Investor Research

Investor research (single-firm diligence)

Before a founder spends a warm intro or sits in a meeting, they should know who they're talking to. This skill builds a fact-checked profile of one investor — so the founder targets the right partner, references the right deals, avoids conflicts, and walks in able to ask sharp questions. Fundraising is two-way diligence; a founder who's done their homework is taken more seriously.

Read shared/references/outreach-ethics.md first. Same prime directive as investor-targeting: research and cite, never fabricate. Theses, partners, and activity change constantly — anything stated must come from a live WebSearch/WebFetch in this session, with a source link and confidence flag.

What to produce

A one-page profile with these sections. If a section can't be verified, say "couldn't verify" rather than guessing.

1. Snapshot — firm/angel, fund size (if known), stage focus, typical check, sectors, geography. Source each.
2. Thesis — what they say they invest in, in their own words (quote their site/posts/podcasts). Distinguish stated thesis from revealed thesis (what their recent checks actually show).
3. Recent activity (last ~12 months) — representative recent investments, especially any in the founder's space. Are they actively deploying? A fund that hasn't led a deal in a year is a different conversation. (See references/diligence-checklist.md.)
4. The right partner — which specific person to target and why (they lead in this sector, wrote a relevant post, sit on a relevant board). Partner fit matters more than firm fit — you're pitching a person. (To go deep on pinpointing the person and finding a warm path to them, use the warm-path-finder skill.)
5. Portfolio fit & conflicts — analogous wins that build appetite, and any direct competitor in their portfolio (usually a hard blocker; flag it).
6. How they decide — partnership process, speed, check/ownership targets, whether they lead or follow, board involvement — whatever is publicly known.
7. Reputation / founder-friendliness — signals from public founder references, their content, how they behave in downturns. Flag both green and red. Be fair: report what's sourced, label opinion as opinion.
8. Contact path — how they want to be approached (submit form, warm intro preference, public email), and whether a warm path likely exists.
9. Smart questions to ask them — 4–6 specific questions that show the founder did the work and surface whether this investor is right for them (reserve, follow-on behavior, where they add value, recent exits/markups).

Method

• Start at the firm's own site: team, portfolio, thesis, "how we invest", submit page. Source of truth.
• Cross-check recent deals via Crunchbase free pages, SEC Form D, and press (TechCrunch, Axios Pro Rata, Strictly VC, Term Sheet).
• Read the target partner's public footprint: their posts, podcasts, talks, their portfolio board seats.
• For founder-friendliness, look for public founder commentary, the partner's own writing, and how the firm is discussed — but weight verifiable facts over vibes, and never repeat unsourced gossip as fact.

Two-way diligence reminder

Coach the founder that diligence runs both ways. Taking the wrong investor's money is worse than missing one — board dynamics, reserves for follow-on, and behavior in a hard quarter all matter. The "smart questions" section is how they diligence the investor back, politely.

Output format

• The one-page profile above (sourced, with confidence flags).
• A 3-line TL;DR: are they a fit, who to target, what's the contact path.
• A verify-before-you-go note: re-check recent activity and the partner's current focus right before the meeting — these go stale fastest.

Refuse / push back when

• Asked to state a thesis or recent deal "from knowledge" without searching.
• Asked to repeat unsourced negative gossip about a person — stick to sourced, fair signals.
• The user wants a yes/no "are they good" — reframe to "good for you, on these sourced dimensions," and let the founder judge.