The first meeting with a GP sets the tone for everything that follows. LPs who walk in prepared ask sharper questions, spot inconsistencies faster, and cut through the deck faster. The ones who wing it end up in 45-minute sessions they could have screened out in five.
Before you take the call, pull these five data points.
1. AUM
Know the fund size before you get on the phone. A manager running $200M and targeting a $2B close is a different conversation than one sitting at $1.5B on the same target. AUM relative to target tells you where they are in the raise and, often, how much social proof they have already collected. It also tells you whether the strategy is sized to match the mandate. A fund that is too small for the stated strategy or too large for the team running it is worth flagging before you sit down.
2. Vintage Year
Vintage year tells you what market conditions shaped the fund's early portfolio. A 2019 vintage had a different entry environment than a 2021 or 2023 fund. If you are comparing multiple managers in the same strategy, vintage is a prerequisite for any meaningful performance comparison. It also tells you where the fund is in its lifecycle — whether you are looking at a manager still deploying capital, one managing through a portfolio, or one in the middle of a new raise.
3. Performance vs. Benchmark
Net IRR and TVPI matter, but only in context. Pull the benchmark for the relevant vintage and strategy before the meeting. A 14% net IRR reads differently against a 10% benchmark than it does against an 18% one. Ask for performance through the most recent quarter in advance so you are not receiving the numbers for the first time across the table. How a manager responds to that request also tells you something.
4. Fund Status
Is the fund open, closed, or still in formation? Is this a flagship strategy or a newer vertical for the firm? Status tells you whether you are being asked to lead a round, follow existing LPs, or fill out a final close. Each carries a different level of diligence intensity and timeline pressure. A manager at 40% of target is a different conversation than one at 90%.
5. Investment Style
Strategy description, sector focus, geographic concentration, control vs. minority, check size range. If the GP's mandate overlaps significantly with existing portfolio exposure, that is a conversation-shaping fact to have before the meeting rather than during it. Style drift from prior funds is also worth surfacing early. Managers do not always volunteer it.
The Dakota View
Dakota Marketplace tracks 44,000+ investment strategies across private equity, venture capital, private credit, private real estate, real assets, and hedge funds and liquid alternatives, with AUM, vintage year, performance benchmarks, fundraising status, and strategy detail updated in real time.
For LPs, that means you can pull all five data points on any manager in the database before the first call. For GPs, it means the LPs sitting across from you already have the baseline.
To see how Dakota supports your diligence process, book a demo here.
