Guides · Track record and credibility
How to Build a Track Record When You Have None
Almost every capital raiser starts with no track record. Investors know this. They still want a reason to believe you, and you can give them one before you have a long history.
I see people try to skip the early stage. It does not work. At Family Office Club we build in steps, and the steps below come from what I and the investors on our panels have said on camera.
- 1Start with smaller deals
- 2Lead with your team
- 3Borrow credibility from elsewhere
- 4Prove your idea cheaply
- 5Tell your story back in time
- 6Let early wins lower your cost
The steps
Step 1. Start with smaller deals
I call this the momentum game. You start with smaller investors and smaller deals. Then you gain better stories, better deals and more traction. Small deals often close faster. A deal of 5 or 10 million dollars might need only one or two anchor investors, and then things start to go faster. Each close gives you something real to point to. You get more articulate, your materials improve and referrals start to come in. Do not wait for the perfect large deal to begin. Pick a deal size where one or two investors can say yes, and close it.
Step 2. Lead with your team
When a panel of investors was asked what a green founder should do, the first answer was the team. If you cannot point to your own history, point to the people around you. Show who they are and what they have done. One panelist said some of the best stories came from people who had an exit before in the same space and were getting the team back together. That feels lower risk to an investor. You may not have an exit yet, but you can still show the strength of the people you have gathered and why they fit this work.
Step 3. Borrow credibility from elsewhere
A skill from another field can stand in for a deal history. One panelist raised money for syndications from physicians. The physicians did not know much about real estate, so they were investing in the person. This panelist was green in real estate but had been an attorney. That background showed someone who figures things out and can pivot when needed. Look at your own past. Think about what you did in other jobs or industries that shows judgment, discipline or results. Then say it plainly in your pitch, and explain why it applies to this deal.
Step 4. Prove your idea cheaply
You do not need a lot of money to test your idea. The panel pointed out that there are low dollar, creative ways to show product market fit. People today are building large companies with one, two or five people. I said something similar in our live forum. Vibe coding and AI let a small team scale with less cost and less headcount than before. So run a small test before you ask for a big check. Then bring what you learned to investors as evidence, not as a promise.
Step 5. Tell your story back in time
One panelist described how they judge whether someone is an allstar or just sells well. They draw a line on a piece of paper. They ask the person to go back as far as they like and walk through their record of success. They also ask how emotional intelligence and grit played a role in each one. Some people go back to high school. That is fine. You can do this exercise on your own. List every win, small or large, and what you did to get it. Then pick the ones that match the deal you are raising for.
Step 6. Let early wins lower your cost
A track record pays off in real terms. A car wash founder described spending two years on greenfield sites and then doing a few acquisitions in 2022. They grew from zero to 12 in a year. That gave them more of a track record to take to debt institutions. Their cost of capital on the debt side almost got cut in half, and that is when they knew they could take off. Your first closes and first operating results can do the same for you, so record them carefully as you go.
Step 7. Put the proof in your materials
Once you have any proof, show it. Think about what an investor may assume about your industry, whether that is multifamily value add or stem cell clinics. Then arrange your position so it answers that assumption and shows you are the credible option, with your track record and traction. In my experience, many people overlook this when raising capital. They have a long pitch deck, no one-pager and no one-minute video. Fix that first. Also consider a LinkedIn newsletter. We have 67,000 people subscribed to ours, and it builds a natural audience over time.
From my talks
"A lot of people can be successful once or twice. But the person that you want to bet on has that consistent and compelling track record of success."
"Start with smaller investors. Start with smaller deals. Then gain better stories, better deals, more traction."
What I have said on this at our events
One more point on starting small. Raising capital early can teach you things that a long track record alone does not, because if you wait until you have a big history before you ask anyone for money, you have not learned what works yet. When you start small you build your processes, your investment contracts and your momentum. Then you can tell the next investor this is your deal number four, not your first. The more sophisticated the investor, the more together your act needs to be.
"By starting small, you build your processes, your investment contracts, your momentum, your track record. You can say, "This is our deal number four now," when you get to the 30 million, versus "This is our first deal." So the more sophisticated the investor you go to, the more you better have your act together, or they're just not going to respond or take that second meeting."
"Some people think, especially in the fund management industry, and the hedge fund space needs to hear this all the time, is if you build the track record, the investors will come. That's not true either, because if you don't try raising capital until you have a long track record, you're not going to have learned anything yet."
What trips people up
- Waiting for a large deal to prove yourself when a small deal with one or two investors would close sooner.
- Hiding a thin history instead of showing the team and the skills you bring from other fields.
- Asking for a big check before you have run a cheap test of your idea.
- Sending a long pitch deck with no one-pager and no one-minute video.
- Telling a vague story of past success instead of walking through each win and what you did to get it.
From the source
- A deal of 5 or 10 million dollars might be done with just one or two anchor investors.
- One car wash platform grew from zero to 12 in a year, and its debt cost of capital almost got cut in half.
- Our decamillionaire accelerator newsletter on LinkedIn has 67,000 subscribers.
Sources
From Richard C. Wilson's Centimillionaire Strategies YouTube channel: Family Office Live Forum: Capital Raising, AI Tools & Investor Feedback (with Richard C. Wilson), $0 to $500M Raised in 4 Years: Building the Fastest Growing Car Wash Platform in the U.S., The Best Pitches These Investors Ever Saw - And What Every Green Founder Should Know, The #1 Thing Investors Look for Before Writing a Check | Family Office Club Panel. 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 offering documents, describing past results and investor eligibility rules. Do not use AI to write your own legal agreements.
Questions about this guide
What if I have no deals at all?
Start with the team you have and the skills you bring from other work. Run a low cost test of your idea. Then aim for a small deal with one or two investors so you have a first close to show.
Do investors really back people with little history?
Yes, when the person gives them a reason. Panelists said they look at the team, at credibility carried over from another field and at how clearly the person can say what they offer.
Do early raisers talk to securities counsel?
Many sponsors talk to a securities attorney early on about how to raise money and how to describe past results to investors. This is general information and not legal advice.
Related questions
- What track record can I claim as a deal team member?Many sponsors describe the part of a deal they personally did, in the role they actually held.
- How do I present track record from a previous firm?Show what you personally did at the previous firm, with your exact role and results you can document.
- How do I build credibility as a first-time sponsor?Build credibility by closing smaller deals first and being honest that you are new.
- How do I calculate IRR for my track record?Line up every dated cash flow for each deal.
Use the data room checklist alongside this guide.