“You want to tease them with your story — I've got a really compelling story XY I think is really cool, but then let them go wait, really? Like how did that happen? — pulling out the details from there.”

Don't pre-write the story — tease the details and let the writer pull them out

Founders sometimes send pre-written narratives about themselves inside their pitch — even full draft stories. Panzarino says this kills the writer's engagement: there's nothing left to discover. The smarter move is a compelling tease — enough to make the writer curious — then offer direct contact for the real interview. The writer needs to feel like they're unearthing something, not reformatting your copy.