A guide for emerging managers

How to Raise Your First Fund

Part 1: Ecosystem, Network & Team

Keys:

1. Leverage your reputation and network to show early investors that you know enough people in the industry and have access to strong, proprietary deal flow.
2. Show any traction including previous investments or high-quality deals you scouted or helped investors close. Track key metrics and convert them into pitch decks.
3. Anchor your commitment to raising your first fund with a clear personal motivation. Why you want to raise a fund will help explain why you are the right person to raise a fund.
4. Surround yourself with great people building great things. The best teams bring together partners that may have very different backgrounds but aligned values.

Over the past decade, early-stage deal count and value has more than doubled. According to Crunchbase, the number of “Nano” and “Micro” VC funds have grown rapidly in the last 3–5 years, with 295 venture funds of $100M or less reported in 2018.

https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q2-2020-pitchbook-nvca-venture-monitor

The pandemic has presented considerable setbacks so far, especially to early-stage VC investments. Despite these obstacles, Kauffman Fellows reported that, as of late June 2020, there are “358 emerging and micro-VC managers…