Deal flow
The stream of investment opportunities a fund sources, screens, and decides on, and the process that moves them from first contact to a decision.
What it is
Deal flow is the volume and quality of investment opportunities reaching a fund. The term covers both the opportunities themselves and the process that handles them: sourcing, screening, diligence, investment committee, and the final decision.
How it is tracked
In a CRM, deal flow usually lives in a pipeline. Each opportunity is a record linked to the company, the founders, and whoever made the introduction. Stages show where it sits, from first look to pass or invest.
A useful dealflow setup also records:
- Source. Who introduced the deal, so the firm can see which relationships produce the best opportunities.
- Reason for pass. So the team can find the deal again when the company raises its next round.
- Ownership. Which partner or associate is responsible at each stage.
- Relationship history. Every email and meeting with the company, captured without manual logging.
Why it matters
A fund’s edge depends on seeing the right deals early and remembering every past conversation. When deal flow lives across inboxes, spreadsheets, and memory, opportunities slip, introducers go uncredited, and the firm cannot answer simple questions about its own pipeline.
On this site