ICP Discovery Session

Understanding the Fundraising Ecosystem

Who are the players? What drives them? Where's the real pain?

OSMOSIS | Real-time Allocator Intelligence

Core Value

Three Ways We Create Value

⚡ Speed to Market

Be first to opportunities with real-time allocator activity and better context

Current Reality 3-6 month lag
With Osmosis Real-time

🎯 Competitive Intel

Know where competitors present, how you stack up, and defend your position

Key Use Case Internal accountability
Who Uses Sales + IR

📈 Operational Efficiency

Automate junior research or reduce headcount costs

Time Saved 3 hrs/day
Reallocation Higher-value work
Persona #1

Head of IR / Partner (Capital Formation)

Who They Are

  • Owns the fundraising target
  • 15+ years in the industry
  • Strategic thinker, relationship focused
  • "Great fundraisers could have been great PMs"

What They Care About

  • Hitting fund target on schedule
  • Protecting their reputation
  • Proving they can close in tough markets
  • Broader market trends and benchmarks
Key Insight

"They think they know 80-95% of what's happening but acknowledge the 5-20% they don't know can have massive ROI"

?
Open Questions:
• How much is relationship management vs new business?
• What's their actual decision process for pursuing an LP?
• Do they control budget or need CFO approval?

Testing Approach

Focus on the "unexpected 5-20%" value prop. Position as strategic intelligence tool, not operational efficiency.

Persona #2

VP/Director IR

Who They Are

  • Manages day-to-day fundraising operation
  • Usually manages a small team (3-8 people)
  • The "operator" vs the "strategist"
  • Career goal: Promoted to partner

What They Care About

  • Looking smart in Monday pipeline reviews
  • Having their team love them
  • Getting promoted to partner
  • Not getting blamed when things go wrong
Key Insight

"They use competitive intelligence defensively - when a PM attacks them for not selling better, they can respond with competitor data"

?
Open Questions:
• How do they decide weekly priorities?
• What systems do they already use?
• Is the defensive play our wedge?

Testing Approach

Lead with competitive benchmarking. Show how it creates healthy internal accountability. Make them the hero who brings data to the fight.

Persona #3

Relationship Manager

Who They Are

  • Owns specific LP relationships
  • Territory: 50-100 LPs typically
  • Measured on meetings and pipeline contribution
  • The "hunter" in the organization

What They Care About

  • Being the trusted insider LPs call first
  • Never missing a deal in their territory
  • Building their personal brand
  • Getting warm intros, not cold calling
Marshall Wace RM

"I know 80% of what's happening but the 20% I don't is valuable"

?
Open Questions:
• How many LPs can one person effectively cover?
• What makes outreach successful vs ignored?
• How do they prioritize who to call?

Testing Approach

Focus on coverage and timing. Show them deals they're missing. Help them look like insiders who always know what's happening.

Persona #4

Associate/Analyst

Who They Are

  • Research and prep work machine
  • Usually early career (1-3 years)
  • Creates daily briefs and reports
  • The operational backbone of IR

What They Care About

  • Getting promoted
  • Sitting in the important meetings
  • Becoming indispensable to senior team
  • Learning the business
Future Standard

"Senior folks literally said 'this is going to do your job' to their junior analyst"

⚠️
The Tension:
• They spend 3+ hours on daily briefs
• Perfect for automation BUT
• Creates job security concerns

Testing Approach

Position as "elevation" not "replacement" - automate the grunt work so they can do strategic analysis. But who's the buyer if not them?

Persona #5

COO/C-Suite

Who They Are

  • Operational efficiency owner
  • Controls cross-sell decisions
  • Strategic decision maker
  • The expansion gateway

What They Care About

  • Board metrics
  • Competitive advantage
  • Running a lean operation
  • Being seen as innovative
Shenkman

"You need CEO approval for cross-sell"

🎯
Critical for Growth:
• They control expansion budget
• Want market benchmarking
• But how do we activate them?

Testing Approach

Lead with benchmarking and efficiency metrics. Show headcount optimization opportunity. Make it about competitive positioning.

Persona #6

Placement Agent MD/Partner

Who They Are

  • Outsourced fundraising for multiple clients
  • Managing 3-5 simultaneous campaigns
  • Route-to-market AND direct buyer
  • Speed is everything

What They Care About

  • Filling calendars for all clients
  • Defending their exclusivity/value
  • Looking like heroes to GP clients
  • Having unique angles and relationships
💰
Unique Dynamics:
• Speed matters even more than in-house
• Budget comes from success fees
• Do they buy for efficiency or differentiation?
?
Open Questions:
• How do they allocate intel across clients?
• Channel partner or direct sale?
• Price sensitivity vs value perception?

