Investor Target List Template

Write down four facts before you collect a single name: how much you're raising, your stage, your sector and where you can realistically meet investors. Those facts are your filters. A fund whose recent deals all run to $15 million or more is unlikely to lead a $2 million seed, however well its thesis fits.

Then plan for the first yes. Paul Graham, who cofounded Y Combinator, writes that getting the first substantial offer can be half the total difficulty of fundraising¹. The reason, he says, is that most investors take their cue from other investors. Mark which funds lead rounds and which only follow, and put the leads at the top.

Collect widely at first. Good places to find names:

• Funds that backed companies one step ahead of yours
• Your current investors, and the funds they invest alongside
• Founders who raised in the past year, and who backed them
• Database exports and lists other founders share

Note where each name came from and why it belongs, and remove duplicates. Geoff Ralston's seed fundraising guide for Y Combinator tells founders to research what investors like to invest in and try to figure out why². Your note is where that answer lives. Treat a bought list as a starting point, not evidence, until each row has a date.

A fund's website says which stages it invests at, but the claim carries no date. Filings do. In the US, a company raising money under Regulation D must file a Form D notice within 15 calendar days of its first sale³. The SEC's investor site says the form shows the size of the offering and the date of first sale⁴.

Start from a fund's portfolio page, look up its recent companies on the SEC's EDGAR database, and note each round's date and amount. Form D counts the investors without naming them, so confirm the fund took part from the round's announcement. Since not every round needs a Form D, a missing filing means unverified, not no.

Most venture deals reach investors through people they know. Paul Gompers of Harvard Business School and three co-authors surveyed 885 venture capitalists for a 2016 study. They found that only 10% of deals came in directly from company management⁵. Over 30% came through the investors' professional networks, and 28% were referred by other investors or portfolio companies.

Who makes the introduction matters, too. Graham ranks an introduction from a well-known investor who has just invested in you¹ as the best kind. Next best is one from a founder the investor has backed.

Sort your network by connector, not by fund: one conversation with the right person can cover several funds. For each person, list the qualified funds they reach and whether they have made introductions before. Ask people with that habit first, then those who reach the most funds. How well they know the partner comes third.

1. 1

   Send one message per connector

   List every fund they reach, in order, and say any subset is fine.

2. 2

   Include a paragraph they can forward

   Your company, strongest number, round and why this fund, ready to send unchanged.

3. 3

   Make it easy to say no

   Offer to write to the fund yourself and mention them instead.

4. 4

   Use one route per fund

   If two people reach the same partner, ask only one of them.

5. 5

   Close the loop

   Tell the connector how it went, either way, so the next ask is easier.

Cover the fund's name and reread your first two sentences. If they could go to any fund on your list, you have described your company, and your seed pitch deck already does that. The strongest openings name a dated deal of theirs in a neighboring problem, a portfolio company that buys from you, or a view the partner published.

Every message carries four things: what you sell and to whom, your strongest number, what you're raising and how much is committed, and one specific ask. Keep a cold email under 150 words. If you find no angle, say so and lead with the number. Never invent a connection, because the partner is the one reader sure to notice.

Talk to investors in parallel. Graham's rule is breadth-first search, weighted by expected value¹. Approach everyone at once, but give more time to the investors most likely to say yes and most valuable if they do. He also warns that some investors never say no; they just stop replying.

Give every open row a dated next action and an owner, and treat a row with neither as closed. Watch the days since the last movement more than the stage. Five rows stuck at "intro requested" for three weeks are a weaker pipeline than two first meetings.

When funds start asking for documents, the startup data room checklist shows what to prepare, and the term sheet explainer walks through an offer clause by clause. The template on this page has the register, introductions map and tracker, filled in with a made-up example. River can also check your own list against recent filings.