Research a founder or investor before you meet
Before a pitch, a partnership or an introduction, see the public track record of the person across the table, with a source for every fact.
Check a founder's track record
Deep Search is a people search for founders, investors and anyone about to meet someone new. A founder's story is spread across many pages: a company site, an old team page, a conference talk, a news piece about a funding round. Deep Search reads the public web and puts what it finds about one person into a single report.
To check a founder's track record, type their name and add the company if you know it. You get possible matches, each with a match badge (Strong, Possible or Weak) and a count of sources. Pick the person you mean, then press Get full report.
A search usually takes a minute or two, and finding matches is always free. A subscription unlocks the full report. See pricing for the current plans.
Every fact in the report carries a numbered marker. Click it to see the source it came from, with a short quote and a link to the page. That matters when you research a founder or investor, because a press release, a personal bio and an independent news story don't carry the same weight. You open the original, see who published it, and judge it yourself.
A LinkedIn profile shows what someone says about themselves. A report adds what the wider public web says too. See how Deep Search compares with LinkedIn, or read how a report gets built.
What to look for in the report
Companies and roles
Companies they have started or worked at, and the roles public pages give them.
Look beyond their own bio
Check that the company and the role show up somewhere other than their own profile, such as the company's site or a news story.
Hear how they think
Talks, interviews and writing, where they are public, linked so you can watch or read the original.
Spot mismatches
Different employers or dates on different pages are worth a question before you commit.
Investor research before a pitch
Founders should do their homework on investors too. Investor research before a pitch helps you shape the story for the person in the room and decide whether the meeting is worth your time.
What to look at
- Their firm and title. Whether the firm's own site names them, and in what role. A partner can usually lead a deal. A scout or an associate often can't.
- Companies they have backed. Portfolio pages and funding news often name them, where those pages are public.
- Their path before investing. Companies they built or worked at before they invested.
- What they say in public. Essays, posts, interviews and talks, where they are public, show which markets they care about and what they tend to ask.
What a people search cannot tell you
A people search only sees public pages. It cannot see private deals, fund terms, a full cap table, or how someone behaves when a company struggles. For that, talk to founders they have backed, including ones whose companies did not work out. Whichever side of the table you sit on, the report is a first look, and the calls still matter most.
For a short routine before any first meeting, read our guide on verifying who you're meeting. For a UK company, the official Companies House register shows its officers and filing history for free. Our permitted use rules set out what Deep Search is for.
Questions from founders and investors
No. A people search for founders and investors is a fast first look at what public pages say about a person. Formal due diligence on a company or a deal needs documents, references and often professional advice.
Yes. It is common and sensible to research a founder or investor before an introduction. Reading their public professional background helps you ask better questions and skip the ones the public web already answers.
Then there will be little to find, and that is fine. Plenty of good founders and angels barely publish anything. Ask a mutual contact for context instead. Searching costs nothing either way.
Yes, one person at a time. Run a separate search for each founder and add the company name to narrow the matches. Search stays free for each one, and a subscription unlocks every report you open.
No. Deep Search doesn't notify the person you search for. Sites you open from the report, such as a profile page, may have their own rules about showing who visited.
Look up your next meeting
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