Testing Approach

Speed and differentiation. Show them how to win mandates and fill calendars faster. Make them look like insiders.

Additional Personas

The Extended Ecosystem

Data Procurement / Research Teams

Manage vendor relationships and data coverage

Budget Separate from IR
Cares About Comprehensiveness

RevOps/CRM Owner

Systems, process, and attribution

Focus Clean attribution
Challenge Adoption without forcing

Investment Consultant (Research)

Gatekeepers who recommend managers

Influence Major on flows
Question Buyer or influencer?

Managing Partner/CEO (Boutique)

Decision maker at smaller funds

Dynamic Buyer = User
Speed Fast decisions
🤔
Key Question: Which of these are buyers vs users vs influencers? How do we prioritize?
Evidence

What We've Actually Seen

NorthLeaf

IR engaged but Sales needs to champion - they own the number

Learning: Quota pressure drives urgency. Sales > IR for championing.

Marshall Wace

RM: "I know 80% of what's happening, but the 20% I don't know is valuable"

Learning: Even sophisticated teams have blind spots worth filling.

III Capital

Senior (60s) prints and highlights emails. Junior operates the tool daily.

Learning: Multi-generational adoption pattern works.

Future Standard

Senior to Junior: "This is going to do your job"

Learning: Automation tension is real. Position carefully.

The Defensive Intel Pattern

Teams use competitive benchmarking defensively - when PMs challenge fundraising performance, IR/Sales respond with competitor data. This creates productive internal tension that drives adoption on both sides.

Strategic Question

How Do We Test Different Segments?

High Sales Complexity
Low Sales Complexity
Small TAM
Large TAM
Enterprise Play
Long & Limited
Quick Wins
Volume Play
Mega Funds ($50B+)
Mid-Market ($5-50B)
Boutiques (<$5B)
Placement Agents
🏢
Mega Funds: Can we handle 6-month enterprise cycles? Do we have the infrastructure? Is the expansion worth the wait?
🎯
Mid-Market: Sweet spot? 30-60 day decisions, clear buyers, real budgets. But is it crowded?
🏃
Boutiques: Fast decisions, founder-led. But can they pay? Is the LTV there?

Rapid Testing Framework

Week 1-2: 10 conversations per segment
Week 3-4: 3 POCs per winning segment
Week 5-6: Double down on what converts
Success Metric: Time to "aha moment" in demo

Discussion

The Questions That Matter

🎯
The Champion Question:
Is it really Sales vs IR? Or is it whoever has quota pressure + budget control? How do we identify the true champion?
💰
The Value Prop Question:
Speed (being first) vs Intel (knowing competition) vs Efficiency (automation)? What actually gets deals done?
📊
The Wedge Question:
Is competitive benchmarking that creates internal accountability our way in? Does this pattern repeat?
🚀
The Strategy Question:
Focus on hot strategies (Private Credit/Infra) or firm characteristics (size/structure)?
🔄
The Expansion Question:
How do we activate C-suite for cross-sell? What triggers enterprise-wide adoption?
🤖
The Automation Question:
How do we position vs junior analysts? Augment or automate? Who buys if juniors feel threatened?

Current Hypothesis

ICP: Mid-market funds ($5-50B) with dedicated IR teams and quota pressure
Champion: Whoever owns the number (Sales > IR)
Wedge: Competitive intel that creates internal accountability
Value: The "unexpected 5-20%" that changes outcomes

ICP Discovery Session

Finding Product-Market Fit
in Alternative Asset Fundraising

We've learned a lot. We need your expertise to go deeper.
Help us understand who desperately needs Osmosis and why.

OSMOSIS | Real-time Allocator Intelligence

What We Do

Three Core Value Props

⚡ Speed to Market

Be first to opportunities with real-time allocator activity and better context

Current Reality 3-6 month lag
With Osmosis Real-time

🎯 Competitive Intel

Know where competitors present, how you stack up, and defend your position

Key Use Case Internal accountability
Who Uses Sales + IR

📈 Operational Efficiency

Automate junior research or reduce headcount costs

Time Saved 3 hrs/day
Reallocation Higher-value work

Quick Poll: Which resonates most with your network?

