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Build Your Investor Persona
Read time 1.9 minutes.

As many of you know, I run the Dealflow Express newsletter, where each week, I pitch 3 startups to 2,000+ VCs (Apply here to be featured). Last week I had one of my most interesting features when a 52% of investors thought a company was a Winner and 48% thought it was a loser.

Those numbers alone are not surprising. There are many companies where investors are on the fence. What was unique was that the 52% that thought it was a Winner believed in the company with great conviction, while the 48% that thought it was a loser had no interest at all in the company. It was hugely polarizing.

These results demonstrated something I’ve observed for many years, like marketing; raising venture capital isn’t about trying to sell to everyone. Yes, having a “brand” and being “known” helps you make sales/raise money, but at the end of the day, the people who will buy/invest are those who fit your buyer/investor persona.

If you are trying to raise and you are targeting all VCs with a generic pitch, then you will FAIL. (Or at least your odds of success are much lower than they could be.

Instead, you should be building an investor person based on your stage, round size, valuation, industry, cause, geography and targetting specific investors with a pitch designed specifically for them.

Make sure when you fundraise you have put aside time to build your investor persona and that your initial targeted outreach list focuses on those most likely to back your business.

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Are you looking to grow your business? Here is how I can help:

📢 Promote your startup to 2,000+ VCs including investors from a16z, YC, Techstars, Rarebreed, Sequoia and more.

📱 Book a Strategy Call to get 1:1 feedback on your pitch, pitch deck and/or fundraising strategy. (If you need general startup advice, then reply to this email, and I’ll let you know if/how I can help.)

📺 Access FundraiseOS, the ultimate fundraising course with video lessons and practical worksheets helping with everything from deciding how much to raise to understanding a term sheet.

💸 Promote your product or service to 100,000+ entrepreneurs.

🌐 Connect with me on LinkedIn or X (formerly Twitter) to get access to new content about startups, fundraising, venture capital and more every day.

Your continued support means a tremendous amount to me. Each person subscribed to this newsletter is trying to improve themselves and their business every day. Always remember that the best goal in life is to make sure every day is better than the last. Keep putting in the work, find the right mentors/advisors, and you will see the results!

Onwards and Upwards,

Liam Gill

P.S. It would greatly help me if you could share the newsletter with more founders to help grow our community!