IX: Investor Experience - Onboarding

One of the areas I like to speak about is the Investor Experience (IX). IX is the overall founder's journey with their investors from the first meeting to the exit. The area I am going to talk about today is onboarding.

Onboarding can happen in the later stages of diligence before the deal is funded. Everyone is wearing the same jersey at this point, and you are just going through the last pieces of legal and budget. Everyone wants to get this deal closed.

In the onboarding experience, it is essential to see how the investor acts, as that is the best representation of how they will act after the money is wired. If they are nit-picky on immaterial legal matters or hard-nosed about budget, chances are these are going to be issued when you are operating.

A good investment partner is always having a conversation rather than giving directives. If you feel like your investor's personality has changed quite rapidly after you get through the terms and valuation dance, you might have been dealing with someone who wasn't representing their true self.

As an investor, I need to lay down the foundation of all my expectations during this process, including alignment on budget, how information and KPIs are presented, and the regular cadence of board meetings.

How have you experienced investor onboarding?