The Players

Who's Who in Fundraising

Head of IR / Partner

Owns the target. 15+ years. Strategic thinker.

Cares About Hitting targets
Insight "Knows 80%, needs 20%"

VP/Director IR

Runs day-to-day. Manages team. Pipeline reviews.

Cares About Looking smart
Uses Intel Defensively

Relationship Manager

Owns LP relationships. Measured on meetings.

Territory 50-100 LPs
Challenge Coverage gaps

Associate/Analyst

Research and prep. Daily reports. Heavy lifting.

Daily Task 3-hr briefs
Threat/Opp Automation target

COO/C-Suite

Cross-sell gateway. Efficiency focus.

Controls Expansion
Wants Benchmarking

Placement Agent

Outsourced fundraising. 3-5 clients at once.

Need Speed + angles
Budget Variable
?
Key Question: Who has the most acute pain AND budget authority? Sales teams with quotas or IR teams with targets?
Customer Evidence

Real Stories from the Field

NorthLeaf

"IR engaged but Sales needs to champion - they own the number"

Learning: Quota pressure drives urgency

Marshall Wace

"I know 80% of what's happening, but the 20% I don't know is valuable"

Learning: Even pros have blind spots

Future Standard

"This is going to do your job" - Senior to Junior Analyst

Learning: Automation creates tension

III Capital

Senior prints emails, junior operates the tool daily

Learning: Multi-gen adoption works

The Defensive Intel Play

Teams use competitive benchmarking defensively - when PMs challenge performance, they respond with competitor data. This creates internal accountability on both sides.

💡 Is this the wedge? Creating productive internal tension that drives adoption?

Strategic Crossroads

Where Should We Focus?

High Sales Complexity
Low Sales Complexity
Small TAM
Large TAM
Enterprise Play
Long & Limited
Quick Wins
Volume Play
Mega Funds ($50B+)
Mid-Market ($5-50B)
Boutiques (<$5B)
Placement Agents
1
Mega Funds: Enterprise-ready? Long cycles but massive expansion. Can we handle the complexity?
2
Mid-Market: Sweet spot? 30-60 day decisions, clear buyers, good budgets. Is this where we win?
3
Boutiques: Fast decisions but limited budgets. Is the LTV worth the sales effort?
Need Your Expertise

Help Us Answer These

🎯
The Champion Question: Is it really Sales vs IR? Or is it about who has quota pressure and budget control?
💰
The Value Prop Question: Speed to market or operational efficiency? What makes CFOs write checks?
🚀
The Strategy Question: Should we focus on hot strategies (Private Credit/Infra) or firm characteristics?
🔄
The Cross-Sell Question: How do we activate C-suite? What triggers enterprise expansion?
🤖
The Automation Question: Position as "augment" or "automate"? How do we handle the junior analyst tension?
🎪
The Market Question: Land and expand in mid-market or go straight for mega/boutique extremes?

The Big Strategic Choice

Path A: Raise Capital Faster

Focus on speed, being first, winning deals. Target Sales/IR with quotas.

Path B: Operational Efficiency

Focus on automation, headcount reduction. Target COOs and efficiency metrics.

Let's Collaborate

How You Can Help

🤝 Customer Introductions

Connect us with IR/Sales teams at mid-market funds

  • $5-50B AUM range
  • Active fundraisers
  • Private Credit/Infra focus

🧠 Advisory & Insights

Share your deep market knowledge

  • ICP validation
  • Pricing strategy
  • Go-to-market approach

📊 Market Intelligence

Help us understand the landscape

  • Competitor dynamics
  • Budget cycles
  • Decision processes

Our Current Hypothesis

ICP: Mid-market funds ($5-50B) with dedicated IR teams,
quota pressure, and Private Credit/Infrastructure focus.

Value Prop: Be the "unexpected 5-20%" that drives fundraising success.

Wedge: Competitive benchmarking that creates healthy internal accountability.

Are we right? What are we missing?

Action Items

Let's Move Forward Together

Immediate Opportunities

1
This Week: Connect us with 2-3 IR heads who fit our ICP hypothesis
2
This Month: Join our advisory network - help shape our GTM strategy
3
Ongoing: Partnership opportunities - referrals, integrations, co-marketing

Thank You

Your expertise will help us build something that truly moves the needle
for alternative asset fundraising.