How to Run an Intro Call With Investors

Investors are professional pattern-recognizers.

In the first three minutes of meeting you, they’re deciding whether you’re running a real process or just taking meetings.

You can make or break your entire relationship with them by how you run (or don’t run) a proper intro call.

Here is how we believe you should run a virtual intro call with a potential investor, and some common mistakes to avoid:

1. Reframe the Goal

The point of the call isn’t to impress them or get them to think you’re the next Zuckerburg.

You’re trying to determine if their mandate, check size, and timing align with your round.

Feel them out as you would for any new person you meet in real life.

What’s their body language? How interested in the conversation do they sound? Do they sound rushed / disengaged?

AVOID coming off super desperate / needy.

The laws of human nature 100% apply to potential investor connections. Do not come off as if you’re dying for their approval or their cheque.

This will kill any type of due diligence, or real interest from their side. You will just come off as another desperate founder looking for money.

2. Control the Opening Frame

The first 90 seconds set the tone. Here’s a good line I’ve heard that I think sets the agenda strongly:

Appreciate you making the time today {name} - I’ll give you a quick overview of what we’re building and where we’re going, then we can dive wherever’s most relevant to you. Does that work?”

That one line signals time discipline, composure, and leadership. It tells them you value efficiency - and that you’ve run investor conversations before.

AVOID, under any circumstance, reading from your pitch deck or giving a 15 minute rambling founding story - UNLESS asked to.

The amount of times I have seen a conversation go down the drain because the founder wants to pull up and read their pitch deck verbatim, has blown my mind.

The investor can take 5 minutes and do this themselves.

The reason they’re speaking to you on a live call is to learn everything about you / your product that ISN’T on your deck.

This is crucial to understand.

3. Do Your Homework / Ask Good Questions

When the questions start, don’t just answer - qualify back.

“When you look at companies in this category, what are the two or three metrics that matter most for you?”
“When you guys invested in {portco}, what did you like about them that made you want to move forward?”
“What’s the review process for you like over these next few weeks and how can we closest align to it?”

You’re collecting intel for follow-ups, tailoring future messaging, and showing you understand how institutional investors think.

It’s better to be bold and truthful asking the hard questions right away, than it is to let half-assed conversations drag on and waste time for both parties.

When you frame time, lead the narrative, and close with process, you project the one trait capital always rewards: control.

These are just our thoughts & observations from what we’ve heard from groups on the buyside on the other end of these calls.

Hopefully this was a helpful insight into how to approach these conversations.

There is nothing more important than a good first impression.

Thanks for reading - have a great Friday.

Ryan Bryden
Breakout Capital Group