Whisper List - The World's First Ranking of VCs by Network Strength
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VC rankings always focus on money - who returned the most, who invested the most, who has the most.
But founders care about something else entirely, something supremely simple: can you help them build a billion dollar business?
Introducing the Whisper List, the world's first ranking of VCs by the strength of their network. Discover which investors are connected where it counts - so you can see who can actually help you win.
Replies
Draftboard
Hey Product Hunt! 👋
When investors say “We’ll introduce you to our whole network,” we founders all nod politely - but we have no idea if that’s true. (Do they even have a strong network? Is it relevant to you?)
In the process of building our core Draftboard product (a warm intro mapping agent) we were continually reminded of how much network strength varies by individual - some people are just bursting with connections, while others are…not.
So we decided to run a test.
Using Draftboard’s network graphing engine, we scored and ranked hundreds of the world’s top VCs to see if they truly are connected to decision makers across metros and functions - like Heads of Finance in NYC or Heads of Product in SF.
And the data was fascinating - so we’ve decided to share it with the world.
That’s how the Whisper List was born: it’s the world’s first ranking of VCs by network strength - not by returns or deal count, but by how directly they’re connected to the real decision-makers - i.e. the people who buy things.
A few things you can do:
🥇 Search any VC - check out their network strength and ranks.
🏙️ Browse metro × function lists - see who tops “NYC × Marketing,” “SF × Engineering,” etc.
📊 View detailed profiles - breakdowns by function, seniority, etc.
🎯 Claim your spot - if you’re a VC, you can verify your profile and see how you compare to your peers.
We built this because real access - not pitch decks or vibes - drives outcomes. And because we believe the future of fundraising (and even more importantly: sales) will be powered by human relationships, not AI-generated cold emails by the millions.
If you’re a founder: check out which VCs actually know your buyers. If you’re an investor: claim your profile, show your strengths, and maybe discover some new ones!
Would love your feedback -
Zach & the Draftboard team
Saywise
@zach_roseman Congrats on the launch! How do you plan to get more data onto the platform? (User submission? data crawling? etc)
Draftboard
@cksaywise Mostly it will come from apis (e.g. crunchbase or pitchbook) or users providing us more data in order to make the product better for them (e.g. they connect their mail / calendar so we can see frequency & recency of communication).
Klariqo AI Voice Assistants
Oh wow this looks really solid. Yeah, I probably have thousands of connections, and I don't even remember who does what, haha. So this could be really helpful
Draftboard
@ansh_deb 100% - the draftboard agent can actually make sense of them now. and we used that tech build the Whisper List scoring system!
Cal ID
Wonderful to see this launching great work and wishing you all the best
Draftboard
@sanskarix thank you!
Cal ID
@zach_roseman You're getting features for sure, Congratulations 🎉
Cursor
Cool list! Great way to find helpful VCs, well done Zach and team!
Draftboard
@benln thanks ben - couldn't have done this without you (literally!)
Swytchcode
Congrats on the launch and keep up the good work
Draftboard
@chilarai thanks!!
Pretty Prompt
Looks great! Thanks for building this @zach_roseman !
Draftboard
@ilaiszp thank you Ilai! Just following in your builder footsteps :)
Coord Curb Explorer
Love it! Can’t wait to use this actually find the right intro to connect with someone.
Draftboard
@feldman much appreciated!
This actually solves one of the most tedious parts of networking Scrolling through connections and figuring out intro paths is exhausting Draftboard’s approach of mapping and scoring paths sounds like a real time-saver I’m curious though, how does it handle nuanced relationships or less obvious connections where context and trust matter most Could it factor in relationship strength and history to suggest the best approach
Draftboard
@prisans Great question: right now we use experiential and network connection data to power the scores, but we'll be integrating a bunch more inputs soon: frequency/amount/recency of email and calendar interactions; engagement (likes/comments) on posts; investor relationships (eg from crunchbase/pitchbook); and we'll always be on the lookout for other signals to incorporate. (One day I'd love to build an MCP into whatsapp/imessage/dialer so users can make their scores even more predictive based on who they interact with the most)
@zach_roseman That sounds really promising pulling in engagement and interaction data will make the scoring way more accurate and useful The idea of integrating with WhatsApp or iMessage later is next level it would make the insights feel way more real-time and personal Excited to see how those extra data layers improve the quality of intros over time
Nice work @zach_roseman, @benln, and @tedgonder! 🎉 Loved discovering Whisper List—your metro × function filtering (like "NYC × Marketing" or "SF × Engineering") is a real game changer for founders who need intros to specific decision-makers, not just generic VC connections. That Draftboard network graphing engine powering the scoring system is incredibly thoughtful—ranking by actual network strength rather than AUM. How do you see this evolving over the next 6 months? Wishing you great momentum!
Draftboard
@benln @tedgonder @kjosephabraham Great question - here are the immediate next steps:
- Map & rank thousands more top VCs - more geos, more titles (eg Principal, VP, etc), more functional areas (e.g. Engineering, Design, Legal)
- Add functionality to see the top VCs by firm (e.g. Accel, Lightspeed, A16Z)
- Add mappings for which VCs are most connected to founders in particular sector (e.g. DefenseTech, FinTech, Cyber, etc)
- Expand to Angels, and then to Non-VCs (eg CROs, VPs of Sales, VPs of Marketing, etc)
Cool idea. How large is your contact database? Or do you dynamically search using AI tools based on the client’s request?
Draftboard
@mykyta_semenov_ you mean for Whisper List or Draftboard? Right now we've mapped ~1,000 VCs networks for Whisper List, but last time I looked there were 8,000 VCs in the US alone, so we've got a long way to go!
@zach_roseman Well, not bad already!