Investment and Startups

Startup Deal Flow Management System

A centralized Airtable CRM that consolidates deal submissions from Typeform and manual sourcing into one evaluated, automated pipeline.

Platform
Airtable
Industry
Investment and Startups
Automations
6
Integrations
Typeform, Outlook Email
Read time
7 min read

What was broken

A startup investment team was sourcing deals from multiple places — Typeform submissions, manual entries, referrals — with no single system to hold everything together. Deals were being reviewed inconsistently, accepted opportunities weren't automatically moving forward, and the team had no real visibility into where each deal stood at any given moment. The process worked until it didn't. Promising deals were slipping through the gaps simply because the system couldn't keep up with the volume.

What I designed

Built a centralized Airtable CRM that pulls deal submissions from Typeform and manual sourcing into one structured pipeline with clear evaluation stages, automated decision workflows and Airtable Interfaces that give the team a clean working environment for intake, review and pipeline management.

How information flows

  1. 1Typeform Submission or Manual Entry
  2. 2Airtable Intake Database
  3. 3Review Interface
  4. 4Accept or Reject Decision
  5. 5Automated Pipeline Record Creation
  6. 6Team Assignment Notification
  7. 7Active Pipeline Management
  8. 8Deal Closed

The numbers behind it

2
Tables
6
Automations
4
Views
3
Interfaces
Typeform & Outlook
Integrations
2
Workflows

Features and business value

Unified deal intake database

Consolidates submissions from Typeform and manual sourcing.

Eliminates fragmented deal tracking.

Evaluation pipeline

Stages: New, Under Review, Approved, Rejected.

Creates consistent review process across all deals.

Airtable Interfaces

Separate interfaces for intake, review and active pipeline management.

Gives each workflow a clean dedicated workspace.

Automated pipeline creation

Triggers when a deal is accepted and creates a record in the active pipeline automatically.

Eliminates manual handoff.

Team assignment notifications

Notifies the right team member when a deal is assigned.

Ensures immediate awareness.

Deal intake form

Structured external submission form for standardized deal entries.

Eliminates unstructured inbound submissions.

Every automation, explained

01Automation 1
Trigger
Typeform submission received.
Action
Create intake record and update source field.
Outcome
Every external submission lands in the system automatically.
02Automation 2
Trigger
Manual record created.
Action
Update source field and set default status.
Outcome
Consistent data structure regardless of entry method.
03Automation 3
Trigger
Review Action set to Accept.
Action
Update Decision field to Accepted.
Outcome
Clear decision tracking without manual field updates.
04Automation 4
Trigger
Decision set to Accepted.
Action
Create new record in Pipeline table.
Outcome
Accepted deals move to active pipeline without manual handoff.
05Automation 5
Trigger
Pipeline record created.
Action
Send team assignment notification.
Outcome
Immediate team awareness of new active deals.
06Automation 6
Trigger
Decision set to Rejected.
Action
Update Pipeline Stage to Rejected.
Outcome
Rejected deals are cleanly closed out automatically.

Before and after

Before
  • Deals arriving from multiple sources with no unified system
  • Inconsistent review process
  • Accepted deals requiring manual pipeline entry
  • No visibility into deal progression
  • Missed opportunities due to untracked submissions
After
  • All deals captured in one database regardless of source
  • Consistent evaluation process enforced by the system
  • Accepted deals move to pipeline automatically
  • Full visibility into every deal and its current stage
  • Nothing falls through the gaps

Estimated impact

High

Reduction in manual deal tracking

Significant

Improvement in pipeline visibility

Moderate to High

Time saved on manual pipeline creation

Inside the system

New Deals Interface

Review interface listing incoming deals with accept or reject action.

Purpose · Enforces a consistent evaluation workflow.

Pipeline Dashboard

Kanban view of active deals across pipeline stages with owners and assignees.

Purpose · Single view of every active opportunity.

Pipeline Grid

Detailed pipeline table with stage, intro call owner and DD assignee per deal.

Purpose · Granular pipeline management at a glance.

Intake Database

Master intake table consolidating Typeform, manual, referral and event submissions.

Purpose · Unified source of truth across all deal sources.

Accept Deal Automation

Multi-step automation that updates decision, creates pipeline record and notifies the team.

Purpose · Eliminates manual handoff to the active pipeline.

Deal Intake Form

Structured external submission form for standardized deal entries.

Purpose · Removes unstructured inbound submissions.

What this system delivers

Problem solved

Multi-source deal flow with no unified pipeline or handoff between intake and active management.

System built

Airtable CRM with two tables, three interfaces, and six automations connecting intake to active pipeline.

Operational improvements

Consistent reviews, zero manual handoff, and full visibility from first submission to closed deal.

All data shown in screenshots is sample data used for demonstration purposes.