On the path to closing the round, founders need to develop a process that brings consistency, predictability and efficiency to landing investor calls. With the right process, landing investor calls becomes an administrative motion that requires minimal effort.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.metal.so/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Network Ingestion and Setup
As a first step, founders need to ingest their network into Metal via standard integrations for Gmail, Outlook, LinkedIn and file uploads. This process typically takes a few clicks and immediately maps your entire network against your investor pipeline.Ingest Network Data
Most founders start by ingesting their LinkedIn data by navigating to Settings > Network > LinkedIn. Metal allows three-click integrations as well as manual file uploads, enabling users to ingest their LinkedIn connections into Metal.An important subsequent step is to ingest your email data by navigating to Settings > Network > Email. By integrating your email, you are granting access to Metal to pull your email contacts. This does not allow Metal to access your email content (I.e. body of emails sent or received).
Add Existing Investors
For most founders, existing investors play an important role in unlocking access to new investors. Founders can add their existing investors by navigating to Settings > Network > Existing Investors.
For guidance on how to get the most value from existing investors, refer to this section.
Add Cofounders or Key Partners
As part of the round process, most founders work with cofounders and/or other key partners, such as early supportive angel investors or board members. Founders can add close connects to the Metal organisation and then import the network data of each contact, thereby multiplying the power of their network.
Process to Land Introductions
Metal provides a set of rich insights around relationship intelligence that you can use to develop a custom process that works best for you. For most founders, the right solution is to develop a process that brings consistency, predictability and efficiency to the process of landing introductions. The following steps are most commonly used by founders to identify who within their network can introduce them to specific investors.Introductions via Portfolio Founders
In most cases, portfolio founders serve as the primary channel through which investors get introduced to new founders.On investor profiles, in the Access > Portfolio Founders tab, Metal identifies which of your connections have raised from that specific investors.
Introductions via Existing Investors
Existing investors are typically a common source of introductions for your raise process. In particular, existing investors have made a large number of investments into other companies, and those companies have raised from a large number of investors.On investor profiles, in the Access > Portfolio Founders tab, Metal identifies which of your existing investors have invested in founders that raised from the investor in question. As an example, if one of your existing investors backed John Smith, and if John raised from Investor X, then you will be able to see that in the Access > Portfolio Founders tab for Investor X.
Introductions via Other Connections
For efficiency, via the Paths section, Metal allows founders to view their Top Connectors that can introduce them with multiple investors on a given pipeline. The Paths section also allows founders founders to drill down into specific types of connections that can make introductions with specific investors within a given pipeline.