General tips:
The goal is to create FOMO!
The quicker investment requests come in, the easier it is to fill it & close quickly. The #1 success factor we see is the 3-by-day 1 rule: if the deal gets at least 3 requests on the first day of launching.
Your investors can only be, at most, as excited about the deal as you are, so you need to turn up your passion & excitement for the company.
Stroking the egos of investors can go a long way, don’t be afraid to tell them how much the founder would love to have them involved.
TIME KILLS ALL DEALS. In our experience, the longer a deal is live without being filled, the longer time investors have to get to a 'no'. We recommend having a deal live for 2 weeks.
Investors need clear instructions, make sure you tell them specifically how to invest at every opportunity
Before the deal launches
📩 Send an ‘Upcoming Deal’ email to your investors to let them know a deal is coming and they should get excited! Keep this one simple, it’s just a teaser. Including just a short description of the business and link to their website is sufficient.
When: We suggest sending this out around 2-4 days before you launch the deal.
Set up a date & time with the founder(s) to run the ‘Meet the Founder Q&A’ session.
When: We suggest scheduling this for 2-5 days after the deal launches (so that investors have time to review the deal note, but not so long that they forget about it).
Start talking about the upcoming deal with any investors in your network (at events, meetings, on zoom calls, etc.)
When the Deal goes LIVE
🚨 First, be sure you understand the rules of how to communicate about deals to your investors!
📩 Send the ‘New Deal Invitation’ post/email to your LPs. It’s important it comes from you personally, and includes some key details from the deal note, and has clear instructions to view the deal note and how to invest CTA (ex. Click the blue Invest button)
🗓️ Send out invitations to the ‘Meet the Founder Q&A’ session. Make sure you include the link to the Deal Note in the invitation & calendar event (as long as it is only accessible to LPs, not public).
Before the Q&A Session
Send out a reminder to join the ‘Meet the Founder Q&A’ session.
Send out an executive summary of the deal note for those for haven't had a chance to review the full deal note yet (if you do this, just include the reminder to join the Q&A session here as well rather than 2 separate emails).
Send a personal message on linkedin, whatsapp, or text with a reminder to join to your biggest cheque investors (ex. “hey just wanted to make sure you didn’t miss this one, it’s super exciting, and likely to move fast”)
The Founder Q&A Session
Feel free to create this event yourself on whatever channel works best for you. For example you may chose to simply create a google calendar event and invite investors to that directly (but don't forget to hide attendees if you do this). We typically use Luma, as it allows you to add contacts directly to get invitations.
(see How to run a good Founder Q&A Session)
The best format is:
[2 mins] Intro from you (the lead): why are you investing? what do you love? set the stage!
[5 mins max] Quick intro from the founder: tell them to avoid slides, be more personable, and tell a story instead
[5-10 mins] Pre-set questions from you: come up with a few 3-5 key questions with the founder ahead of time to get the Q&A flowing
[30-40 mins] Investor open Q&A (live): add your own commentary to the founders answers when it makes sense to show the excitement of the opportunity
During your intro: make sure you mention how to access the Deal Note and how to invest
During the session: post the link to the Deal Note in the session chat
As you wrap up the session:
mention how to access the Deal Note and how to invest again, and
if some investments have already come in mention that investments have already started filling up and that it is first come first serve so it’ll be cut off when the allocation is reached or by the deadline.
After the session is done, within 24 hours:
📩 Send out an email to all your LPs including the link to the recording, the Deal Note link, and make sure you include a specific call-to-action (ie. submit your investment here) with instructions on how to invest.
Also feel free to mention a deadline and/or you may also want to mention how much of the allocation is already filled (if it’s 50%+).
Closing it out
Reach out to the investors who attended the session to let them know that the founder really appreciated their question(s) in the session and would love to have them specifically as an investor.
📩 Make sure you send out a reminder email 2-3 days after the Q&A session, keep it simple but include; the recording, deal note link, and specific call-to-action (ie. submit your investment here) with instructions on how to invest.
Keep all of your LPs updated as the allocation fills up, usually at 50%+, 80%+, and 90%+, especially if this is happening well before the deadline. You can just do this via reminder email(s) as well.
Try sending out an exciting update from the company about 3-5 days after the founder Q&A session.
If you set the min investment amount above $5k, try reaching out personally to everyone who said their cheque size is smaller, and offering them the chance you get in with a smaller cheque (min $2,500).
Send a personal note to your regular investors and biggest cheques checking in on if they've had a chance to review the deal note because it's moving quickly and you'd really love to have them onboard.
If the deal open/view rate is low: Check in with everyone who hasn’t opened the deal note so far, ask if they’ve had a chance to review as it’s moving fast
Check in with everyone who has opened the deal note so far, as for their feedback and if they are keen to get in
After you close the deal (stop accepting new investments)
📩 All LPs: When the deal is closed (whether the allocation was 100% filled or not), send out an email letting LPs know that the deal is now closed and that you can’t fit anyone else in (this may trigger a few to try to get in last minute but mostly it helps create FOMO for the next one)
Note: If the allocation is not filled when you close it, do not tell investors that it is (you cannot lie to investors). Stick to facts, you can say that the allocation is now closed and you won’t be accepting any new investment requests.
📩 LPs who opened the deal: Send out a personal note to everyone who opened the deal (but didn’t invest) to say thank you for taking the time to read it, you and the founder appreciate it and any feedback is appreciated.
📩 LPs who invested: Send out a note to everyone who has requested an investment to say thank you and you’re in, what to expect next, and how you and the founder are excited to have them as a backer!
Tips to not overwhelm people with lots of emails
Set the expectation at the start (let people know to expect a number of emails from you over the next little bit about this deal because you’re so excited)
Always remind people they can PASS on a deal to opt out of future communications about this particular deal.
Switch up the communication channels where possible (use Luma/events platform, whatsapp, linkedin, text, for some messages if possible)
Keep each message short and sweet and easy to read
Use clear concise subject lines that are different each time, and don’t sound spammy (avoid things like ‘don’t miss out!’, ‘best time to get in’, etc)
Always only have 1 clear CTA in each message (generally linking to the deal note)
Segment people so they are getting more customised messages and it feels personal
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