TL:DR

• Storytelling is more important than ever in early-stage fundraising – especially at Series A.

• AI founders face unique challenges – traditional SaaS-era frameworks don’t apply, so narratives must be original and anchored in the right leading indicators.

• A strong story builds investor conviction – it aligns vision with opportunity, making the case for outsized returns in the AI era.

Earlier this year, a number of the HSG team attended Moonfire's annual founder and tech showcase event, Pulse 2025. Addressing the event was Kindred Capital VC’s founding general partner Leila Rastegar Zegna. Leila said something that really stuck with us, because it captured what we repeatedly see in our work with early-stage startups:

“Any Series A is as much about storytelling as it is about metrics.”

Even earlier, at Seed stage, storytelling helps explain the “why”. But by Series A, it becomes the glue for early traction, team credibility, and long-term ambition. Metrics matter, but they rarely speak for themselves - especially at a time when neither VCs nor founders can rely on the old playbooks anymore

Storytelling’s role in the AI Era

Storytelling - the ability to describe the future you want to build, and your path to get there - has always been an essential skill for entrepreneurs, but it is becoming even more important in the AI era. 

AI will change entire industries beyond comprehension, both economically and in how they operate and interact with customers. This means the companies building these technologies have to be able to tell a convincing and inspiring story about the new world that’s being built and how they will bring it about. 

That doesn’t mean hyping yourself or jumping on the AI bandwagon. In a crowded and noisy space, your story needs to act as a point of differentiation. 

‍Gradient Labs, for instance, which builds customer operations AI agents for fintechs, raised a $13 million Series A with a compelling pitch deck that avoided vague hype and demonstrated its product’s real-world value, according to Business Insider.

AI startup Nous Research, which raised an impressive $50 million Series A in April 2025, is reframing AI development with its narrative about democratisation and new infrastructure; by repositioning AI as a distributed, open process with societal impact, the startup has carved out a niche in the industry.

At the more controversial end of the spectrum, Artisan AI, which raised a $25 million Series A in August 2025, cut through the sea of tech messaging with its Stop Hiring Humans outdoor campaign in San Francisco. Aside from bringing in a reported $2 million in revenue and raising the startup’s profile, the campaign positioned Artisan AI’s AI agents as fully-fledged autonomous workers, not just automation tools.

Why SaaS playbooks don’t apply

AI also means that the standard growth frameworks that governed the last decade or more of software investing no longer apply. 

AI promises that the potential return on invested capital will skyrocket – and investors will double down for even greater returns. But today’s founders cannot rely on a “paint-by-numbers” approach that might have worked in the SaaS era. They need to tell an original story grounded in the metrics and leading indicators that truly matter to their business.

For instance, traditional SaaS metrics like gross margin, ARR predictability, or churn may not tell the full story for an AI startup, where what really matters is the unit economics of inference, usage-based expansion, and how quickly customers see ROI. Beyond revenue or growth milestones, AI company founders need to understand the (perhaps unique) drivers that really matter to their business – and craft a story around them that builds confidence and conviction, bringing investors along on the journey. 

Crafting the right story

At HSG, we help founders turn their vision into a narrative that can capture and hold the attention of even the most sceptical VCs. 

Get in touch to learn how we help craft stories that unlock conviction, capital, and growth.