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AI agent for venture capitalists

Founder Reference Check Agent

A comparable, themed reference summary with at least a set number of independent sources per theme

ReportingFinance
See how it worksGet access
Founder Reference Check Agent: what goes in, what the agent does and what you get

What it does

In diligence, reference calls decide whether a partner trusts a founder, yet notes sit in personal documents and cover different questions. For a company in diligence, this agent builds a list of people to call from the founder's history: former colleagues, managers, co-founders, investors and customers, including some the founder did not suggest. It drafts outreach for each person. Once approved, it tracks replies and schedules calls. After each call it logs structured notes by theme: leadership, handling conflict, delivery and honesty. If a theme has too few sources, or the sources disagree, it proposes more people to contact. It then writes a summary that shows evidence by theme. The partner approves all outreach and reads the final summary. Edge case: a former colleague who gives a negative view is flagged for a second, independent source before it is weighted.

How it works

Follow the arrows from top to bottom. The orange dashed arrow is the loop: when a check fails, the agent goes back and tries again.

Start and resultWhat it doesA check on its own workWaits for your OKGoes back and retries
ApprovedYes, continueYes, continueApprovedNoNo 1 STARTS WHEN Deal enters diligence 2 USES A TOOL Build a candidate reference list from the founder'shistory 3 DOES Select people and draft personalized outreach 4 YOU APPROVE Partner approves the list and the outreach 5 USES A TOOL Send outreach and track replies 6 DOES Log structured notes by theme after each call 7 CHECKS THE RESULT Does every theme have enough independent sources? If not: propose additional people for the thin themesand draft outreach. Back to step 2. 8 CHECKS THE RESULT Do sources agree on each theme? If not: mark the conflict and add a tie-breaker sourceto the list. Back to step 6. 9 DOES Write the summary with evidence by theme and gaps 10 YOU APPROVE Partner reads and approves the final summary 11 RESULT Reference file saved to the deal record
Read the steps as a list
  1. Deal enters diligence
  2. Build a candidate reference list from the founder's history
  3. Select people and draft personalized outreach
  4. Partner approves the list and the outreachThe agent waits here for your OK.
  5. Send outreach and track replies
  6. Log structured notes by theme after each call
  7. Does every theme have enough independent sources?If not: propose additional people for the thin themes and draft outreach. Back to step 2.
  8. Do sources agree on each theme?If not: mark the conflict and add a tie-breaker source to the list. Back to step 6.
  9. Write the summary with evidence by theme and gaps
  10. Partner reads and approves the final summaryThe agent waits here for your OK.
  11. Reference file saved to the deal record

How it decides

A theme is covered when it has at least three independent sources. Negative or conflicting feedback needs a second source before it is reported as a pattern.

  • Require 3 independent sources per theme
  • Require 2 sources before reporting a negative pattern
  • Include at least 2 people the founder did not nominate
  • Stop outreach to a person who declines

Make it yours

Every agent is a starting point. You choose these settings for your own situation.

  • Themes and interview questions
  • Sources needed per theme (default 3)
  • Who must approve outreach
  • Where notes are stored

What keeps you in control

It always asks you first

  • Outreach list and messages
  • Final summary

Hard limits

  • Never contacts anyone without partner approval
  • Keeps notes confidential and attributed only inside the fund

It stops when

  • Done: all themes have enough sources and the partner approves the summary
  • Stop: the founder withdraws or the deal is dropped

Set it up

We guide you through the set-up, step by step

Members get the full set-up guide for this agent. No technical skills needed: you copy, paste and upload.

10 minto set it up in your AI
5 AIsChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Grok
  • One set of instructions to paste into your AI, with the clicks for ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Gemini and Grok
  • The agent then walks you through connecting your own data, one source at a time
  • A downloadable copy with the flow chart, the rules and the full guide
Get access to this agent

An example run

What happensFor Northlight Labs, the agent proposed 9 people and the partner approved 8. After 6 calls, delivery had 5 sources but conflict handling had only 1. The check failed, so it added two former engineers. One of them contradicted an earlier positive note, so the agent added a tie-breaker call. The summary showed 4 positive and 1 mixed source on conflict handling.

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