Authenticity in the Age of AI
The emergence of “AI everywhere” is driving a surge in demand for authenticity, and we now thirst to see it, especially when someone is trying to sell us something.
The burden of authenticity has rapidly increased in challenging and expensive ways for early stage companies. In tandem, the costs of being perceived as inauthentic have skyrocketed.
The demand for authenticity has always been with us, but AI woke the dragon. Bombarded with AI-generated everything, people have understandably become hyper-skeptical about the authenticity of the messages they receive.
The tactical efficiency of AI has made authenticity–or perceptions of authenticity–table stakes for sales and marketing across the board. While AI tools have made producing content a commodity, the work to finesse those outputs into something that resonates as authentic gets harder. In resource constrained environments—like early stage companies—dollars saved using AI-tools can quickly be consumed by the cost to use them well!
Creating Content that Connects…and How AI Mucks with That
Attention spans are short. With less than 3 seconds to snag someone’s attention, anything less than authentic connection will likely not create a lasting impression.
That’s why using emotionally driven content has become best practice. By tapping into the emotions of an audience, companies have a higher chance of creating compelling and resonant messages that stand the test of time and drive action. (If you are newish to the concept of ‘content that connects,’ check out Micaela Kamp’s recent post on the topic).
The TLDR version is this: AI can be a powerful accelerant to how you create and test messaging…after, and only after, you’ve done the leg work to really understand what emotionally drives your customers to action.
How a message gets delivered—and who delivers it—matters just as much. The impact of AI on our media consumption continues to raise the bar on what’s seen as “authentic.” Take for example what passes for an authentic “voice” in messaging.
Having a “company” voice feels far less authentic today than it did 5 years ago. People don’t listen to company logos, we listen to each other. Your customers are no different. The best messaging will fall flat if it’s not coming from the right person.
And founders, that person is usually you!
Personality-driven marketing isn’t just for consumer brands or large orgs anymore. It was one thing to expect Steve Jobs to have a personal brand, poignant point of view, and unique perspective on his company’s place in the market. But what does it mean when the CEO of an early stage SaaS company has to now do the same?
I see a lot of great founders struggle with the work of becoming the “voice” of their company brand. If they really weren’t right for the job, I saw them struggle with how to substitute for it. It’s a missing skill set for many of us, and developing that skill set can become a real cost within a company's market facing infrastructure.
Beware Being Too ‘On the Nose’
AI has made EQ more important than ever. Like it or leave it, a major path to authenticity is the ability to project empathy, not just expertise.
This is harder to do than you might think. You can always build a better product, but how do you accelerate or amplify a company’s ability to register empathy?
How do you also ensure emotional storytelling resonates without feeling manipulative or forced? I have heard RevUp’s Director of Platform Micaela Kamp put it this way:
“Authentic emotional storytelling is all about finding that balance between vulnerability and transparency, while still staying true to your message. The best stories don’t evoke emotion just for the sake of a reaction—they connect with the audience because they speak to shared experiences, struggles, and triumphs. This is a value-exchange between you and your audience. What are they gaining from listening? Why does this matter?”
Yeah. Super casual to get that right 😂
Getting it wrong is why people get frustrated when they fall for click bait, when we respond to a trick, not a genuine bid for connection. Our growing awareness of AI-everywhere has us all on high alert for this.
When you’re telling a story, it should feel like you're inviting your audience into a moment, not just about tugging at heartstrings. It's about being genuine and making sure that your story aligns with your purpose.
Authenticity isn’t Just About Impressing Customers
The rising demand for authenticity isn’t just about serving your customers. Your employees demand it as well.
What we experience outside of work—in this case, a growing sense that everything is an AI-generated message designed to trick us into buying something—also affects us at work.
Employees may be likely to be less tolerant of behaviors that seem opaque. For founders, the quest for authenticity translates into a demand for transparency. Leaders who lean into that are going to create environments where trust and collaboration thrive. Leaders who don’t will pay a price.
But depending on how you were trained, incorporating that kind of radical transparency into your leadership framework might not come naturally and require quite a bit of conscious effort. The same is true for projecting authenticity across your organization. (We have some deeper thoughts on how to use radical transparency in an early stage company here)
The Fix
AI made many things faster, cheaper and easier. But in doing so, the burden of authenticity increased in ways that AI cannot itself solve for.
There isn’t so much a fix as much as an urgency to plan for the time, money, and resources needed to construct authentic messaging, even if you are using AI tools as part of your production process.
For some founders, this means no more hiding behind company messages. What’s your point of view? Why should your customers trust your company if this isn’t obvious?
You may need training and support to grow into this role. And, you may experience discomfort that comes with expressing a real point of view, which if presented authentically, is likely to spark disagreement from someone.
But in the end, the work to avoid inauthenticity ‘red flags’ is well worth it. These flags, once raised, are often hard to lower.
RevUp Capital Managing Partner Melissa Withers is a bullish advocate for innovating the ways in which new companies are funded and supported. Beyond building new economic models for early stage investing, Melissa is also committed to directing more entrepreneurial funding to those underserved and overlooked by traditional VC.
More About RevUp Capital
RevUp Capital invests in B2B and B2C companies that are revenue-driven and ready to double down on growth. We deploy cash and capacity to help companies grow from $1-3M to $10-30M, quickly and efficiently, using a revenue-based model. Companies enter our portfolio with $500K-$3M in revenue, a strong growth rate, and a team that’s ready to scale. Our typical investment range is $300K-$500K.
We invest into a company's market-facing activity using a cash and capacity model. We pair our cash investment with dedicated support from the RevUp Growth Platform: a powerful resource to build a data-driven growth engine, delivered by people who get the work done. Rather than take equity, companies return investment through a small percentage of revenue over time. More at www.revupfund.com