Investor assessment

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by a searcher from East Carolina University
in Melbourne VIC, Australia

3yrs ago

Investor assessment

I would like to hear from searchers who have raised funds, and how they assessed investors. It is easy to get tied up on a (not-so-good) investor and waste a fair amount of time just to realize they are not a good fit in the long run. How do you assess the investors?

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reply by a searcher 3yrs ago
from Roosevelt University in Boston, MA, USA

I am in the middle of this now. Assessing investors, to me, comes down to (1) your profile as a searcher (2) the uniqueness of your search and (3) the strengths and weakness of investors. Not everyone's "investor scorecard" looks the same because each searcher has different needs. That being said, IMO investors should be evaluated by the following:

-understanding of the search fund model
-reputation as search investors (due to the heard mentality during the fundraise stage)
-Additive value in search, M&A, operations or exit
-geographic or industry focused-value
-time horizon for investments
-experience in general
-% times they backed searches but not acquisitions
-bandwidth (either calculated as # of searchers/# of employees at investment firm OR # of searchers/# of non-entry level employees at firm)

Some of these are less valuable as assessment metrics than others but that largely depends on your search. Hope it helps!

reply by an investor 3yrs ago
from University of the Sunshine Coast in Brisbane QLD, Australia

Start with values.
Ensure investment timeline is similar
Ensure they understand the fundamentals of a search fund

Do a skills/experience analysis of everything that you would need on your investor team/board.

Try not to take on too many investors with "similar" skills/experience if possible to ensure that all of the relevant areas are covered.