In the beginning, 80% of sourcing is cold emailing & cold dming interesting founders and companies especially if you don’t have a network. More on this here.
There are a few main ways to source startups:
1️⃣ Utilizing Your Own Networks
Who do you personally know or do you have a friend’s friend working on a startup?
LinkedIn & Twitter followers to see if anyone you know is starting something or tweeting about starting something
VC Twitter - a ton of great entrepreneurs on their raising rounds
2️⃣ University Level 🏫
Most colleges have tech/entrepreneurship focused clubs, student incubators/accelerators, & pitch events that can be utilized
3️⃣ Going to startup events and meeting entrepreneurs
The rise of tech events in various cities and tech weeks ex. LA Tech Week, NYC Tech Week, SF Tech Week has given rise to great networking opportunities to meet operators, founder and investors
4️⃣ External Online Tools
A few helpful places to find startups & founders
CB Insights
Pitchbook
Crunchbase
Great tool for doing research on companies, finding out how much they raised, investor profiles, and market research.
GenZVC Slack
Other Slack/Discord Groups like Ladder.to, GenZMafia, Accelerated Slack, etc
5️⃣ Working with startup accelerators and incubators
Early stage VC firms + accelerators like Techstars and YCombinator have cohorts of companies that go through their program every year and have demo days where investors/scouts can attend
6️⃣ Asking other VCs for referrals
VCs love to share deals with each other. As you meet VCs, a deal that doesn’t fit your thesis could be the perfect deal for another fund
How To: Source Startups