Using Roam Research to manage the firehose of information in venture capital — part 4
I have the privilege to hear an average of 2 pitches per day from some of the smartest people in the world.
These one hour sessions can change the course of the lives for the people on the call — including me and our funds.
My goal is to maximise the possibility of this. Using Roam is one way that I do this.
I’ve shared my Roam template at the end, but here’s what it aims to achieve.
#1 — Increase the chance of finding a game-changing opportunity through being consistent
Create the conditions for the most valuable information to be exchanged.
I iterate on the template to ensure that I am prepared and that I gather all the information I need (for now and for later retrieval and synthesis). I also do everything I can to leave the founder with value regardless of where the investment conversation goes.
#2 — Top and tail readiness and self-reflection
Gather the basic information that does not need to be learned from the founder. Form an initial hypothesis before wasting the precious hour with the basics.
After the pitch, reflect and synthesise the insights and assess my own performance. I am especially attentive to whether or not I provided something valuable and that I was respectful of the founder.
#3 — Ask questions as you hear answers
As I hear the pitch, I note down the question before I note down the answer that the founder just shared.
This pattern helps me to see quickly what has been addressed in the session and where I need to go deeper. I can also build out those blocks at a later time with more information.
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Here is my Smartblock template for pasting into your own Roam graph.
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This is part of a series. In part 1, I explored the information problem in venture capital. In part 2, I got we got started using Roam to get a feel for the basics. In part 3, we started using Smartblocks to build a daily workflow.
If you try any of this stuff or you are already a Roam black belt in venture, I’d love to hear from you. I am @philmorle on Twitter.
This post was created with Typeshare
