Why this matters
Fundraising is a sales pipeline, and meetings with wrong-fit investors burn the scarcest resource a raise has: time and momentum. A list of 30–50 investors who actually write checks at your stage, in your sector, turns weeks of flailing into a process.
What "done" looks like
- A spreadsheet of 30–50 investors active at your stage, sector, and check size
- Each row: firm, partner, thesis fit, recent relevant investments, intro path
- Tiers assigned: A (dream fit), B (solid), C (practice)
- Competitor-portfolio conflicts flagged before any outreach
How to do it
- Define the filter: stage, sector, check size, geography.
- Source names from Crunchbase or PitchBook, OpenVC, and the investor lists of recently funded companies like yours.
- Verify they're active — a check at your stage within the last 12 months. Many "seed" firms have drifted later.
- Flag conflicts: anyone invested in a direct competitor gets a warning label, not a deck.
- Tier the list and plan to pitch B and C names first — your pitch improves fast.
- Map an intro path for each A and B, feeding the next step: warm introductions.
Common mistakes
- Emailing the five most famous firms and calling that a raise
- Ignoring check size — a large growth fund can't usefully write your $300K check
- Trusting firm websites over recent behavior; strategies drift, deal logs don't lie
Real-world examples
- OpenVC is a free, filterable directory where investors state their own criteria; Crunchbase and PitchBook are the standard databases for tracing who funded companies like yours.
- Mainstream fundraising guides, including YC's, assume dozens of qualified targets run as a pipeline, because first-meeting-to-check conversion is low for everyone.
From a founder's point of view
A target list is self-respect in spreadsheet form. Fifty right-stage strangers beat five famous names, because fame doesn't wire seed checks — thesis fit does. Ten minutes of research per investor saves both sides a wasted month.
Rule of thumb
No check at your stage in the past twelve months means they're not on your list — they're on your someday list.