How can founders get a family office to consider their pitch?
Short answer: Jane says founders can research the investment themes she discusses publicly. Brandt describes his office's criteria and says to keep the email short, with the business, its edge, performance and experience. Regina says a one-page summary can make technical pitches easier to review.
Richard C. Wilson moderates a family office investment panel where investors discuss how founders can get their opportunities considered.
Jane on researching her focus
Jane says she posts and speaks publicly about themes she wants to invest in. She recommends researching those themes before reaching out, since a pitch outside the office's interests suggests the founder has not done the research. (at 9:15)
Jane on the first email
Jane says to explain exactly what the company does in a clear blurb and attach the deck as a PDF. She says investors lose time when they have to ask for basic information. (at 10:09)
Brandt on fit and proof
Brandt says LinkedIn can help founders find a shared connection. He recommends asking what the family office focuses on. For fund managers, he gives example criteria: a $10 million average ticket, no more than 10% of a fund, at least $100 million in fund size, a three-year track record and liquidity no worse than quarterly. He says the email should cover the business, its edge, performance and experience, and stay short. (at 12:23)
Regina on one-page summaries
Regina says a one-page summary can help when a long deck uses hard-to-digest technical terms. She recommends stating the problem, solution, what makes the company different and the market size. (at 14:17)
"I cannot tell you how many times I'm on a pitch meeting and 45 minutes into the meeting, I still don't know what this company does."
From Richard's exclusive Billionaires.com interviews
Lessons from Richard C. Wilson's one-on-one interviews, as published on each interview page.
- Fran Tarkenton: Get in the game. As a third string college quarterback, he put himself into a game and led a scoring drive. You cannot make things better from the sidelines, he says.
- Michael Lee-Chin: Find the person who is responsible. When a problem comes up, he asks who the agent was. He wants a specific person to call, not a department.
- Tony Robbins: Think like an owner. His biggest turning point was moving from operator to owner. An operator tries to supervise everything and cannot scale.
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Frequently asked questions
How can founders get a family office to consider their pitch?
Jane says founders can research the investment themes she discusses publicly. Brandt describes his office's criteria and says to keep the email short, with the business, its edge, performance and experience. Regina says a one-page summary can make technical pitches easier to review.
How long should a company pitch deck be?
Richard C. Wilson says they recommend 12 to 19 slides for companies, not funds.
Will a cold call get a response?
Brandt says people usually won't pick up an incoming call and may not call back because they receive too many calls to keep up with.
Sources
Quotes are copied from the video captions and checked against the transcript. Timestamps link to the moment in the video. General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.