Most founders prepare for pitches by polishing the deck. The higher-ROI work is the 15 minutes before the meeting that gets booked: researching the investor well enough that the conversation starts at "here's why this fits" instead of "what do you do?". A founder who opens with one sharp observation about the fund's recent deals triples their odds in the first 90 seconds.
This guide covers what to look for, where to find it, and a repeatable routine you can run in under 15 minutes per investor.
The five questions every VC research note should answer
For each investor on your target list, answer these five questions before you draft an email or open a deck:
- Are they still active at my stage?
- Do they lead, or only follow?
- Does their thesis actually include companies like mine?
- Who would I meet, and what have they personally done?
- Is there a portfolio conflict?
Each one is worth a few minutes. Together they're the whole job.
1. Are they still active at your stage?
The number-one filter, and the one most founders skip. "Active" doesn't mean the fund still exists — it means they've made an investment at your stage in the last 9–12 months. A seed fund whose last seed was 14 months ago is between funds, deploying carefully out of reserves, or quietly winding down. None of those are pitches you'll close.
On Brouky's investor pages, every profile shows the deal count over time so this takes 10 seconds. If you're looking elsewhere, scroll their "portfolio" or "news" page and check the dates on the most recent five announcements.
Walk-away threshold: no investment at your stage in 12+ months. Caveat once: a fund that just announced a new vehicle gets a pass — they're hiring and ramping back up. More on activity signals here.
2. Do they lead, or only follow?
A fund's stage label tells you they invest at your stage. It does not tell you whether they lead. Most rounds need one lead (sets the price, takes the board seat) and a handful of followers (write smaller checks at the lead's terms). A fund that consistently follows is not going to lead yours regardless of how good the deck is.
Quick test: look at their last five investments at your stage. How many were marked "led by [Fund]" in the announcement vs. listed among other investors? A fund that led 0 of 5 is a follower at your stage. Add them to your B-list for later in the round, not your A-list for first meetings.
3. Does their thesis actually include you?
Read three of their recent investments — not their tagline. If they say "we invest in AI" but their last six deals were all enterprise SaaS, your consumer AI app is not a fit. Pattern beats positioning.
Specifically look for:
- Sector overlap. Has the fund done multiple investments in adjacent companies? Two or more is real thesis; one is a probe.
- Business model overlap. A fund that backs B2B SaaS will not naturally evaluate marketplaces well, even if "tech" is in their thesis.
- Geography. Many funds say "global" and invest 90% in their home region. Look at the actual cap tables.
4. Who would you meet — and what have they personally done?
Funds aren't monoliths; partners are. A partner who has done two AI deals in the last 12 months is a different conversation than a partner who hasn't. Before any meeting, identify the specific partner you'd see and read:
- Their last 3–5 personal investments (often listed on the firm site or LinkedIn).
- One thing they've written — a thesis post, a podcast appearance, a Twitter thread.
- Whether any of their portfolio founders publicly thank them. (Real signal of how they work.)
Five minutes here gives you the single line of personalization that makes your outreach stand out from the other 200 emails in their inbox this week.
5. Is there a portfolio conflict?
If a fund has already invested in your closest competitor, they are not pitching you — they are gathering intelligence. Most firms have a clean policy not to invest in direct competitors, and they'll take the meeting anyway. Skip.
"Competitor" here means same customer, same problem. Adjacent is fine and often helpful (a fund that invested in a tooling layer in your space already understands the market). Direct overlap is a firm no.
The 15-minute research routine
For each long-list investor, run this exact sequence:
- Min 0–2. Open their Brouky profile (or their site). Check deal count by year and last investment date at your stage.
- Min 2–5. Skim the last five portfolio companies. Note sector and business-model pattern.
- Min 5–8. Identify the relevant partner. Read their recent personal investments.
- Min 8–11. Find one piece of writing/podcasting by that partner that touches your space.
- Min 11–15. Write three lines in your tracker: (a) why this fund fits, (b) which partner, (c) the one-line hook you'll lead with.
At the end of an afternoon you have a 25-name short list with a real reason next to each one. That's the asset.
Red flags worth walking away from
- No investments in 12+ months. Fund cycle issue, not your problem to solve.
- Portfolio is a graveyard. Dead/dormant companies dominating their last cohort = they don't add value.
- Partner left. The thesis partner for your space just announced a move? The remaining partners will not pick up that thread.
- Their last raise is >5 years old and you can't find a new fund. They're harvesting, not deploying.
The shortcut
The AI VC Finder runs most of this analysis automatically — recent activity, stage focus, sector overlap, and portfolio fit get scored for every investor against your startup, so the top of your list arrives already qualified. You still want to do the partner-level research yourself (no one can do that better than you), but the long-list filtering doesn't have to be manual.