Building Your Designer Investor™ List From Scratch: A 30-Day Action Plan
One of the biggest challenges I hear from entrepreneurs is: “I don’t have any investor connections. How am I supposed to raise money?”
Here’s the truth that most people won’t tell you: a list of investor contacts is great, but they’re not required. Instead, what you need is a system. And like everything in fundraising, the entrepreneurs who treat investor outreach as a disciplined process are the ones who succeed.
After raising millions for my own startups and coaching so many entrepreneurs through their funding journeys, I’ve seen what works and what wastes time.
Now, if you’d like more hands on help, you can check out Designing the Perfect Investor™ – Our capital raising coaching online program and we also have hands-on CEO and Entrepreneur Coaching.
But, to get you started, let me walk you through exactly how to build a high-quality investor list in 30 days, even if you’re starting from zero.
Week One: Design your Perfect Investor™ (No Random Searching!)
The biggest mistake entrepreneurs make is the “spray and pray” approach. They compile hundreds of investor emails and blast the same pitch to everyone. This doesn’t just fail—it poisons the well by burning through contacts who might have been perfect fits if approached correctly.
Instead, start with precision and focus on your Designer Investors!
Define your investment profile. Start by defining three critical parameters:
Stage: Are you pre-seed? Seed? Series A? Investors typically specialize in specific stages, and approaching the wrong stage investor wastes everyone’s time.
Sector: Which investors have experience in your industry? Look for funds that have backed companies similar to yours. If you’re building AI-powered healthcare software, you want investors who understand both AI and healthcare—not generalists who’ve never touched your space.
Geography: While some investors invest nationally or globally, many prefer to invest in their own backyard. Check if investors typically invest in your region.
Find investors who’ve already proven interest in companies like yours. This is critical. Look at who funded adjacent companies or companies in parallel spaces. These investors already understand your market, your business model, and your challenges. They’ve written checks in your space before and they’ll do it again for the right opportunity. That said, be careful not to target or pitch firms that are backing your competitors!
Use the right research tools. Visit the VentureWrench Library to access several databases that can give you a strong start. Consider subscription services like Crunchbase and PitchBook. Others suggest Signal.nfx.com as a free, community built alternative. LinkedIn and Twitter (now X) are goldmines if you know how to use them strategically—look at who’s commenting on industry news and participating in conversations about your sector. And LinkedIn is crucial for “networking in”
And of course, contact us if you’d like our help with InvestorFind™ Investor matching service!
Your goal for week one: Identify 100 to 150 investors who could legitimately be interested in your company. Not just any investors—Your Designer investors™!
Week Two: Research and Qualify
Now you have names. But not all investors are created equal, and your outreach strategy needs to reflect that.
Now that you have your initial list, it’s time to do your homework. This is where most entrepreneurs rush, and it costs them dearly.
For each investor on your list you are looking to target those Designer Investors who are looking for you! To find them, research and document:
- Their current portfolio companies (Do they actually invest in companies like yours? or Do they already have something competitive in their portfolio?)
- Typical check sizes (can they write the size of check you need?)
- Lead vs. follow behavior (are they capable of leading your round, or do they typically follow other investors?)
- Recent activity (are they actively deploying capital right now?)
- Personal interests or areas of expertise that align with your company
- Any mutual connections who could provide an introduction
Assign Investors to a three-tier system:
- Designer Investor™: Perfect fit. They’re in your sector, at your stage, with check sizes that match your raise. They’ve backed adjacent companies or companies in your larger space. These are your top priority.
- Maybe investors: Good potential fit. Maybe they’re slightly outside your sector or they usually write bigger checks but occasionally do smaller deals. Worth pursuing but not your primary focus.
- Long Shot investors: Long shots. Maybe they’re bigger names, earlier stage, or outside your geography. Include a few because sometimes you get lucky, but don’t waste too much time here.
I’ve written more detailed advice on categorizing investors:
Understanding How Venture Capitalists Make Decisions
Vetting a Potential Investor on Your Way to the Perfect Investor!
This is tedious work. Do it anyway. The entrepreneurs who skip this step are the ones who waste months chasing investors who were never going to say yes.
Your goal for Week 2: Have a fully segmented, annotated spreadsheet with 100-150 investors with clear paths to reaching each investor, even if those paths start cold.
Week Three: Prep Your Materials (Because Execution Matters)
You’ve done the research. Now make sure you’re ready when opportunity knocks—or when you knock on opportunity’s door.
You need these core materials:
A forwardable email pitch: This is a short, compelling 3-4 sentence description of your company that someone can easily forward to an investor. Make it clear who you are, what problem you solve, and why it matters—without any marketing fluff.- Your elevator pitch – a one-liner plus traction: Distil your entire business into one sentence, what you do and why it matters, followed by your most compelling traction metric. Something like: “We’re building AI-powered supply chain software for mid-market manufacturers. We’ve grown to $50K MRR in six months with zero paid marketing.”
- A lightweight deck or 1 page executive summary: Many investors prefer a quick doc review before committing to a meeting. Your deck should tell your story clearly in 10-15 slides. We also suggest a 1 page “executive summary”—it’s easy to update and shows you’re thinking about efficiency. Make sure these are easy to read and include relevant graphics.
- Bonus points: A 30-second video pitch. A 30-second Loom video or video personalized introduction can make your outreach feel more human and help you stand out.
Here’s what matters: these materials need to be ready before you start reaching out. Nothing kills momentum faster than an investor saying “send me your deck” and you scrambling to finish it three days later.
