Investor personas Different investors are motivated by differ | 🦄 Unicorn Mafia Startup

Investor personas

Different investors are motivated by different things, invest at different stages, and can be the right choice for different startups. One of the most important steps in fundraising process is to figure out what investor personas will be the best fit for your company.

*Top-tier investor** — is well know, invested in famous companies, has strong inbound dealflow from their personal network. Sees 1000-5000 companies per year, invests primarily in (1) super strong traction, (2) repeat founders with great past success, (3) people they have strong personal connection with like former colleagues.

New angel — looking to build a reputation and learn about investing. Looks for companies where they can provide hands-on help based on their previous skills and work experience. Hard to find on places like Angel.co. Ask other founders — what fresh new angels they've seen.

New pre-seed or seed fund — looking to add first few "logos" to their portfolio and impress potential LP to add new capital to their fund. Look for something that looks "trendy" or "awesome". Understand that they need to come early or accept companies with less traction to win the deal against top-tier investors. Look for "new fund" announcements on publications like TechCrunch and Venture Beat.

Casual investor — investor who looks to learn more than to make money. Has a day job like a CEO of late stage startup. Has some personal areas of interests and free capital to play with. Interested in investing in smart people exploring their market of interest. Look for active operators who casually invest. Some of them invest out of "scout funds" associated with top venture firms.

Non-venture investor — someone who traditionally been active in other forms of investments like real estate, private equity. In many cases, a family office of a wealthy person. Looking for venture deals aligned with their primary area of business.

There are many more personas, but these will give you an idea. The mistake many startups are making is only building their list around "top-tier investor" persona. For most startups it's not the most likely type of investor to invest!

By Yury Lifshits @lifshits