Finding and targeting the right investors
Positioning Foundation for Your Pitch Materials
Positioning Foundation for Your Pitch Materials - PODCAST - Family Offices & Family Office Club
Fund managers, sponsors and founders who are about to build a pitch deck or investor outreach and want to decide which investors to approach first.
5 key takeaways
- Intentionality comes before the materials. The speaker calls positioning the foundation for the other sections. Without a clear direction, the materials cannot be aligned, and the wrong people see the wrong information.
- Study what competitors do well. Look at direct competitors and at firms that sell other products to the same investors. Find what they do well and poorly, then adopt pieces of their approach into your own work without copying them.
- Match the investor to your size. A $4 million manager pitching pension or endowment funds is described as a poor use of time. The speaker says those investors often write large checks and many avoid being more than 10% of a manager's assets. Investor size and type should change the vocabulary and content of the materials.
- Build a specific investor avatar. The avatar is the exact type of investor who will say yes most easily. For litigation funding, the speaker points to law firm partners. They may have cash, can source cases and can add value after investing.
- Define your niche tightly. Generic descriptions like a lower middle market private equity firm or a hedge fund that does well in any market blend in. The speaker prefers a narrow focus, such as self storage only in Austin, so few competitors can say the same thing.
What you will hear
A manager with $4 million in assets should generally not pitch pension funds or endowments, according to this talk. The speaker says those institutions often write checks of 10, 20 or 50 million dollars, and many avoid being more than 10% of a manager's total assets. The speaker names a few exceptions: an alma mater, a personal connection, or an emerging manager or seed capital program. Positioning starts with knowing which investors actually fit.
The talk then explains the investor avatar, the specific type of investor most likely to say yes. Examples include law firm partners for a litigation funding fund and staffing executives for a staffing business. The speaker suggests 50, 60 or 80% of effort go to investors who already understand the niche. Materials should speak to that investor's concerns, and the firm's description should be narrow enough that few others say the same thing.
On the record
- The speaker says pension and endowment funds often write checks of 10, 20 or 50 million dollars and many avoid being more than 10% of a manager's total assets.
- In the litigation funding example, the fund might receive a share of the case winnings for backing the cost of going to court, and many sponsors talk to a securities attorney about how such arrangements are structured.
- The speaker describes law firm partners with more than 10, 20 or 30 attorneys beneath them as often earning seven figures, which can make them a fit for that avatar.
Sources
From Richard C. Wilson's Centimillionaire Strategies YouTube channel: Positioning Foundation for Your Pitch Materials - PODCAST - Family Offices & Family Office Club. 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 litigation funding structures, investor eligibility rules and offering documents. Do not use AI to write your own legal agreements.
In their words
"So an investor avatar is really identifying what exact type of investor is going to say yes to you most easily."
"If you are managing $4 million, then you shouldn't be pitching pension funds and endowment funds."
"So you want to tightly define what you're doing and position yourself, so that hopefully nobody can say the same thing you're saying."
Related questions
- How do I close a funding round?I close a funding round by focusing on investors who fit the opportunity and moving each interested prospect through clear, consistent follow-up.
- What documents do investors request during due diligence?Prepare a clear, organized package covering your operations, investments, compensation, team, and track record.
- How do I raise capital for my business?I raise capital by building a repeatable system for attracting the right investors, establishing credibility, and developing relationships before asking for money.
Questions about this video
Why shouldn't a small manager pitch pension and endowment funds?
The speaker says these investors often write checks of 10, 20 or 50 million dollars. In many cases they do not want to be more than 10% of a manager's assets. Exceptions include an alma mater, a personal connection, or an emerging manager or seed capital program.
What is an investor avatar?
It is the exact type of investor who will say yes to you most easily. The speaker says everyone should know who they are raising capital from as specifically as possible.
How much effort should go to the most likely investors?
The speaker suggests that 50, 60 or 80% of energy should go to people predisposed to invest. These are investors who understand the niche or the founder, come from the industry and can add value.
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