What to look for in potential investors

Investors have large networks, but how useful will that network be to you?

August 15, 2025

~ 2 min read

A specific network and the proven ability to leverage it. Why:

  1. Every investor has a network. Doesn’t mean it’s specifically helpful to your business.
  2. Having a network and being able to leverage it are two very different things.

On the 1st point, tons of folks with hundreds of acquaintances who would never help/support them.

Plenty of investors that are unskilled in getting things done via their network.

Some investors just won’t do the work to use their network for you even if they could.

You also want investors whose networks are complimentary to:

  • Your network
  • Your other investors network
  • The general needs of your business

Specific networks are valuable in the context of your company, not just the abstract.

For example, if you’re building an extremely New York centric company, having investors with strong NYC networks will be valuable.

If you’re building a product for CFOs, an investor with a strong network of CFOs and finance operators is going to be specifically valuable to you.

On that 2nd point, the primary differences comes down to:

  • skill in actually getting sh*t done through your network
  • deep relationships (vs shallow acquaintances)
  • respect amongst the network
  • social capital

This was not obvious to me earlier on.

I’ve met investors with a ton of relationships who are quite bad at leveraging them.

Then you hear stories from people like Ron Conway who move mountains on a dime via their network if they need to.

The core point I’m trying to make is that just because an investor has a network doesn’t mean that they are effective at leveraging that network for their portfolio companies, and/or that their network is specifically valuable to your business.

When you’re fundraising, everyone talks a big game.

VCs are usually pretty good at selling themselves.

This one reason why reference checks are so important.

You’ll find out the truth very quickly when you start talking to founders an investor has worked with in the past.

Some questions you can use in reference checks:

  • Where does xyz investor’s network spike the most?
  • What are specific examples of how this investor leveraged their network to open doors for your company?
  • When was the last time xyz made an intro for you?
  • How highly do the people you’ve been introduced to by xyz typically regard them?