4 Tips for Getting a Meeting with a VC

By Donna Griffit

If you aren’t lucky enough to have the right connections, it may feel impossible to get a meeting with a venture capitalist. The founders I’ve worked with are split on what they have found to be the most difficult in their financing journey: landing a meeting with a VC or convincing an investor to invest. Some entrepreneurs struggle for months trying to get a single VC to answer their messages.

Failure to get a meeting with a VC is not always a reflection on your startup’s potential. Venture capitalists receive multiple pitch decks and emails every day. It could just be that you're using the wrong contacting strategies. This is fixable with the right guidance.

Here are some tips for getting that all-important meeting to find funding for your startup.

How to land a meeting with a VC

1. Do your homework

There is always a never-ending line of startup founders who are knocking on a venture capitalist’s door. Many of these entrepreneurs are competent and have good business plans, but VCs are human and have limits on how many meetings they can schedule per day. They need to be highly selective with whom they spend their time with because it’s so valuable.

The worst thing you can do is burn a bridge by making a silly mistake. Misspelling someone’s name in a letter or getting the name of the firm they represent wrong shows a lack of attention to detail—and that’s not a desirable trait to have when you're asking for your money. You should do research on every investor you'd like to reach out to and then customize your messages.

For starters, you should be able to answer these four questions about every investor:

• What vertical do they invest in? The more aligned they are with the focus of your startup, the more likely they will ask you for a meeting.
• What stage do they invest in? Some venture capitalists prefer to invest in mature companies, so if your company is just starting out, there’s no point contacting them now.
• What geographical region do they invest in? Although this has changed due to pandemic shifts in work patterns, some VCs still prefer companies that they can easily visit in person.
• Who is in their portfolio? If the VC has invested in companies that are similar to yours, then you'll need to investigate further. Is there a way for companies to benefit from each other? If the portfolio company is a direct competitor, however, it’s unlikely the VC will want to cannibalize their current investment so don’t bother approaching that investor.

2. Focus on personal introductions

Venture capitalists do not exist in a bubble. They have trusted advisors, founders whom they’ve already invested in, and other investors who are their friends. Reaching out to these third parties may be easier than directly contacting the investors themselves. If you can be introduced and recommended to an investor by someone they know and trust, then you'll have a head start getting a meeting over everyone else.

Also, get to know other entrepreneurs who may have been on similar financial journeys as you. If they like you and believe in your project, they may put you in touch with whomever has invested in their companies. They may also offer inside tips on an individual investor’s personality, which will give you a leg up as well.

More articles from AllBusiness.com:

• What Do Venture Capitalists Look For?
• Venture Capital Stock Purchase Agreements
• 65 Questions Venture Capitalists Will Ask Startups
• Would a VC Fund Your Startup? Six Questions to Ask Yourself
• A Guide to Venture Capital Financings for Startups

3. Make a teaser deck

Venture capitalists are busy people, so you don't want to attach a 20-slide investor pitch deck in your first email to them. Instead, create a teaser deck with only 5 to 8 slides, and pay particular attention to the first slide to ensure they read the rest. With a teaser deck, an investor should have just enough information to decide whether or not you’re worth inviting to a meeting.

4. Move fast

Pay attention to the calendar when you start meeting with VCs. The minute you start fundraising, you put an expiration date on yourself. If an investor sees you have been trying and failing to raise money for more than six months, they may worry that something is wrong with your startup since you have not attracted other investors. For example, starting a raise in mid-November with the holidays coming up is not a great time.

A fix for this is to not officially “launch” your round and instead reach out first to investors on your B-list or lower to get some friendly meetings and advice. These meetings may actually surprise you with the new connections you make and the practice you get pitching. Save your top wish list of investors for when you’re ready to put yourself out there.

RELATED: A Guide to Investor Pitch Decks for Startup Fundraising