You've just delivered a great pitch to a group of potential investors. You feel confident, excited, and hopeful. But what happens next? How do you keep the conversation going and build a lasting relationship with the VCs who showed interest in your startup? Here are some tips on how to maintain a relationship with VCs after your pitch.
The first thing you should do after your pitch is to send a thank you email to the VCs who attended. Express your gratitude, restate your value proposition, and attach your pitch deck and any other relevant documents. Keep it short, simple, and professional. Don't forget to ask for feedback and next steps. Ideally, you should follow up within 24 hours of your pitch, while you're still fresh in their minds.
One of the best ways to maintain a relationship with VCs after your pitch is to keep them updated on your progress, milestones, and challenges. This shows that you're committed, transparent, and responsive. It also helps you stay on their radar and build trust and credibility. You can send monthly or quarterly newsletters, or use tools like Visible or Foundersuite to automate and track your updates. Make sure your updates are relevant, concise, and highlight your achievements and learnings.
You can create a "friends of" your portco mailing list. These are all the VCs you pitched to, industry peers, and key opinion leaders. Perhaps a quarterly report to them is a good tempo. Preparing this report can be a good way to summarize your progress and plans. It can serve as a draft for your board deck for the board meeting.
Another way to maintain a relationship with VCs after your pitch is to seek their advice and feedback on specific issues or opportunities that you're facing. This demonstrates that you value their expertise and perspective, and that you're open to learning and improving. It also creates a dialogue and a rapport that can lead to deeper engagement and collaboration. You can ask for advice and feedback via email, phone, or video call, depending on the nature and urgency of the topic.
A more informal way to maintain a relationship with VCs after your pitch is to connect with them on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Clubhouse. This allows you to follow their activities, interests, and opinions, and to interact with them on a more personal level. You can like, comment, or share their posts, or join their conversations or events. You can also use social media to showcase your own thought leadership, insights, and achievements, and to attract their attention and curiosity.
A final way to maintain a relationship with VCs after your pitch is to leverage your network and ask for introductions or referrals to other VCs who might be interested in your startup. This can expand your reach and exposure, and increase your chances of securing funding. It can also show the VCs that you already pitched to that you're proactive, resourceful, and well-connected. However, be careful not to spam or annoy them with too many requests, and always do your research before approaching a new VC.
Warm introductions are very powerful in venture capital. It is not necessarily easy to get one from a VC if they are not interested in your startup. However, as a founder be prepared. Maybe the VC is not investing in your area for some reason, but she thinks your idea is great. She might offer to give a warm into to "the top 5 ideal VCs you want." Be prepared with a list.