Angel Investor Mapping: Practical Pitching Playbooks for Startup Founders

How to pitch your startup effectively to 12 different types of Angel Investors to *actually* close cheques and navigate the landscape of independent investors like a Pro.

Not all Angel Investors are created equal.

They come from diverse backgrounds and exhibit different investing styles, making it essential for you, as a Startup Founder, to tailor your pitch strategy accordingly.

I spent some time thinking about it this weekend and ended up building the Angel Investor Map 👼

There are ~12 types of Angel Investors, across 3 categories:

Before we dive into each type…

Here is a snippet of one of my Fundraising Playbooks on how to use this Map effectively:

1. Identify which one of the main 3 categories does your target Angel Investor fall into (Corporate? Entrepreneur? Other?)

2. Narrow down to assign them to one of the 12 sub-categories. Sometimes, an investor can be more than one.

3. Tailor your outreach specifically to the description of their sub-category (e.g., HNWIs often take on NED roles which means you can say, "...there is also scope for discussing a NED position alongside the raise, for the right strategic fit.")

4. Pay attention to what networks the different categories could introduce you to (e.g. Ex-Traders, Ex-Investment Bankers are likely to have lots of contacts in the M&A space, useful for exploring your Exit options).

5. Read through all the Sub-Categories to find your (i) IIT - Ideal Investor Target and (ii) MAIT -Most Accessible Investor Target.

6. To the IITs, select 3-4 and launch ultra-targeted outreach, utilizing both Warm and Cold outreach methods.

7. To the MAITs, select 8-9 and launch semi-templated outreach, this can typically be Cold outreach only.

That’s all theory, so now, let’s get down to business…

Below are the 12 step-by-step Pitching Playbooks to reach, pitch, and close each of the Angel types effectively: