I definitely feel a little dumb writing this but am sure other people have this question.
What’s the right way to approach other investors? I’m in growth equity / late stage VC and my higher ups all have regular calls with principals and partners at firms.
Is it actually more complicated then cold emailing someone and saying “I know you invest in xyz, we do the same, would be great to connect and learn more about your firm”? Maybe name drop some shared PortCos if there are any.
Undergrad->IB networking made sense to me and IB->VC networking made sense, but this seems a little different since I’m not technically looking for a job. Will firms actually share research with me? What’s an appropriate thing to ask them if I get them on the phone?
BUMP really good question
Following
A lot of this just comes with time in the industry - your seniors have decades of experience, you just naturally meet people. It's fine to cold email people, but it's unlikely they are going to become a regular touchpoint from grabbing coffee once or twice. Some examples of how this happens:
1. You naturally work with people at other firms over the years
2. People from your firm move to other firms, or your clients move, etc - this is a shadow way of building a network. Simply time in the industry. If you keep up with people who leave your firm once a year (a quick text congratulating them on a deal is plenty) you will have plenty of contacts in even 5 or 10 years.
3. Conferences - if you have any in your industry that your firm is okay with you attending, take advantage. If you talk to a few people, grab their name and send them a quick message to get lunch.
4. Some cities have "XX Industry Young Professionals Networking Group" - these are hit or miss, I've heard real estate is good about these being valuable but worth asking other juniors if they're members of any industry networking groups or anything of the like. Often this is a monthly breakfast, nothing crazy - but good to meet similar people.
5. Country clubs... as antiquated as it is, my MD has a ton of rock-solid clients who will always choose us for deals simply because they've belonged to the same country club for decades and have gone on golf trips together. Maybe less important in VC, but in the very traditional land of IB/PE I think learning to golf is a damn good use of your early 20s.
Thanks! Really helpful. I feel like cold emails would work if they are highly relevant and you’re in the same geographical area.
Shared portcos, similar “investment thesis”, working in the same city seems like it would make sense to try and connect once every 6-12 months assuming both people weren’t weird.
Thinking from the receiving end: I’d be more than happy to connect with someone at a respectable firm that also invested in companies I’ve invested in or at least is looking in the same sectors.
I could reach on LinkedIn - most often this is with earlier or later stage investors vs. competitors to the shop I’m currently at.
Leverage relationships with earlier stage investors to help find new deals or companies to monitor or track
Leverage relationships with later stage investors so that they can hopefully pass stuff down to you that is too early for them
Conferences. People are generally receptive to networking at conferences and sharing information. Reality is that the chances you become competitive with any singular fund at the same point in time are pretty low... you have to find competitive assets in the same geography at the same time PLUS the execution in diligence to get it done. I've found investors to be very open at conferences, plus you start seeing the same people over and over to develop those relationships.
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