Vet an investor in under ten minutes.
Public-record due diligence on any angel, VC partner, or registered investment adviser. Portfolio outcomes, check-size patterns, founder-friendliness signals, public-reputation flags, and warm-intro paths. Twelve sections, every claim cited to a public URL.
What gets verified
Every Investor Vetting Report draws from these public sources. Where the subject is a registered investment adviser, we cross-reference Form ADV from the SEC's IAPD database for disclosable events.
| Source | What it tells us |
|---|---|
| Crunchbase | Investment portfolio, check sizes (when disclosed), co-investor patterns, follow-on ratios. |
| Public portfolio listings | Fund websites, partner pages, public investment commitments. |
| X / Twitter (public) | Voice. Public commitments to founders. Post-shutdown founder-friendliness signals. |
| AngelList | Syndicate participation, public deal commitments, scout activity. |
| Podcast transcripts | Long-form thesis articulation. Useful for thesis-fit verification before a pitch. |
| News archives | Press coverage of fund launches, exits, controversies, fund-side disputes. |
| SEC IAPD (Form ADV) | For registered advisers: disclosable events, AUM, employee count, disciplinary history. |
| LinkedIn (public profile) | Career arc, role progression, public commitments, board service patterns. |
What the report contains
The full Investor Vetting Report is twelve sections, paginated, 2,500-5,500 words depending on public footprint. Each section cites its sources.
- Executive Summary. 200-400 word synthesis. Top-line for a founder evaluating a pitch.
- Investor Profile and Thesis. Stated thesis, sector concentration, stage focus, geography, check-size pattern.
- Portfolio Outcomes. Public investments with outcome categorization: ongoing, acquired, IPO, shutdown, pivoted. Outcome cited from Crunchbase or press.
- Check-Size Pattern. Typical first-check size when public. Follow-on ratio. Lead vs participant pattern.
- Co-investor Network. Frequent co-investors. Overlap counts. Useful for understanding likely follow-on partners.
- Founder-Friendliness Signal. Public-statement record post-shutdown / post-pivot. Public defense of founders during controversies. Treated as one signal among many, not a verdict.
- Track Record (where public). Hit rate on visible exits. Honestly tagged when most outcomes are still ongoing.
- Disclosable Events (when applicable). For registered advisers, Form ADV Part 1 disclosable events surface here verbatim from the SEC record.
- Public Reputation and Red Flags. Severity-ranked findings or honest "no flags found" when public record is clean.
- Network and Warm-Intro Paths. Likely warm-intro candidates with cited evidence (mutual portfolio overlap, alumni paths, prior co-investments).
- Pitch-Fit Score. 0-100 score on stated thesis fit. Useful for prioritizing one investor over another in a long pitch list.
- References and Source Citations. Every URL cited across the prior eleven sections, deduplicated and grouped by class.
Sample report on file
The canonical sample is the investor-view report for Saul Fleischman (used as a self-demo with permission). The report covers his angel-investing track record across MentionFox-adjacent infrastructure plays.
For a Crunchbase-rich sample on a long-track-record investor, see the Paul Graham public sample.
How we identify the right investor
Two angel investors with the same name is rarer than two founders with the same name, but it happens (especially among solo angels with thin profiles). Three independent gates handle it.
Gate 1 — Candidate picker
Name resolution surfaces every plausible candidate with their fund, role, location, and photo. You confirm the right person before any synthesis runs.
Gate 2 — Disambiguation drawer
For ambiguous candidate sets, the disambiguation drawer adds explicit disambiguators: fund name, headquarters, prior fund, sector focus.
Gate 3 — Confirm before charge
Even on a single high-confidence match, the candidate card surfaces for explicit confirmation before charging credits. Wrong-person reports refund automatically.
Form ADV cross-reference
For registered advisers, we cross-check the SEC IAPD individual identifier (CRD) when available. Locks identity at the federal-record level.
When to use an Investor Vetting Report
- Before a high-stakes pitch. Founder is about to take a final-partner meeting. The report surfaces stated thesis, recent investments, post-shutdown founder support pattern, and warm-intro paths to skip the cold pitch.
- Term-sheet evaluation. Multiple term sheets on the table. The report on each lead investor surfaces founder-friendliness pattern, pro-rata follow-on rate, and post-investment behavior signals.
- LP-side scout vetting. An LP is evaluating an emerging-manager scout. The Investor Snapshot at 30 credits is the right tier for top-of-funnel screening before deeper diligence.
- Co-investor diligence. Lead investor is bringing in a co-investor you have not worked with. The report surfaces the co-investor's track record, public-reputation pattern, and potential conflicts.
- Board-search reference. A board search is considering an investor-director candidate. The report covers prior board service patterns and post-board-exit public-statement record.
Pricing
Investor Snapshot
One-page executive summary. Fast pitch-list screening.
30 credits
- Executive summary, 200-400 words
- Stated thesis and check-size pattern
- Top-line portfolio outcomes
- Pitch-fit score
- Returns in roughly 60 seconds
Investor Vetting Report Recommended
Full due diligence. Twelve sections, paginated PDF.
200 credits
- All twelve sections, 2,500-5,500 words
- Portfolio outcome categorization
- Co-investor network and overlap counts
- Founder-friendliness signal analysis
- Form ADV disclosable events (when applicable)
- Warm-intro path mapping
- References section: every cited URL
- Returns in 5-8 minutes
Methodology
The full methodology behind the Investor Vetting Report is published. It covers the four-class source taxonomy, the UK PHIA Probability Yardstick used for confidence statements, the disambiguation hard-gate, defamation guardrails, and the explicit limits of public-record portfolio inference.
Frequently asked questions
What can I learn about an investor before pitching?
Portfolio outcomes (which checks paid off, which went to zero), check-size pattern (typical first-check, typical follow-on ratio), founder-friendliness signals (does the partner publicly support founders post-pivot? Post-shutdown?), and any public-reputation flags worth surfacing before you pitch.
Do you check SEC filings for registered investors?
Yes. When the subject is a registered investment adviser, we cross-reference Form ADV from the SEC's IAPD database. Disclosable events, AUM, employee count, and disciplinary history surface in the report.
How do you handle solo angels with no fund?
We pivot to public investment-track signals: AngelList syndicate history (when public), prior-round co-investor patterns from Crunchbase, and public-statement record on X / Twitter and podcasts.
Can I see what an investor said about prior portfolio companies after they shut down?
Yes. Post-shutdown public statements are surfaced in the founder-friendliness section. Investors who publicly support founders after a portfolio shutdown are flagged differently than those who go silent.
Is this useful for LPs vetting GPs?
Yes. The Investor Vetting Report covers track record, deal-flow signals, and public-reputation patterns useful for an LP doing top-of-funnel scout or emerging-manager screening. It supplements but does not replace fund-level reference checks.
What about co-investor signal?
The report includes the investor's frequent co-investors with overlap counts. Useful for understanding their network and likely follow-on partners.
Do investors see who ran a report on them?
No. Reports are private to the buyer unless explicitly marked shareable. Investors are not notified that a report was run.
Related
Founder Vetting Reports → Executive Vetting Reports → Use case: VC Due Diligence → Use case: Finding a Financial Advisor →