The Solo GP Playbook: From Deck Drop to Term Sheet in 72 Hours

60% of new VC funds are solo GPs. The best ones aren't working harder — they're replacing the work of 3-5 people with a system that runs 24/7.

This playbook shows you exactly how, using tools that exist today.

The Solo GP Reality

You're the entire fund. Every week you're juggling:

• Sourcing — Finding deals worth looking at
• Screening — Filtering 30-50+ intros down to 3-5 worth a call
• Diligence — Going deep on the ones that matter
• Portfolio support — Helping the companies you've backed
• LP relations — Quarterly updates, deal rationale, pipeline metrics
• Admin — Everything else

Traditional funds split this across analysts, associates, principals, and partners. A junior analyst alone costs $60-80K/year.

The question isn't whether to automate. It's what to automate — and what to keep human.

The Rule: Automate the Repeatable, Humanize the Judgment

Automate These

Keep Human

Your Athanor Stack — One Platform, Not Five Tools

Here's what used to require a CRM, a research tool, a pipeline tracker, a report generator, and an analyst. Now it's one login.

1. Sourcing Layer

• Inbound: Share your submission link. Founders fill out the evaluation form or upload a deck. You wake up to scored deals.
• Outbound: Browse The Abyss — evaluated startups filtered by thesis, stage, geography. Discover validated deals that match your criteria.
• Import Pipeline: Got 20 decks from a conference? Drag & drop PDFs, CSVs, or URLs. Bulk upload and batch-score in minutes.

2. Screening Layer

• Lite Screening (3-5 min): Quick Potential score. Filter fast. Archive anything below your threshold.
• Pass/dig ratio: Target 10:1 — 10 screened, 1 deep dive.
• Time budget: Under 5 minutes per initial screen, not 45.

3. Diligence Layer

• Assessment (15 min): Full dual-axis scoring (Potential + Readiness). 5 specialized agents — Team, Market, Business, Risk, Product — plus adversarial debate.
• Verification (deep): Pro-tier models (GPT-5-pro, Gemini 3 Pro, Opus 4.5), Entity Graph visualization, network analysis, enhanced confidence scoring.
• Living Intelligence (V4): Scenario modeling, financial projections, competitive moats, founder DNA profiling. Reports evolve as new information surfaces.
• Data Room: Founder sends materials? Collect everything in one place per deal. No more hunting through email.

4. Decision Layer

• IC memo: Auto-drafted from your Assessment. Evidence chains, confidence intervals, bear case included.
• Expert Opinion: Need a domain expert's take? Share the deal in one click — control exactly what they see. Collect and compare multiple perspectives.
• Scoring framework: Every deal scored the same way. GemScore creates the institutional memory you'd otherwise lose.

5. Team & LP Layer

• Team Seats: Invite your analyst, advisor, or LP observer with role-based access (Admin, Member, Viewer). Start solo, add people when ready.
• Structured Feedback: Passing on a deal? Send professional, actionable feedback to the founder instead of ghosting. Build your reputation as the GP who adds value even when saying no.
• PDF Export: Branded reports ready to share with co-investors or attach to LP quarterly updates.

The 72-Hour Diligence Sprint

This is the workflow that turns 2-3 weeks of scattered diligence into a focused 72-hour sprint.

Hour 0-4: Bulk Screen

Upload overnight decks via Import Pipeline. AI generates Lite scores in 3-5 minutes each. Batch process 10-20 at once. Sort by Potential score, archive anything below 50.

Your time: 30 minutes (uploading + reviewing scores)

Hour 4-8: Deep Dive Top 3

Run full Assessments on shortlisted deals. 5 AI agents analyze independently, then debate. You get dual-axis scoring, DD questions auto-generated, and a bear case for each deal.

Your time: 45 minutes (reviewing 3 reports, noting questions)

Hour 8-48: Founder Dialog

Share targeted follow-up questions with founders. Collect materials in your Data Room. Run reference checks in parallel. If you need a technical opinion, use Expert Opinion to get a domain expert's take.

Your time: 2-3 hours (calls, emails, reading responses)

Hour 48-72: Decide

IC-ready memo is auto-drafted from the Assessment. Go/no-go with evidence. If yes, move to terms. If no, send structured feedback — the founder gets actionable notes, you build goodwill for future deals.

Your time: 1 hour (reading memo, making the call)

The Math

The 10-Hour Week

Here's how a solo GP structures their week with Athanor handling the grunt work:

Total: 10 hours/week on core dealflow. The rest is relationship maintenance, content creation, and strategic thinking — the stuff that actually builds your edge.

Where AI Wins (And Where It Doesn't)

AI Wins

1. Speed — 5 minutes per deck instead of 2 hours
2. Consistency — Same 5-agent rubric, every deal, no fatigue
3. Coverage — Screen 50+/week without burning out
4. Documentation — Every deal gets an IC-ready memo, not a sticky note
5. Pattern detection — Adversarial debate catches red flags you'd miss tired on a Friday
6. Institutional memory — GemScore history means you can look back at why you passed

AI Limitations

1. Founder chemistry — No model can replace sitting across from someone
2. Market timing — AI doesn't know what's "hot" in your LP's mind right now
3. Network leverage — Who knows who still matters enormously
4. Thesis evolution — Your learning from portfolio companies can't be outsourced
5. LP trust — They're betting on you, not your tools

The split is clear: AI handles the repeatable analytical work. You handle the judgment, relationships, and taste.

Building Your Unfair Advantage

Every solo GP needs compounding edges. Here are the four that matter:

Speed Edge

You can move from deck-to-term-sheet in 72 hours. Multi-partner funds take 2-3 weeks minimum. Founders notice. The best deals go to the fastest credible investor.

Process Edge

Every deal scored the same way. LPs see a repeatable, defensible framework — not "I liked the founder." When you can show your screening funnel (500 screened → 50 deep-dived → 5 invested), capital allocation conversations get easier.

Network Edge

Use Expert Opinion to tap your network for domain-specific DD without giving away the whole deal. Build a reputation for structured, thoughtful passes. Founders who get good feedback from you send their best referrals back.

Cost Edge

Your all-in infrastructure cost is under $6K/year. A comparable setup with an analyst + tools is $80K+. That cost advantage compounds — lower management fee burn means more capital for follow-ons.

Plans Built for How You Invest

All plans include: private & secure reports, adversarial debate, evidence chains, shareable links, PDF export.

Enterprise and on-premise options available for funds needing custom volumes, white-label branding, or full data sovereignty.

Coming in Q2 2026

We're not done. Here's what's shipping next:

• Agent API — Plug Athanor into your existing stack via REST API
• Multi-Language — Arabic, Turkish, and French for MENA and Francophone deal flow
• Financial Projections — AI-generated driver-based models in your reports
• Meeting Intelligence — Auto-capture founder meetings, extract key signals
• MCP Server — AI-native deal sourcing for Claude, GPT, and custom AI agents

Getting Started

1. Try a free screening — Upload one deck and see what you get
2. View sample reports — See exactly what an Assessment looks like
3. Pick a plan — Start with Solo, upgrade when you need more
4. Import your pipeline — Drag & drop your backlog of decks and screen them all in an afternoon

60% of new funds are solo GPs. The ones who win aren't working harder. They're working with better tools.

Start your 7-day free trial — less than a part-time intern, more than a full-time analyst.

— The Athanor Team