A target list isn't a list of names. It's a list of names with a reason next to each one. The difference shows up in your reply rate, your meeting conversion, and how long the round takes to close.
This is a six-step process for building one. It takes 2–3 working days end to end, and you should do it before you write a single cold email.
Step 1 — Lock down your filters
You can't qualify against criteria you haven't written down. Before opening any database, decide:
- Stage. Pre-seed, seed, or Series A — pick one.
- Check size you need from a single investor. Lead checks and follower checks are different prospects.
- Sector. Be specific. "AI" is not a filter. "AI coding tools for enterprise dev teams" is.
- Geography. Which regions actually invest in your location? Many "global" funds don't.
- Lead vs. follow. You usually need one lead and 5–10 followers. Mark every prospect as one or the other.
Five filters, written down. Skip this and steps 2–6 take three times longer.
Step 2 — Gather names from five sources
Aim for 150–200 raw names at this stage. Don't qualify yet; you just want breadth.
Source 1: Portfolios of comparable startups
Find 5–10 startups one stage ahead of you in your sector. Open their cap tables. The funds and angels listed there have already decided your category is investable. This is your warmest source — Brouky's startup index shows the investor list on every profile, so you can do this in one sitting.
Source 2: Investor databases (filtered)
Set your five filters and pull a list. Most databases let you filter on stage and sector; Brouky also surfaces deal cadence, so you can sort by "made a deal in the last 12 months at my stage." That's the only sort that matters.
Source 3: Your network
Two precise asks of 5–10 founders or operators in your network: "who did you raise from in the last year that I should know about?" and "is there one investor you'd warmly intro me to?" That's it. No long coffees needed.
Source 4: Accelerators and angel syndicates
YC, Techstars, Antler, Entrepreneur First, Sequoia Arc and the regional equivalents — plus AngelList syndicates and sector-specific groups (Hustle Fund's community, sector-focused angel networks). These fill the back half of a round fast.
Source 5: Founder-to-founder referrals
Highest-quality source. Spend an hour DM-ing 4–6 founders who raised in the last 6 months. You'll get unvarnished opinions about which investors actually return calls in a down month.
Step 3 — Deduplicate and validate each name
Run the long list through the 15-minute research routine for each entry. You're cutting the list from ~180 to ~80 against five questions:
- Active at my stage in the last 12 months?
- Do they lead, or only follow?
- Does their portfolio pattern actually include companies like mine?
- Which partner is the right one?
- Is there a portfolio conflict?
Reject hard. A name that fails any of these is a tax on your time; keeping it on the list because it's a famous brand is the most common and most expensive mistake here.
Step 4 — Tier the list (A / B / C)
Your 80-name validated list now becomes three tiers:
- Tier A — 10–15 names. Could lead. Strong sector fit. You have a warm path in (or you're confident you can build one). These are your week-1 outreach.
- Tier B — 20–30 names. Strong fit but tends to follow, OR could lead but warmth is weaker. Week-2 outreach, once you have one tier-A in motion.
- Tier C — 30–40 names. Plausible fit. Cold outreach only, in parallel. The angels and smaller funds who can fill the back half of the round live here.
If your Tier A has more than 15 names, your filters were too loose. If it has fewer than 8, broaden one filter (usually geography).
Step 5 — Map your path in for each Tier-A name
For every Tier-A investor, write next to their name: how do I get a meeting?
- Warm intro. Through whom? When can you ask? (Best path.)
- Portfolio founder. Can a current portfolio founder forward your email? (Second-best.)
- Direct outreach. A personalized cold email with a line about why this partner specifically. (Always works at lower rate.)
- Event. Are they at a conference in the next two months where you can corner them honestly?
If 40% of your Tier A reads "direct outreach only," go back to Step 2 source 3 (network) and source 5 (founder referrals) and build paths in.
Step 6 — Sequence the outreach
With list and paths mapped, sequence like this:
- Week 0 (prep). Send warm-intro asks to your network. Don't pitch yet — get the intros lined up.
- Week 1. Intros fire on Monday. First Tier-A meetings cluster the following week. Cold outreach to Tier C begins.
- Week 2. Tier B fires once you have at least one serious Tier-A conversation. Use it as social proof in the email.
- Weeks 3–6. Run the process. Track everything in one tracker. Don't add new names mid-round — finish the list you built.
What "done" looks like
At the end of Step 6 you should have:
- A single tracker with 80 qualified names, each tagged A/B/C, with partner, hook, and intro path.
- 10–15 first meetings scheduled in a tight 2-week window.
- A working narrative for the round: who's interested, what objections come up, what the lead profile actually looks like.
That's the artifact. Everything from here on is execution.
The faster path
Steps 2 and 3 (gathering + validating) are the work that gets cut when founders are time-pressured. The AI VC Finder compresses both into one step: feed it your startup, get back a ranked list of investors already filtered for stage, sector, and recent activity. You still do steps 1, 4, 5, and 6 yourself — but you skip 3 days of database wrangling.