If you’re at a venture fund and drowning in startup pitches, random intros, and a dozen spreadsheets, this is for you. Managing deal flow can get messy fast, especially if you’re working with a team or just want to avoid missing something promising. Affinity is a CRM built for managing relationships and pipelines, and it’s aimed squarely at folks like VCs and PE investors. It’s not magic, but it can save you a ton of hassle if you use it right. Here’s how to actually set up deal flow pipelines in Affinity—and more importantly, keep them working for you.
1. Figure Out What You Actually Need
Before you even open Affinity, take five minutes to sketch out what your pipeline should look like. Don’t just copy a “best practices” blog post or whatever another fund is doing. Think about your own process:
- Do you have a formal deal committee, or is it just you and a partner?
- How many stages do you actually use? (Be real: “Initial Call,” “IC Review,” “Partner Meeting,” “Term Sheet,” etc.)
- What info do you want to track at each stage? (Key contacts, intro source, sector, check size, red flags, etc.)
- Are you tracking companies, people, or both?
Pro Tip: If your pipeline is 12 columns wide but you only move deals through 6, you’re just making extra work for yourself.
2. Set Up Your First Pipeline in Affinity
Once you know what you want, log in to Affinity and start building. Don’t get lost in features you don’t need.
a. Create a New List (This Is Your Pipeline)
- Click the “+ New List” button.
- Choose “Organizations” if you’re tracking companies. (You can make pipelines for people or opportunities too, but keep it simple at first.)
- Name your list something obvious like “2024 Deal Flow.”
b. Add Stages (Columns)
- Click “Add Stage” and name each one for your process: e.g., “Sourced,” “Contacted,” “First Call,” “Diligence,” “Partner Review,” “Offer,” “Closed.”
- Less is more. It’s easier to add a stage later than to wrangle a bloated board.
c. Set Up Fields
- Affinity lets you add custom fields to track info that matters to you—lead partner, sector, round size, intro source, etc.
- Don’t overthink it. Start with just a few fields and see what you actually use.
- Pick field types that make data entry easy (dropdowns, checkboxes, dates).
What Works: The drag-and-drop Kanban view is intuitive, and you can see all your deals at a glance.
What Doesn’t: Trying to set up super-complex automations or fields you “might need later” just slows you down.
3. Get Your Deals Into the System (Without Losing Your Mind)
Now comes the grunt work: getting your existing deals into Affinity. There’s no way around it, but you can make it less painful.
Options:
- Bulk Import: Use the CSV import function. Map columns to your custom fields. It’s not perfect, but it beats copy-pasting.
- Gmail/Outlook Sync: Affinity can pull in your email contacts and conversations. This is handy, but it can get noisy—don’t expect it to magically know which companies are deals.
- Manual Entry: For new deals, add them one at a time. This is slow, but you’ll capture the right info from the start.
Pro Tip: Don’t try to backfill five years of history. Import your active pipeline and maybe the last 6-12 months. Old, dead deals rarely matter.
4. Keep Your Pipeline Clean and Usable
A pipeline is only useful if it’s up to date. Here’s how to avoid the usual mess:
- Set a Ritual: Review and update your pipeline at the same time each week. If you’ve got a team, do it together for max accountability.
- Move Deals Ruthlessly: If a deal is dead, move it to “Passed” or archive it. Don’t let your “Active” stage turn into a graveyard.
- Update Fields: When something changes—a new intro, a shifted timeline, whatever—update the fields. Otherwise, your data’s garbage.
What Works: Affinity’s reminders and activity tracking help you see when you last touched a deal or sent an email. Use this to chase up or clear out stale deals.
What Doesn’t: Relying on “automatic” updates from email sync. It’s helpful, but it won’t replace actually managing your deals.
5. Collaborate Without Chaos
Most VCs work in teams, and Affinity is built for sharing. But don’t assume your colleagues will magically start using it well.
- Assign Owners: Use the “Lead Partner” field or similar to make it clear who’s responsible for moving each deal forward.
- Notes and Comments: Use notes to log key conversations or decisions. Keep them short and actionable, not novel-length.
- Permissions: Set access so junior folks don’t move deals by accident, or so you don’t clutter everyone’s view with stuff they don’t need.
Pro Tip: Agree as a team what “Moving a Deal to the Next Stage” actually means. Otherwise, you’ll spend meetings arguing about what “in diligence” is.
6. Use Filtering and Reporting—But Don’t Get Distracted
Affinity has a lot of filters and reporting tools. They’re genuinely useful, but easy to overdo.
- Basic Filters: Slice your pipeline by source, sector, partner, or status. This is great for partner meetings.
- Quick Reports: Use built-in dashboards to see things like “Deals by Stage” or “Average Time in Pipeline.”
- Don’t Waste Hours: Fancy charts won’t help if your data’s out of date. Focus on keeping the basics clean.
What Works: Filtering for “Deals I Own” or “Deals Touched This Month” keeps you focused.
What Doesn’t: Spending all day tweaking reports to impress LPs. They care more about your real hit rate and process.
7. Automate—But Only When You’re Ready
Everyone loves automation. Affinity has options like auto-assigning deals, triggering reminders, even integrating with Slack or Zapier.
- Start Simple: Automate basic reminders (e.g., if a deal hasn’t moved in 30 days, ping the owner).
- Avoid Overkill: Don’t set up 20 automations before your core workflow works for you.
- Integrate Carefully: Connecting with tools like DocuSign or eSignature can help for tracking term sheets, but only if you’re actually using those tools.
Pro Tip: Automations are great for repetitive admin work, not for deciding which companies to invest in.
8. Ignore the Hype: What Affinity Won’t Do
Let’s be honest—Affinity is a tool, not a crystal ball.
- It won’t magically surface “the next unicorn” just because you tagged it.
- It won’t fix a broken process or a team that doesn’t use it.
- It won’t replace real relationship-building or gut checks.
But if you use it well, it’ll help you stay organized, spot deals slipping through the cracks, and spend less time chasing email threads.
9. Troubleshooting: Common Pain Points
Even with the best setup, you’ll hit snags. Here’s how to handle the usual suspects:
- Data Duplication: If you sync contacts, you’ll end up with duplicate companies or people. Merge them regularly.
- Field Bloat: If your list of custom fields gets out of hand, prune it every quarter. Only keep what you actually use.
- User Adoption: If folks aren’t using Affinity, ask why. Is it too complicated? Are there pointless steps? Fix that before adding more features.
10. Rinse, Repeat, and Iterate
Don’t treat your pipeline setup as a once-and-done project. Every quarter or so, review what’s working and what’s just taking up space.
- Kill off unused stages or fields.
- Add new ones only if you’ve got a real need.
- Get feedback from your team—what’s actually helping, and what’s just busywork?
Keep It Simple, Keep It Moving
Deal flow management isn’t glamorous, but it’ll make or break your fund’s ability to find and close great deals. Affinity won’t solve everything, but it’s a solid tool if you keep your setup lean and your process honest. Start with the basics, get your pipeline working for you, and only add complexity when you’ve earned it. If you’re spending more time fiddling with your CRM than talking to founders, you’re doing it wrong. Keep it simple, and iterate as you go.