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When setting up your investor pipeline, founders typically start off by completing the below steps:
1

Import Existing Data

Most founders have prior investor touch points scattered across email or spreadsheets via past introductions, cold outreach, or follow-ups that went quiet. Metal has the ability to import your prior history within a few clicks.After creating a pipeline, go to Actions → Import Data and choose your import method:
  • Gmail / Outlook — Metal scans your email and calendar metadata to surface investors you’ve engaged with before. Metal only accesses metadata and not your email content.
  • CSV / Excel — Upload a spreadsheet of your existing investor list (.csv, .xls, or .xlsx, max 10 MB). A 5-step flow walks you through uploading, mapping columns, reviewing matches, and confirming. Download a template to ensure correct formatting.
Founders can download their pipelines from Hubspot, Attio, Airtable, Google Shees or Notion, and then import via CSV.
2

Set Data Columns

Metal allows users to add data columns within their pipeline. The below list of data columns are recommended to support the downstream process of qualifying investors:
  • % Investments in Selected Stage(s)
  • % Investments in Selected Continent(s)
  • 12mo Deal Count
The above data columns can be added using the Add/Edit Columns button to the right-side of the pipeline. Additionally, via the Add/Edit Columns widget, users can also add “custom” columns with ability to write anything.
3

Customise Stages

Most founders prefer to customise the names of stages within the pipeline. This is easily achievable via the “Edit Stages” button on the stage name dropdown.
A standard best practice is to name each stage behind specific actions, such as “Seeking Intros” or “Move to Due Diligence”. This helps users associate investors in each stage with the action that is required.
With the above setup process, founders can get the pipeline up and running within minutes. By clicking on a given investor name, users can see rich insights and/or intelligence on each investor.