Data desk
1st to 2nd Meeting Conversion
Insights drawn from thousands of investor calls — with benchmarks and diagnostics for wherever you are in the process.
In a fundraising process, the 1st to 2nd meeting conversion helps measure and quantify the quality of the response from capital markets.
For 1st to 2nd meeting conversion rates, benchmarks vary significantly by stage, sector, and geography. Comparisons against benchmarks can help point to a specific diagnosis.
As an example, for a 82B pre-seed startup, the benchmark for 1st to 2nd meeting conversion is 33%. A company that converts <10% of first meetings into a 2nd discussion can run a diagnosis exercise to get smarter about how to improve the response from capital markets.
The below analysis draws on thousands of investor calls — with
benchmarks and diagnostics for wherever you are in the process,
Understanding Benchmarks
How conversion rates vary by stage and sector
The following is a summary of conversion rates across sectors and stages, drawn from Metal's proprietary dataset of thousands of investor calls.
Across all stages and sectors, 1st to 2nd meeting conversion benchmarks range from 27% to 55%. The following are typical benchmarks for most sectors in the US, broken out by stage,
Pre seed
~35%
For pre-seed rounds in the US, 1st to 2nd meeting conversion stands at ~35% across sectors.
Seed
~37%
For seed rounds in the US, about 37% of 1st calls convert into 2nd meetings.
Series A
~40%
For Series A in the US, 1st to 2nd meeting conversion stands at ~40%.
Across the data set, benchmarks vary significantly based on stage and sector. Typically, founders should look at a data set of at least 15 meetings to assess how conversion compares against benchmarks.
At Seed and Series A, the largest variations tend to be based on revenue and traction. At Pre-seed, the largest variation is based on the founder's background.
For founders raising in unique environments, such as a Demo Day for a given accelerator, the above benchmarks may or may not be applicable.
Running Diagnostics
Identifying the root cause when conversion falls below benchmark
There are typically three broad areas to explore when the first to second call conversion falls below benchmarks.
Investor Targeting
Are we targeting the right investors? A misaligned list is one of the most common factors behind low conversion rates.
Round Readiness
On company metrics, do we meet investor expectations for our stage? It's not always about how you're pitching.
Pitch Analysis
Are we presenting the opportunity in the most compelling manner?
In most raise processes, the first 10 calls are rough as founders are still learning the ropes of presenting their work to capital markets. Sometimes, a lower conversion is simply representative of the founder's stage in the raise process.
Adjusting to Market Demand
Using conversion as a signal for price
For many companies, 1st to 2nd call conversion rates are significantly ahead of benchmarks. Founders often use this to run an effective price discovery process.
A company that is converting >75% of 1st calls into 2nd discussions is likely to land multiple term sheets with pricing power.
