Raise Millions by Hustle Fund VC Page 118 need to know. Trust us, putting in the time to complete this step will help you avoid toxic investors and save you years of pain. How to find investor references First, ask your investor for two references. Drew can ask: “Hey Jason, are there two founders you’ve worked with that I can speak to? I want to learn more about the relationships you have with your founders.” Next, we recommend finding two more founder references outside of the names that the investor gave you. Why? Because an investor will give you the names of two founders that he feels confident will give him a good review. But you want a less biased source. So how do you find the other founders? Here are two methods that we’ve seen work well: 1. At the end of your call with the first referred founder, ask them if they can refer you to another person who has worked with the investor. This is the easiest way to get a sense of who’s within the orbit of the investor that you’re considering taking capital from. 2. Look at LinkedIn and other investor databases, and email founders who have worked with that investor. You’d be surprised at how effective a cold outreach is when you’re doing investor due diligence. Founders are eager to help other founders when they can. hustlefund.vc / @hustlefundvc