case study

How Firstminute Capital gets more granular visibility around the strength of its relationships with Affinity

Affinity enables the global Firstminute team with a powerful source-of-truth so they can better understand their network and identify the most lucrative opportunities.

"Connectivity is in our mission statement as a fund. We like to see our networks at the center of an ecosystem, which is very much aligned with Affinity’s value proposition.”

Sam Endacott

Investment Analyst at Firstminute Capital

Description

Firstminute Capital is an early-stage venture fund based in London that invests globally and is backed by 30 unicorn founders and global strategics.

FOUNDED

2017

INDUSTRY

Venture Capital

Website

http://firstminute.capital

Challenge

With a growing team and network, Firstminute had no way of tracking relationships outside of the siloed systems it used including email, calendars, excel spreadsheets, and others.

solution

Firstminute chose Affinity CRM for its integration features, deep tracking functionality, versatility, and ease-of-use.

result

Affinity allows Firstminute to understand the strength of its relationships at a granular level.

Introduction

Firstminute Capital is a global VC seed fund backed by a wide range of entities, including 120 unicorn founders, large corporate institutions, entrepreneurial family offices, and CIOs of billion dollar investment funds. The breadth of Firstminute’s network allows it to provide deep expertise to its portfolio companies.

With such a far-reaching networking, Firstminute decided it needed a way to keep better tabs on its network. Firstminute chose Affinity CRM for its integration features, deep tracking functionality, versatility, and ease-of-use.

‍Challenge

In contrast to many other VC firms, Firstminute is a founder-driven fund, rather than a sector-driven one. Its portfolio companies span a wide range of sectors and are located all over the world.

While the team was growing and building on its foundation, the network continued to grow. But Firstminute had no way of tracking relationships outside of the siloed systems it used including email, calendars, Excel spreadsheets and others. With such a far-reaching networking, Firstminute decided it needed a way to keep better tabs on its network. Now with Affinity, Firstminute can understand the strength of its relationships at a granular level.

Solution

After evaluating Affinity alongside several other CRM tools, Firstminute ultimately chose Affinity for its integration features, deep tracking functionality, versatility, and ease-of-use. The team immediately gravitated towards Affinity's deep focus on relationship intelligence.

Affinity has provided Firstminute with a single source of truth. It has allowed it to gain a stronger pulse on its broad network. This extensive, global network has, historically, been very difficult to track. “Having all the documents and information in one place without having to clamp around on different systems is really valuable. Affinity is a massive time saver and enables us to be super-efficient," says Sam Endacott, Investment Analyst at Firstminute.

Results

Affinity allows Firstminute to understand the strength of its relationships at a granular level. "It's important to know who is sending us good deal flow and who is not. Affinity provides visibility, allowing us to know whom to improve relationships with and who is plugged in with what we are doing," says Sam.

Firstminute prides itself on its ability to leverage its extensive network and provide value to its network in the form of mentorship and strategic advice, and Affinity will act as a powerful source-of-truth so they can better understand their network and identify the most lucrative opportunities.