Intro
I designed how fund managers share deals to their investors
Team
Brian Leung, PM
Lauren Garcia, SWE
Chris Vasquez, SWE
Timeline & Status
2 weeks
Launched in April 2023
My Role
UX Lead
Interaction Design
Visual Design
User Flows
Rapid Prototyping
Context
Simplifying deal sharing
Sydecar is an early-stage deal execution startup that allows fund managers to create and run their investment funds.
Sydecar's two customers:
Fund managers – We want them to create & run deals easily
Investors – We want their investors to trust and use Sydecar to invest in deals
I led the end-to-end design of deal sharing and played a pivotal role in defining it. We saved fund managers from doing extra administrative work.
The problem
Deal sharing was tedious & error-prone
Before, to invite investors to a deal, fund managers needed to fill out a form for each investor with specific deal terms. This was inefficient because typically fund managers have a set of investors that all got the same terms. My solution help fund managers' save time & streamline deal sharing.
Each new investor required a form
Design Requirements
Optimizing for ease while maintaining security
Based on customer feedback, our primary goal was to enhance the ease of deal sharing for fund managers while preserving confidentiality.
Easy integration
Sharing should fit naturally into their current workflow
Private
Only invited investors should have access to deal terms
Efficient
Investors should easily share deals to anyone they choose
Issues
Auditing the current experience
By auditing the previous design, I wanted to rethink the user experience. Reduce redundant work for fund managers and keep deal terms simple.
Deal invitation audit
Iterations
Exploring and evaluating solutions
Two main approaches emerged as potential solutions. We tried to learn which one would integrate more naturally with customers.
Link a CRM • Upload list
Pros
Efficient - can add many people at once
Builds off other CRMs
Cons
Prone to be outdated
Dependent on external data
Not easily integrated in their current workflow
Deal link
Pros
Easily integrated in their current workflow
Requires Sydecar to be the source of truth (which it should be)
Cons
Investors are self-selected
Deals are at risk to be overly shared
We quickly learned that many leads don't meticulously track their investors with a CRM-like tool. Instead, SPV creation seemed like an intimate & exclusive process.
Typical deal invitation
Many leads use group messaging or email groups to communicate directly with their investors. The messaging group itself was the most effective communication channel for leads. To create a seamless experience, we chose "Deal links" which allows leads to create a specific investment proposal and package it in a simple link.
Final Design
We created simpler way to share investment deals
Deal links allowed fund managers to
Create a investment offer
Share it as a Sydecar link
Manage interested investors
Create a deal link
Copy & share a deal link
Approve & reject requestors
Outcome
Fund managers can rest a little easier
With the launch of deal links, fund managers could invite investors with just a few deal links, saving them time and simplifying deal sharing.
63%
time saved
adding investors to deals
249
deal links
created & shared with investors
3
weeks
implemented after handoff
Retrospective
Design solutions that work into existing workflows
I learned the importance of creating a complimentary experience.
Leverage exising patterns
Leverage accepted patterns to solve similar problems
Identify opportunities
While focusing on a problem, remain open to opportunities
Default to simplicity
Avoid adding complexity unless absolutely necessary
Next up: Investor Onboarding
