You are the proud owner of a detailed startup investors list. And it's even focused on your industry and stage? Fancy!

So, what's the plan now? Are you calling everybody on that list?

Oh, you are? So you have a way of tracking all those calls, don't you?

Oh, you don't…

Ok…?

Investors' lists might be fancy, but they are useless without a game plan to make moves, manage your investor interaction, and increase investor conversion rates.

Don't get us wrong, we love investors' lists too. We even developed a whole feature inside Lazo One's platform to create and nurture your own list of investors directly from the Crunchbase dataset.

Smartlist, we call them. As in AI-powered smart.

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However, even with the best AI-powered investors list, you still must implement a structured approach to achieve your fundraising objectives. That is if you're serious about raising that money.

So let's get ourselves organized:

1. First, make sure you have found the right investors for your startup.
2. Then, organize your information to effectively manage your interactions.

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Find the Best Investors for your Startup

Your investor list is just the beginning. To maximize your chances of success, it's crucial to expand your target set.

Many founders make the mistake of stopping at a handful of VCs, forgetting that there are +7,000 venture capital firms worldwide, as well as numerous syndicates, super angels, and other investing groups.

By continuously researching and adding new investors to your list, you'll increase your chances of finding the right match.

If you are a Lazo One user, you can directly ask the AI to recommend VCs in your specific industry and stage. Lazo AI will search through the Crunchbase dataset integrated into Lazo One, and provide you with suggestions.

You can nurture your own Smartlists with those that best fit your fundraising objectives and keep everything in the same place.

After researching and creating a list of potential investors, it's time to organize your information. This will help you track your progress and contact the most relevant investors.

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Fundraising Data Tracking: Organize your Investors' Information

Fundraising involves talking to as many investors as you humanly can. Trust us, remembering all of these interactions is going to be challenging.

To excel in fundraising, you require organization. 

In Raise Millions, Hustle Fund suggests the following key points to track your fundraising and manage your investors' relationships.

1. Basic contact info

First, add the names and email addresses of investors you already know. Then, add the names and email addresses of prospective investors you'd like to build stronger relationships with.

2. Type of investor

Label the type of investor they are (angel investor, venture fund, etc) so you can tailor your message accordingly.

3. Referrer

Write down the name of the person who introduced you to the investor listed in your CRM. This way, you can see where your leads are coming from.

4. Stage

This is not your fundraising stage, but the stage investors are at in terms of considering an investment in your company. Hustle Fund suggests the following stages:

• Lead: When someone offers to refer somebody new to you but you haven't made contact yet.
• First Contact: This is the first time you've officially engaged. The lead may have reciprocated back asking to meet.
• First Pitch: This is the first meeting you have with them to pitch your company. No need for a deck at this point.
• Due Diligence: This comes after the pitch when they're considering investing.
• Soft Commit: This is when they are interested in investing and have given you a number. This is purely a verbal commitment, nothing official.
• Signed: Now this is official. You have received a full commitment from this investor. Woho!
• Rejected and Ghosted: If someone rejects your pitch, mark them as "rejected." If someone isn't returning your messages, you should ping them at least 10 times before marking them as "ghosted."

5. Committed

If the investor has given you a verbal commitment with the amount they want to invest, include this number in the "Committed" column. (e.g. $300,000.)

6. Notes

Add a "Notes" column to summarize what you talked about during your calls or emails. Add as many notes as you can along with the dates of each interaction.

7. Closed

Add a "Closed" column that shows how much money you've actually closed.

8. Next Contact

Use this column as a reminder to reach out to this person again. If you're still in the due diligence or soft-commit phases, set a clear date here.

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Build a Fundraising CRM

Building a strong fundraising CRM system is the key to navigating a successful fundraising journey.

Using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) enables you to effectively manage your interactions with investors, track your fundraising progress, and stay organized. And while a CRM can be as simple as a Google Sheet, companies like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive have built them.

And well, so have we!

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Track your investor relationship with Lazo One

With Lazo One's Smartlists you can create your own lists of investors simply by asking the AI for suggestions. It will review the Crunchbase dataset integrated into the platform and recommend investors that match your company profile. You can then add the ones that interest you the most to one of your Smartlists.

Within that list, go to the CRM feature. You will find all the points suggested above to keep track of your fundraising process. Ready to use.

You can try all this at Lazo One for free. Just create your account and add your details for a more personalized experience.

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