Here's a painful truth: 60% of the "investors" on your target list probably won't invest in you.
Not because your company isn't good enough, but because they:
Don't invest at your stage anymore
Raised their last fund 5 years ago (no dry powder)
Only do follow-on investments now
Have a new thesis that doesn't include you
You're wasting time pitching people who can't say yes. I spoke to a founder who went to 25 startup events in a few months and not one investor wrote a check! At some point this part of the startup world has to change.
Here's how to build a list of investors who are ACTUALLY writing checks right now:
Step 1: Start with Recent Activity (10 minutes)
Use Crunchbase or PitchBook:
Filter for:
Stage: Your stage (Pre-seed, Seed, Series A)
Investment date: Last 12 months
Geography: Your region (if relevant)
Sector: Your industry
This gives you investors who are ACTIVELY deploying capital at your stage.
Why this matters: An investor who wrote 3 checks in the last 6 months is 10x more likely to invest than one who hasn't invested in 18 months.
Step 2: Check Their Fund Status (5 minutes per investor)
Look for:
✅ Recently raised a new fund (announced in last 12-24 months) ✅ Portfolio page shows investments in last 6 months ✅ Active on Twitter/LinkedIn talking about deal flow
❌ Last fund raised 4+ years ago (probably deployed or saving for reserves) ❌ No new investments in 12+ months (not actively looking) ❌ Website says "not taking new meetings" (believe them)
Where to check:
Firm's website (look for "News" or "Latest Investments")
Crunchbase fund page
Twitter/LinkedIn activity
Step 3: Validate Their Stage Focus (5 minutes)
Don't rely on what they SAY. Look at what they DO.
Go to their portfolio page. Count their last 10 investments:
How many were at your stage?
How many were in your sector?
What check sizes did they write?
Example: Firm says: "We invest from seed to Series B" Reality: Last 10 investments were all Series A/B, average check $8M
Conclusion: They've stage-drifted. Don't pitch them at seed.
Red flag: If zero of their last 10 investments match your stage/sector, remove them from your list no matter what their website says.
Step 4: Find the Right Partner (10 minutes)
Don't pitch the fund. Pitch the PARTNER who invests in your space.
How to find them:
Look at portfolio companies similar to yours
Click through to the Crunchbase investment page
See which partner led the deal
That's who you pitch
Example:
You're building vertical SaaS for dentists
Firm X invested in vertical SaaS for dentists
Partner Sarah Chen led that investment
Pitch Sarah, not the general firm email
Pro tip: Partners specialize. A partner who focuses on fintech won't champion your healthcare startup, even if it's the same stage.
Step 5: Check Their Capacity (5 minutes)
How many board seats does this partner have?
Go to their LinkedIn or firm bio. Count current board seats.
Rule of thumb:
5-7 board seats = Likely at capacity (may do smaller checks without board seat)
8+ board seats = Probably not taking new investments
3-4 board seats = Actively looking
Where to check:
LinkedIn (under "Board Member" roles)
Firm bio page
Portfolio company "Team" pages
Step 6: Find the Warm Intro Path (15 minutes)
For each qualified investor, check:
LinkedIn connections: Do you have mutual connections?
Portfolio founders: Do you know any of their portfolio company founders?
Angel investors: Do you know angels who co-invested with them?
Accelerators: Did they invest in companies from your accelerator?
Use LinkedIn's "How you're connected" feature
If you have a mutual connection, that's your intro path.
Priority ranking:
Portfolio founder intro (best)
Co-investor intro
Mutual professional connection
Cold email (last resort)
The Quick Validation Checklist
Before adding an investor to your target list, verify:
✅ Invested at your stage in last 12 months ✅ Check size matches what you're raising ✅ Sector fit (at least 20% of portfolio in your space) ✅ Active fund (raised or actively deploying in last 24 months) ✅ Right partner identified ✅ Warm intro path exists OR strong cold email angle
If any are ❌, they go to your B-list or get removed.
The Reality Check
Your A-list should be 20-30 investors MAX.
These are investors where:
Stage, sector, check size all match
Active fund deployment
Warm intro path exists
Partner identified
Your B-list can be 40-50.
These are:
Right stage/sector but no warm intro yet
Adjacent sector but strong stage fit
Recently active but need to verify capacity
Everyone else: Delete them. You don't have time.
Your Action This Week:
Pull up your investor target list
Run each investor through the 6-step validation
Remove anyone who doesn't pass at least 5/6 criteria
Build your A-list of 20-30 investors
Start working warm intro paths
Time investment: 2-3 hours Payoff: You'll stop wasting time on dead-end conversations
P.S. Tired of guessing which investors to target? Next Round connects you directly with 100+ pre-qualified seed investors who are actively looking for founders like you. Learn more.