsis Speaking at StartupGrind, Systrom urged AI developers to focus on quality responses instead of chasing superficial engagement metrics. This comes against the background of OpenAI rolling back a GPT-4o update after users raised concerns about its overly flattering and excessively agreeable tone. The sycophantic behaviour drew criticism from users and even led the company's CEO, Sam Altman, to describe it as 'annoying.'
NDTV
03-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
Instagram Co-Founder Slams AI Companies For 'Juicing Engagement' Through Chatbots
Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom has slammed artificial intelligence (AI) companies, saying their chatbots were being programmed to "juice engagement" by constantly nagging the users instead of providing useful insights. "You can see some of these companies going down the rabbit hole that all the consumer companies have gone down in trying to juice engagement," Mr Systrom said at StartupGrind this week. "Every time I ask a question, at the end it asks another little question to see if it can get yet another question out of me." As per Mr Systrom, the chatbots being too engaging was not a bug but instead an intentional feature, inserted by AI companies to inflate metrics such as time spent and daily active users. He added that companies should be "laser-focused" on providing high-quality answers rather than moving the metrics. Quizzed about Mr Systrom's comments, OpenAI told TechCrunch that its AI model often does not have all the information to provide a good answer. Hence, it may ask for "clarification or more details". What happened to ChatGPT? Mr Systrom's comments come in the backdrop of OpenAI's ChatGPT facing criticism from users for being too sycophantic. The issue arose after the 4o model was updated and improved in both intelligence and personality, with the company hoping to improve overall user experience. Even OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, admitted that the chatbot had become "annoying" due to its excess politeness. "The last couple of GPT-4o updates have made the personality too sycophant-y and annoying (even though there are some very good parts of it)," Mr Altman wrote. "We are working on fixes asap, some today and some this week. At some point will share our learnings from this, it's been interesting." the last couple of GPT-4o updates have made the personality too sycophant-y and annoying (even though there are some very good parts of it), and we are working on fixes asap, some today and some this week. at some point will share our learnings from this, it's been interesting. — Sam Altman (@sama) April 27, 2025 In another case, OpenAI's internal tests revealed that its o3 and o4-mini AI models were hallucinating or making things up much more frequently than even the non-reasoning models, such as GPT-4o. In a technical report, OpenAI said "more research is needed" to understand why hallucinations are getting worse as it scales up reasoning models.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AI chatbots are 'juicing engagement' instead of being useful, Instagram co-founder warns
Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom says AI companies are trying too hard to 'juice engagement' by pestering their users with follow-up questions, instead of providing actually useful insights. Systrom said the tactics represent 'a force that's hurting us,' comparing them to those used by social media companies to expand aggressively. 'You can see some of these companies going down the rabbit hole that all the consumer companies have gone down in trying to juice engagement,' he said at StartupGrind this week. 'Every time I ask a question, at the end it asks another little question to see if it can get yet another question out of me.' The comments come amid criticism of ChatGPT for being too nice to users instead of directly answering their questions. OpenAI has apologized for the problem and blamed 'short-term feedback' from users for it. Systrom suggested that chatbots being overly engaging is not a bug, but an intentional feature designed for AI companies to show off metrics like time spent and daily active users. AI companies should be 'laser-focused' on providing high-quality answers rather than moving metrics in the easiest way possible, he said. Systrom didn't name any specific AI companies in his remarks. He didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. In response, OpenAI pointed TechCrunch to its user specs, which state that its AI model "often does not have all of the information" to provide a good answer and may ask for "clarification or more details." But unless questions are too vague or difficult to answer, the AI should "take a stab at fulfilling the request and tell the user that it could be more helpful with certain information," the specs read.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AI chatbots are 'juicing engagement' instead of being useful, Instagram co-founder warns
Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom says AI companies are trying too hard to 'juice engagement' by pestering their users with follow-up questions, instead of providing actually useful insights. Systrom said the tactics represent 'a force that's hurting us,' comparing them to those used by social media companies to expand aggressively. 'You can see some of these companies going down the rabbit hole that all the consumer companies have gone down in trying to juice engagement,' he said at StartupGrind this week. 'Every time I ask a question, at the end it asks another little question to see if it can get yet another question out of me.' The comments come amid criticism of ChatGPT for being too nice to users instead of directly answering their questions. OpenAI has apologized for the problem and blamed 'short-term feedback' from users for it. Systrom suggested that chatbots being overly engaging is not a bug, but an intentional feature designed for AI companies to show off metrics like time spent and daily active users. AI companies should be 'laser-focused' on providing high-quality answers rather than moving metrics in the easiest way possible, he said. Systrom didn't name any specific AI companies in his remarks. He didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. In response, OpenAI pointed TechCrunch to its user specs, which state that its AI model "often does not have all of the information" to provide a good answer and may ask for "clarification or more details." But unless questions are too vague or difficult to answer, the AI should "take a stab at fulfilling the request and tell the user that it could be more helpful with certain information," the specs read. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at Sign in to access your portfolio
