How do I manage investor expectations when the numbers I promised in the pitch deck are not happening?

Reset the story before the gap becomes a credibility crisis. The damage is not missing a projection, every founder does, it is letting investors keep believing a stale plan. In your next update, name the miss plainly, explain what you learned, and give a revised plan with a lowered but credible target you can actually beat. Under-promise and then hit it: a founder who resets to a number they clear looks far stronger than one chasing an aspirational deck. Never quietly stop mentioning a metric you are missing, sharp investors notice the silence and trust you less. Own the reset, show the new thesis, and rebuild the track record one honest update at a time.