Guides · Raising capital from family offices
How to Approach a Family Office
Family offices get hundreds of emails a day. Most of those emails look the same, so most of them get ignored. I see this every week at Family Office Club, where people approach me non-stop with the same standard pitch.
The good news is that a little preparation puts you ahead of most of them. Here is how I would approach a family office, based on what I have seen across years of investor talks and events. Many sponsors talk to a securities attorney before they speak with investors about an offering.
- 1Decide who deserves your energy
- 2Do not judge by appearances
- 3Say something unique in person
- 4Lead with what they need
- 5Tailor your message to the person
- 6Position yourself to be found
How it works, in order
Step 1. Decide who deserves your energy
Do not follow up with everyone in a blanket way. Whether it is a cold lead or someone you met at an event, a generic approach works worse. Spend the time to figure out which family offices fit what you do, then put your effort there. A short, well-researched list beats a long list of names. It helps to know their size, what they have invested in before and who else is around them. Getting more actual business done starts with picking the right people to approach.
Step 2. Do not judge by appearances
The wealthiest people in this space are often the quietest. They may not speak on stage or introduce themselves around the room. They might say they are in the car wash business, and it turns out they own 75 car washes. On the other side, a Ferrari and a Rolex can just mean someone took on debt to buy them. You cannot always tell by looking at someone or by hearing a job title. So treat everyone at an event with respect and ask good questions.
Step 3. Say something unique in person
If you are in the room with the person, introduce yourself and say something unique. That is the simplest way to get attention, because most people in the room will say the same thing. Events are where this works best. At Family Office Club, our investor summits let you meet investors and get to know them over time. At these summits you can hear from around 30 investors in a single day. You learn what structures and fees they like, and that makes your next conversation better.
Step 4. Lead with what they need
Cold outreach rarely gets a reply when it is your standard pitch. A reply is more likely when your message is clearly relevant to something they need. Maybe they were looking for a new banker or a credit wholesale line. If you followed up with what they needed, you helped them first with their request. Only then do you talk about your deal. Listen for what the person is asking for, and make your first message about that.
Step 5. Tailor your message to the person
Different investors want different things. A doctor may want scientific notes and research behind every claim, with the level of detail they would expect before investing. A law firm partner or someone with a big exit or a family office will care about different things, and their time needs to be respected. If you want to be effective, you need to dial things in. Otherwise you are doing things in an average way that is not optimized. Study the person before you write.
Step 6. Position yourself to be found
One strong approach is to have them come to you. I try to get what I call grizzly bear positioning, where family offices are calling us. We have written the books on family offices, including How to Start a Family Office, and we run a family office podcast. When people search, they find us. You can do a version of this in your own niche. Publish, speak and share what you know so that the right people can find you.
Step 7. Show a long-term approach
Many investors look for a long-term approach. One member of our club has raised over a billion dollars in AUM in the past two years with very lean fees. Their investors even offered to pay more, because it is about the value and not the fee. They chose to keep their fees low so they could keep raising $200 million a year. You can show the same mindset. Be fair on fees, put your own capital in and look to build a relationship that lasts.
From my talks
"So, some of the wealthiest folks in the family office space are some of the quietest."
"But just to know, you can't always tell by looking at somebody or by hearing their job description or job title."
What I wrote about this
One more thing to watch when you research a family office is the size of the team. Some family offices only have 2 to 4 professionals at the family office level, while the family has 2000 employees across its operating businesses. So someone may tell you they run a two person family office, and that does not mean they are not worth a lot. Also, many families use a holding company name or a family office name in public instead of the family name, so search for that name too before you decide who to approach.
"Family office teams are often pretty small. It's just important to note that some family offices will only have 2 to 4 professionals at the family office level, while the family might have 2,000 employees within their operating businesses. So they might say, "Oh, I've got a two-person family office," but that doesn't mean they're not worth a lot."
"In my experience, the strategy that works best for being very public as a family office is to create a family holding company name or family office name and to use that publicly instead of the family name. For example, your holding company may be called Richard Holding Company, but if you want to stay more private, you could refer to it as Key Biscayne Family Office instead."
Where people go wrong
- Sending the same standard pitch to every family office on a list.
- Judging a person's wealth by their watch, car or job title.
- Pitching your deal before you find out what they are looking for.
- Writing one message for every type of investor instead of tailoring it.
- Treating the first contact as a one-time ask instead of the start of a long-term relationship.
On the record
- Family Office Club has 16 million registered members in its LinkedIn groups, so I get approached hundreds of times a day.
- One club member raised over a billion dollars in AUM in two years and keeps fees lean so they can keep raising $200 million a year.
- Our member portal holds 2,000 talks from investors and founders, which you can sort by topic such as AI, deal structures or due diligence.
Sources
From Richard C. Wilson's Centimillionaire Strategies YouTube channel: 10 Capital Raising Strategies From 19 Years and 1,500 Investor Talks, Capital Raising Frequently Asked Questions Webinar, Capital Raising FAQ Webinar. Quotes come from the video captions, lightly edited for readability. Figures are the speakers' own estimates and experience.
General education only. Not legal, tax or investment advice.
Talk to a securities attorney to explore options around investor communications rules, GP capital commitments and fund structure options. Do not use AI to write your own legal agreements.
Questions about this guide
How do I get a family office to reply to my email?
Make the message about something they need, such as a new banker or a credit line, instead of your standard pitch. Family offices can get hundreds of emails a day, so a relevant first message matters.
Where can I meet family offices in person?
Investor events are one way. At Family Office Club investor summits you can hear from around 30 investors in one day and meet them. Capital raising workshops are mostly attended by other people raising capital.
How much should a fund manager put into their own fund?
I have seen 10% as the usual GP contribution. I try to beat the average by doing smaller deals and putting up 15 or 20 percent. Many fund managers talk to a securities attorney about their own structure.
Related questions
- Do family offices invest in funds or only direct deals?Family offices do both.
- How do I find the decision maker at a family office?Start by meeting the family through advisors, events and the people who manage their investments.
- Do family offices co-invest alongside other investors?Yes, many family offices invest alongside other investors, and they often feel more comfortable when another respected investor is already in the deal.
- What deal sizes do family offices typically write?There is no single typical size.
Use the investor meeting follow-up checklist alongside this guide.