Investors require lots of information to make an informed decision on investing in your startup. The more information you can provide to them, the faster they’ll be able go through it and take the decision. This is why you should to ensure your data room is loaded with key documents prior to starting conversations with investors (or at a minimum, as early as you can).
In addition to the key investment documents you’ll need for any due diligence, founders should include their most recent investor presentation, basic financials for past performance and projections, cap table, and company organization/formation documentation (including business certificates, articles of incorporation, tax information, etc.). Being able to access these documents in your investor data room will allow investors to quickly and efficiently create an agreement memo or a conversation between their partners which could lead to an offer for a term sheet.
A deal attribution analysis is another useful document to add to your investor data rooms. It demonstrates how your team has invested in other startups, and helps assure potential LPs that you’re capable of making good investments. It is possible to include additional information such as intellectual property information, contracts with customers and suppliers marketing research, and much more.
You can add documents to your data room at any point however it’s essential to only grant access to investors who is committed to the terms of a termsheet. You may slow down the process by allowing an investor to access your data room before he’s ready. They could even decide to not invest.