How to connect with the VCs you want to raise capital from

Here is our recommended playbook to land meetings with VCs for your capital raise.

Most VCs use LinkedIn, and it is the best place to complete your research and connect with the ones you hope to raise capital from.

Our lists would be the best starting point, but the same principles apply if you use other sources to get your initial list of target VCs.

Here goes:

1. Start by identifying the right venture capital funds for your current needs:

Go through the list and identify the most relevant VC funds for your current stage and needs. Consider the following:

• Investment Thesis: Does the VC's investment thesis align with your startup's mission and goals?

• Industry Focus: Does the VC typically invest in your industry or sector?

• Stage Focus: Does the VC invest in startups at your stage?

• Portfolio Companies: Many VCs share their portfolio on their website, to take a moment to check. Does the VC have a track record of investing in successful companies? Did they invest in startups similar to yours? Also, check if they have any direct competitors of yours in their portfolio.

2. See if you have any mutual connections who can introduce you to any of the general partners of the GP:

The general partners (GP) are the ones who make investment decisions in a venture capital fund, so getting a personal introduction to one of the general partners is the best way to connect with a VC fund.  

2.1 Go to their company page on LinkedIn and look at the “people tab”.

2.2 Look at the general partners’ profiles. See if you have any mutual connections. If you are close enough to any of those mutual contacts, reach out to them, but don’t request an introduction immediately. Instead, start a conversation about the GP, asking your mutual connection about the strength of their relationship with the GP. If they confirm a close connection, you can then request an introduction, explaining why it would be beneficial.

3. Analyze and Identify Accessible GPs on LinkedIn: If you can't secure a warm introduction, the next step is to identify General Partners (GPs) who are within your reach on LinkedIn. This involves a few sub-steps:

3.1 Start by identifying GPs who are your 2nd level contacts on LinkedIn. These are individuals who are connected to people you're already connected with. Even if your mutual connections aren’t close enough to make an introduction, the mere fact that you and the GP have mutual contacts makes it easier to approach the GP on LinkedIn.

3.2 Check Their LinkedIn Activity: GPs who regularly post updates, comment on posts, or engage with others are more likely to see and respond to your message. You can gauge this by visiting their profile and looking at their activity feed.

3.3 While analyzing their profiles, make sure you don’t see indications that they don't want to be approached through LinkedIn. Some GPs may explicitly state this in their profile information.

4. Reach out to the GPs on LinkedIn: If you can’t secure an intro, reach out to the identified GPs in each VC firm directly. Here’s how:

4.1 Start with the most relevant experience to what you are doing. If the GPs are equally relevant, start your outreach with the GP who is the most active on LinkedIn within each firm, they are the most likely to respond.

4.2 Make sure your LinkedIn profile clearly reflects what you are doing, so that VCs know why you are reaching out to them as soon as they see your profile’s headline.

4.3 Send a blank connection request.

4.4 Once your connection request is accepted, send a brief message pitching your startup, explaining why you want to connect, and gauging their interest. Remember to keep your message concise and compelling.

• Personalize your message, but do it in a professional way. Start it by mentioning one of their portfolio companies, their domain expertise, or their past work experience as the reason you're approaching them specifically.

• Wait a couple days before moving to the next GP, giving each time to respond. In most venture capital firms, each investment is led by one of the GPs, so parallel conversations might harm you. Alternitavely, send blank connection requests to all relevant GPs, but only start a conversation with one of them.

5. Expand Your Outreach to Venture Partners and Principals: If you can't connect with any of the general partners, extend your strategy to include the VC’s venture partners, principals and analysts. Follow the same methodology: start with looking for an intro from any mutual connections, if that doesn’t work, go on and reach out to your 2nd-level contacts on LinkedIn and are active LinkedIn users.

6. If all else fails: If you haven't found a way to connect with anyone in the VC fund in person, as a last resort, send an email to their company contact email (provided in our lists for most VCs, if not, go to their website and complete the contact form).