{{first_name}},
Yesterday I attended Richard Wilson's capital raising boot camp in Dallas.
And it did not disappoint.
Here are some of my favorite slides that I'll talk about in a future email:
I've noticed a common theme at Richard's conferences and boot camps.
AI appears to be the new scaffolding and interpersonal relationships is the core.
For many of you who raise capital, whether it’s an AI-enabled CRM, analysis tools, investor pitch generation, grading tools, or simply a Claude/Gemini/ChatGPT chat…how many hours are you spending on the phone, Zoom, or in person with your investor clients?
Would you say you’re spending more time with them since you adopted AI?
Or less?
I bet some of you spend LESS time doing the things that bring capital into your firm because of AI.
Once you find out how powerful AI can be, and specifically how much more powerful integrating an AI agent into your CRM or your investor and lead data, you can get lost in the weeds.
I know this firsthand.😞
And yesterday, I had an epiphany when I met with one of my Dallas clients who realized that as important as AI is for all business functions, it won’t replace the genuine human touch.
Even if you spend hours researching your existing investor base and new investor lists and enriching investor data with new details about where the investor lives or where the investor shops or lives, or where the investor plays golf and blah, blah, blah, blah. That won't bring you closer to a real relationship if you do nothing with it.
It's always exciting to learn that AI can replace anything that costs serious money and streamline difficult tasks.
It can build videos for you.
It can build marketing campaigns for you.
It can track ad campaigns and give you suggestions on what to tweak.
It can even tell you which investor profiles would be more likely to invest in a niche real estate industry, and which geography, age demographic, and interests to target and how to best reach them.
But none of that matters if you don't reach them.
If AI is supposed to handle the jobs of analysts, underwriters, marketers, and everything else so that we can have all the time we need to pick up the phone and call our investors or drive to their office…
Then why are we all so busy?
If AI is supposed to carry the daily admin burdens of managing investments, holdings, and processes…
Why aren’t we meeting investors daily?
Many of us are using AI to automate our lives and our businesses, and we subconsciously believe that we can automate the one function that can't be automated.
The function that actually takes time and requires us to think and even move our own bodies.
Raising capital happens after relationships are built.
It happens after you make the phone call and book the appointment.
It happens after you propose a coffee appointment in an email and actually meet with that investor in person.
It happens after you thoughtfully consider your top prospects and find opportunities to serve them and reciprocate value.
AI can't do that.
AI is just a tool that helps you run a more efficient shop, but it's not going to put $20 million into a fund so you can buy those distressed CMBS loan deals.
Stuck trying to raise more capital?
Most sponsors think the bottleneck is the deal.
It usually isn't.
It’s a few reasons, namely:
Who you are
What you’ve done
Who you’re working with
The risk profile
The upside and downside
Timing
Consistency
…and a lot of other factors
I built a FREE short assessment that scores you on what allocators actually check before they wire. Positioning, pipeline, proof, and follow-through.
Don’t guess, it’s FREE, figure out what’s not working and raise the capital you need.
No subscription or fees. If your score comes back strong, you probably don't need me.
Here's the hierarchy of the most valuable interaction to the least valuable interaction you can have right now when it comes to building relationships with investors:
In person meetings (AI can’t do this)
Videos calls (AI can do this, but not recommended and once you blow your cover, it’s irredeemable)
Phone calls (Same as above)
Text messages (AI CAN do this but you must be careful)
Emails (AI CAN do this but you must be careful)
Grateful you let me into your inbox today.
Have a great Thursday,
Andrew LeBaron
Your next 100 customers are already in Apollo
Find, reach, and close your perfect deals — without juggling five tools or hiring more reps.
Apollo gives you everything you need to build real pipeline, fast. From inbound to outbound, first touch to close.
All in Apollo.
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