A Billboard is a single visual representation of many data points for understanding a deal you’re evaluating. You can think of a Billboard as taking an entire row of data points from a spreadsheet and rearranging them into a streamlined system that fits within the boundary of a trading card.

You may be wondering why this is necessary?

Why not leave it in spreadsheet form?

Good question. We’ve changed the design of visualizing a deal for several reasons.

• Efficiency Part I: Most investors manage their deal flow via some form of spreadsheet and looking at individual rows on a spreadsheet which often span several columns can be a nightmare. Constantly moving up and down, and left and right in an attempt to remember what characteristics a deal has (stage, rating, various values, etc) is enough to send someone over the edge. Billboards allow users to instantly see everything they need to know about a deal without moving ones eyes, much less screen position. This saves a tremendous amount of time and frustration when managing deal flow at a professional level.
• Efficiency Part II: Anyone who has been sent more than a handful of deals knows that the manner and structure of how deals are shared is disorganized at best. Webforms, long emails, short emails, Linkedin messages. Does it include a deck or other documents? The list goes on and on. With Outpost founders are asked to input all of this data on your behalf. It takes them less than 90 seconds to complete and leaves you, the investor, with PERFECT data that is arranged in a consistent format. When a new deal arrives, you and your team will know everything you need to know to determine initial interest.
• Mobile: Have you ever tried viewing a detailed spreadsheet on a mobile device? It’s nearly impossible and the obvious reaction is to stop and pull out a laptop in order to not go insane from the frustration. With Billboards, users can always review their current lineup of deal flow. All it takes is our mobile app and a swipe of a thumb and you’re flying through your deals regardless of whether you’re walking the dog or waiting to board the plane.

Now that you know why we use Billboards, it’s time to learn what makes up a Billboard.