Framing for Funding: How Social vs. Profit Orientation and Founder Gender Influence Investor Decisions

In the early stages of entrepreneurship, securing investor support is often critical to a venture’s survival and growth. However, it’s not just your company that the investor is evaluating, but also you. Investor decisions are a combination of the company's metrics, the pitch style, and the person making the pitch. Research increasingly shows that both the content of a pitch, whether it emphasizes profit or social impact, and the gender of the founder can significantly influence investor interest and funding outcomes. The following paper explores how two factors, founders’ gender and pitch framing, interact to shape the perceptions of an investor. Using theoretical foundations such as role congruity, signaling theory, impression management theory, and framing theory, this paper examines how gendered expectations and presentations of pitches can affect judgments of risk, investment potential, and credibility. The goal is to better understand the biases and decision-making processes investors use when evaluating founders, and how entrepreneurs can navigate these dynamics strategically.