{
  "version": "1.3.0",
  "releasedAt": "2026-05-20",
  "kpi": {
    "rogueId": "fundraising.investors_in_pipeline",
    "slug": "investors_in_pipeline",
    "domain": "fundraising",
    "defaultLabel": "Investors in Pipeline",
    "description": "Count of distinct investors actively engaged in the current round — defined as taken a first meeting and not yet declined or fully committed. Effectively a fundraising-funnel \"qualified leads\" number. Common pitfall: rosy pipelines that include investors who ghosted weeks ago — best practice (echoed across NfX, First Round Review, and Bessemer founder essays) is to age-out any investor with no contact in 14+ days. Track separately from total intros taken and from hard commitments to make the conversion math legible.",
    "fieldType": "number",
    "unit": null,
    "maturity": "general",
    "suggestedForStages": [
      "preSeed",
      "seed",
      "seriesA",
      "seriesB",
      "seriesC"
    ],
    "defaultOwningFunctions": [
      "Finance"
    ],
    "stageRelevance": {
      "preSeed": "core",
      "seed": "core",
      "seriesA": "core",
      "seriesB": "core",
      "seriesC": "core"
    },
    "definitionSource": {
      "tier": "editorial",
      "sourceName": "imboard Editorial",
      "sourceUrl": null,
      "sectionRef": null,
      "publicationDate": "2026-04-01",
      "attributionNotice": null
    },
    "formula": "Count of distinct investors in active engagement (intro / first meeting / partner meeting / diligence). Excludes declined, closed, or stale (>14 days no contact) investors.",
    "whyItMatters": "Healthy round dynamics rest on competitive tension — a thin pipeline means weaker negotiating position on price and terms. Board reads this to gauge whether the CEO needs help with intros.",
    "interpretationGuidance": "Rule of thumb across stages: ~40–60 first meetings → ~10–15 partner meetings → ~3–5 term sheets → 1 lead. Active pipeline (post first meeting, pre decline) below 8–10 at the round midpoint typically warrants the board opening their networks.",
    "relatedKpiIds": [
      "fundraising.committed_amount",
      "fundraising.round_status",
      "fundraising.strategy"
    ],
    "metricBasis": {
      "timeBasis": "point_in_time",
      "production": "primary"
    }
  }
}