The investor hears it and at first they don’t believe you. “Nah,” they say, as they start to argue with you whether that’s the way the world really works. Then, after a beat or two, they go, “wait, you’re right.” And after another moment, they think “fuck, that’s the only way it can be.”
“That’s interesting” does not in any way, shape or form mean the person is excited about your company or wants to buy your product. All it means is they don’t want to be a dick. “That’s interesting” is what people say when they’re trying to be polite.
Think about the last time you tried to get into an exercise routine. Or consistently wake up earlier. Or quit smoking. None of those things are complicated, but all of them are hard to accomplish. We don’t fail at them because they’re complicated, we fail at them because we don’t prioritize them and think about them (let alone do them) on a daily basis.
Rapidly implementing investor feedback immediately builds an emotional tie between the investor and your company. Maybe they didn’t invest capital, but they invested an idea, and now their idea is a part of your idea.
This step is straight-up not about whether to communicate. It is about what to communicate. Stress is uncertainty about and the inability to affect the future, so telling stakeholders how bad the future might be without giving them something to do won’t make them feel any better.
“Do you think investors are stupid?”
You would not believe how many times I have posed this question to my clients. And every time they talk about approaching investors with “quick wins” and meaningless metrics, I am forced to ask them again.