It seems logical that entrepreneurs benefit from having passion for their product or idea.  Not only is building a startup hard, and so belief is the fuel that underpins the long hours and tremendous uncertainty involved, but you also often need to convince others of the merits of your idea, and so passion is vital to persuade investors, partners and customers that you’re onto something.

Now, a new study from Case Western Reserve University, has attempted to quantify just how important passion is for entrepreneurs.

The researchers plugged a group of investors into a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machine to see how their brains responded to various entrepreneurial pitches.  The idea was that attention was an important factor in investing, so measuring how enticed investors were to pitches is a key stepping stone towards investment.

“No one has ever invested in a startup they ignored,” the authors say.  “Founder passion is essential to establishing investor attention, and our study demonstrates measurable neural effects that offer a biological explanation for their tendency to react positively to enthusiasm and emotion of entrepreneurs.”

Energetic pitches

The researchers suggest that showing energy when they pitch their ideas, entrepreneurs are significantly increasing the neural engagement among investors, which in turns raises the odds of them investing.

“Entrepreneurs should know: More engaged brains are more likely to meaningfully evaluate pitches,” they explain. “We believe our data makes a strong argument that displays of passion trigger heightened engagement that, in turn, makes investors more likely to write a check.”

The investors were shown a series of pitches that were identical in terms of content, but differed in terms of delivery.  The data showed that higher levels of passion in the pitch were associated with increased fixation on the pitch by the investors.

Indeed, investors who experienced high energy pitches were 26% more likely to be interested in the startup than when exposed to a low energy pitch.

“More engaged brains are more likely to meaningfully evaluate pitches–and not play on their phones or think about lunch–which should result in more favorable investor assessments,” the researchers say.

The findings suggest that it could be very much worth entrepreneurs spending some time ensuring that their pitches are infused with a high degree of passion and enthusiasm.