How efficient is your deal flow? Enter how many startups pass through each stage of your pipeline and see conversion rates, drop-off points, and where you sit versus typical early-stage VC fund benchmarks.
| Stage Transition | Input | Output | Conv. Rate | Drop-off | vs Benchmark |
|---|
Benchmarks reflect typical angel/micro-VC through Series A funds. Top-decile funds convert 2–3× better on the seen→closed metric. Your mileage will vary with thesis tightness, sector, and whether you lead or follow.
For early-stage funds, ~0.5–1.5% of deals seen ultimately close. Top-decile funds cluster around 2–3% because they have a sharper thesis and see better deal flow upstream. Below 0.3% usually means you're sourcing too broadly or screening too loosely.
The biggest drop is almost always seen → screened (~70–80% attrition is normal). The most diagnostic stage is meeting → term sheet: if that's below 15%, you're taking too many low-conviction meetings. If term sheet → close is below 40%, your terms or founder relationships need work.
At a typical 1% overall conversion, you need ~100 qualified deals seen per quarter to close one. That's why solo GPs and micro-funds rely heavily on proprietary screening signals — like GitDealFlow's GitHub-velocity data — to compress the funnel without sacrificing quality.