Don’t Approach Investors Until You Do This

Yes, today I’m gonna give you homework.

But it’s gonna be worth millions of dollars.

If you want the money, you’re not allowed to approach any more investors until you do it.

Unfortunately, most founders think I’m joking & will skip these steps, but here’s the truth:

Founders that do investor prep raise millions more than those who don’t.

Because you’re not going to get taken seriously when you:

• Mail-merge spam a list of 2,500 investors
• Skip the prep & just try to go straight for the sale
• Don’t look deeper in the “why” behind investors’ decisions

But there’s a method to getting your prep work done, so that when you show up, you show up BIG.

Here's how, step by step:

Step 1: Find your investor fit

Seek the fit, and the money will come. Seek the money, and you probably won’t raise.

Your job: find a way to fit comfortably into the firm’s thesis.

After passing their hard criteria (e.g. $1M ARR minimum!), check out their thesis & review past deals they’ve invested in, looking most closely at:

• Similar business model
• Similar end-customer markets: “we also primarily target B2B SaaS SMEs”
• Same or closely-related industry
• Similar disruption story

If it’s a total non-starter, then it’s perfectly fine to move on to the next potential investor.

But if you can clearly make a case as to how you fit into this VC’s investment mandate, you’re already ahead of the game.

Keep notes while you’re building your investor list because you’ll want to integrate this into your approach messaging.

Step 2: Figure out how to get in

Warm intros to investors will always be the best - but let’s assume you don’t have a warm way in.

First, check if there’s a structured deal intake form (it might look like a contact form).

These exist because General Partners can’t sit on 15 boards at the same time - AND handle inbound dealflow.

If there’s no intake form, identify the partner who handles your industry. You’ll get clues on this from which boards they sit on (LinkedIn + VC fund website).

Junior Partners (or VPs, or just “Investor” title) might not have final investment authority, but they are exponentially more likely to respond than a GP if you’re reaching out cold.

And if it’s a good fit, then they’ll most likely be the ones interacting with you in the deal exploration phase.

Step 3: Go deeper

There’s gonna be a few superstars on your list - your Top Tier, would-do-anything-to-work-with-them investors.

That’s where you want to actively spend a bit more time learning more about them.

Here’s a few suggestions to go deeper:

• Listen to a podcast they guest-spoke on
• Check YouTube to see if they’ve recently interviewed in any videos
• Do a filtered video search on LinkedIn to see if they posted any videos

You can also reach out to founders in your industry that are in their portfolio. To be respectful of their time, I’d just write an email saying something like:

Hey, I know you’re probably crazy busy but I’m considering approaching [VC Fund] and was wondering if you might be willing to share your experience with them? Just a 10-minute call, here’s my link. Or alternatively here’s 4 questions I’m most interested in getting your perspective on… …P.S. Here’s a few bullets on [Your Company] & where we’re at:

You’d be shocked at the things founders are able to share about their investors.

Summary

When you show up having clearly done your homework about a firm, the conversation takes on a different tone.

Personalize your approaches, and get with the people who’ll be most receptive to you.

Just get them engaged - and it’s your battle to win.

Next week we’ll talk more about writing that cold email.

See you there.