Managing a Deal Pipeline

One of the most significant focus areas as a solo GP is pipeline management. It is super easy for me to let my eye off sourcing and business development efforts. It is so easy to lose focus because there are so many other plates that I need to keep spinning to keep the firm operating. These activities can include due diligence on a target company, portfolio support/subsequent financing rounds, and fundraising.

If you let up on the sourcing conversations while you are amidst other activities, you will end up with no deals at the bottom of your funnel is relatively high. So then, it is all about filling the top up again through a flurry of sourcing efforts. This can be exhausting.

To manage my time, I color-code the events on my calendar to reflect pitches, sourcing activity, podcasts, and fundraising activities. I can see if I am over or underweight in any of these categories at a high glance. It is not a perfect system, but it is fairing well today.