🧠 Paul Graham Just Explained Why Your Fundraising Deck Feels Off

You’ve iterated your product. You’ve practiced your pitch.

But somehow... your fundraising deck still feels off.

You’re not sure why. The numbers check out. The idea is good. Still—something isn’t landing.

Paul Graham may have just given us the answer in his essay “Good Writing.”

His thesis?

At first, that sounds like style over substance. But for founders, it’s the opposite.

The sound of your writing—your phrasing, flow, rhythm—is often the first sign that your thinking isn’t fully formed.

And that’s exactly why your deck feels off.

✅ TL;DR for Founders

💡 Your fundraising deck isn’t a design problem.
📊 It’s not a data problem.
🧠 It’s a thinking problem.
✍️ And writing is how you solve it.

🔍 Here's what Graham teaches founders about why this matters:

1. Writing = Thinking

Your pitch isn’t just a summary. It’s a tool for clarity.

If a sentence doesn’t flow, it’s often because you haven’t really decided what you're trying to say.

Founders often hide fuzzy thinking in bullet points.

Graham would say: rewrite until it sounds clean—because that means you’ve made the idea clean.

2. Clarity Reveals Confidence

Investors aren’t just buying your numbers—they’re betting on your clarity of thought.

If you can’t reread your deck 50 times without cringing at how something’s phrased, don’t expect an investor to find it convincing either.

3. Rhythm Reveals Priorities

Good decks have a rhythm. They mirror the shape of insight.

Just like writing, your deck should reflect a natural progression of thought.

It should feel like a cleaned-up train of belief—not a series of disjointed facts.

If the transitions feel forced or abrupt, you probably haven’t decided what really matters yet.

✍️ Graham’s Unspoken Advice to Founders:

• Don’t write your pitch like a summary.

• Write it like you're discovering what matters most.

• And keep rewriting until it sounds undeniably right.

📢 Founders:

Next time your pitch feels off, don’t start with Figma.

Start by rewriting your headline.

If it feels wrong, it probably is wrong.

📖 If you write to fundraise, build, or lead—read this essay today:
👉 Good Writing by Paul Graham

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