Your goal for Week 3: Have all your materials polished, reviewed by trusted advisors, and ready to send. Test them on a few friendly connections to see if your message lands clearly.
Week Four: Strategic Outreach and Follow-Through
This is where most entrepreneurs either succeed or fail. Not because their company isn’t good enough, but because they don’t treat outreach like the sales process it actually is.
Investors believe that your ability to network in to them reflects your chances of success!
Network in to each potential investor and get introduced!
How do you network in – start with your contacts, and ask for introductions!
Key elements: Send, track, and follow up
Your execution strategy to get the introductions you need:
- Send requests for introduction in batches of 3-5 emails per day to your nearest contacts, asking for introductions (don’t blast 100 at once)
- Personalize at least one-two sentences per email—reference your connection and explain your interest in the introduction by referring to a recent investment that your Designer investor made, an article they wrote, or a podcast they appeared on
- Keep your email concise—no more than 5-6 sentences
- Lead with the most compelling fact about your business and why your Designer Investor might be interested
- Have a clear call to action (ask for the introduction. When you are introduced to your Designer Investor, your goal would be sending your 1-pager or getting a 15-minute introductory call)
Once you get those introductions, use the same elements to get those Designer Investors to want to know more about your deal!
Make sure they know they are looking for you! Reference a recent investment they made, comment on something they wrote on Twitter, or mention a portfolio company that’s adjacent to yours. Show that you actually know who they are and why you’re reaching out specifically to them.
Be Concise and Compelling: Be Brief unless they’ve asked for more —no more than 5-6 sentence
Track everything religiously. Build a simple CRM in your spreadsheet or use a tool. Log every touchpoint: when you emailed, when they responded (or didn’t), when you followed up, what they said. This data becomes invaluable as your raise progresses.
Follow up appropriately. If you don’t hear back after 5-7 days, send one follow-up. Maybe two if you have a good reason (new traction, press mention, mutual connection). But respect the silence. Some investors just aren’t interested, and that’s okay. Move on.
Your goal for week four: Get Introduced to at least 5-10 of your Designer Investors and work to land your first 5 to 10 intro calls and start building momentum. Not every conversation will lead to investment, but each one teaches you something and potentially opens new doors.
Beyond the 30 Days: Treating Fundraising Like Sales
Here’s what I want you to remember: You’re not just raising money—you’re building relationships. The investor you talk to today for your seed round might be perfect for your next round two years from now.
Treat your investor pipeline exactly like a sales pipeline:
- Qualify: Not every investor will be a fit. That’s okay. Focus your energy on the ones who are genuinely interested and aligned – your Designer Investor!
- Nurture: Even investors who pass right now should be kept in the loop with quarterly updates. Today’s “no” can become tomorrow’s “yes.”
- Ask: Ask each person you talk with for suggestions for 2 other potential investors! Not easy, but it works!
- Convert: When you find investors who are interested, move quickly to follow-up conversations, due diligence, and closing.
The entrepreneurs who succeed at fundraising aren’t necessarily the ones with the best networks (though that helps). They’re the ones who build systems, execute consistently, and refuse to treat investor outreach like magic. It’s not magic. It’s process.
Don’t get discouraged by rejections. Most entrepreneurs hear “no” far more often than “yes” when fundraising. What separates successful fundraisers from unsuccessful ones isn’t that they get fewer rejections—it’s that they keep going, refine their approach, and eventually find the right investors.
Final Thoughts
Thirty days isn’t that long. You can build a comprehensive, strategically segmented investor list with clear outreach paths in less than a month of focused work. Most founders spend more time than that optimizing their pitch deck fonts or arguing about equity splits.
But here’s the catch: you have to actually do the work. All of it. The research, the segmentation, the personalization, the follow-through. The entrepreneurs who shortcut this process are the ones who struggle for six months and blame “the market” or “not having connections.”
You don’t need connections. You need discipline, persistence, and a repeatable system.
Now go build that list and start those conversations. Your first investor meeting is just 30 days away.
Want even more concrete and actionable fundraising advice? Check out our free VentureWrench Guide to Investor Capital, or explore our Designing the Perfect Investor™ course to learn the insider strategies that actually work. Because raising capital is hard enough—you shouldn’t have to figure it out through trial and error alone.
Nicole Toomey Davis is the CEO and co-founder of Enclavix and the VentureWrench Startup Community. She’s a serial entrepreneur who has raised millions in angel and VC funding, secured over $1.2M in SBIR grants, and sold a company to a public firm. She now spends her time helping entrepreneurs avoid the costly mistakes she’s seen (and made) along the way
Need Help With Your Raise?
If you’re looking to raise capital, I strongly encourage you to get help! Don’t go it alone!
We have lots of NO COST content on our blog, as well as our modestly priced resources on Capital Raising Coaching and Potential Investor Identification.
Resources that can help:
- Designing the Perfect Investor™ – Our capital raising coaching online program
- InvestorFind™ Investor Identification Support – Let us help you identify the right investors
- VentureWrench Guide to Investor Capital – FREE 50-page guide with insider insights
In addition, if you are interested in Individual Coaching, see our offerings on CEO and Entrepreneur Coaching. If you’d like more details, email venturewrenchcommunity [at] gmail.com.
For more resources to help you on your capital journey, visit our Capital Raising Resources page!
Questions? Email us at venturewrenchcommunity [at] gmail.com.
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