Vague Language, Founding Team Human Capital, and Resource Acquisition.

This article examines the role of vague language in entrepreneurial pitches and its impact on investor interest, focusing on how founders' rhetoric-oriented human capital—skills related to effective language use—moderates this relationship. Using data from the highly selective TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield competition, the study finds that, overall, vague language in pitches is associated with reduced investor interest. However, when founding teams possess rhetoric-oriented skills, the negative effect of vague language diminishes and can even become positive, suggesting that skilled founders can strategically use vagueness to better engage investors. Post hoc analyses indicate that rhetoric-oriented founders employing vague language tend to produce pitches that balance distinctiveness and familiarity and emphasize reward-focused language, potentially offsetting uncertainty. The findings highlight the importance of communication skills in entrepreneurial success and suggest that rhetoric-oriented human capital is a valuable, though often overlooked, component of founding teams in securing investor support.