Most small firms start with a spreadsheet. It works, until it doesn’t. Here is the honest case: where spreadsheets hold up, where they break, and what Kept does differently.
Why most small firms start with a spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is free, flexible and everyone already knows how to use one. You can build a pipeline or portfolio tracker in an afternoon, share it, add columns on the fly and track whatever your process needs. For a manager writing the first few cheques, that is often enough. Notion and Airtable bases work the same way.
The format also gives you control. You decide what to track and in what order. That ownership is a real advantage early on.
Where spreadsheets break
A spreadsheet is a copy of your pipeline at whatever moment someone last updated it. Between updates, the numbers go stale. With 20 or 30 portfolio companies sending updates at different times, that gap grows fast.
No cell records where a number came from. A revenue figure might be from last month’s update, a deck from six months ago, or something a founder mentioned on a call. When someone asks a follow-up question, tracing the source takes time you don’t have.
Relationships don’t live in rows. Intros happen in WhatsApp threads, follow-ups sit in your inbox, and the history of a relationship spans months. You manage it in one place and record it in another, if at all.
Portfolio numbers move from founder update to spreadsheet by hand. Copy one figure wrong and it stays wrong until someone catches it. Version sprawl makes it worse: after three people have edited the same file for six months, nobody is sure which tab is current or why a number changed.
What changes with Kept
Kept builds your record from the work you already do instead of rows someone maintains. Connect Gmail and Google Calendar, add Google Meet, WhatsApp and Slack when you’re ready, and Kept creates records for deals, people, companies, co-investors and portfolio companies. It’s current within an hour.
Contacts, companies and conversations stay connected. When a founder emails an update, it lands on their company record. Relationship history and portfolio data live in the same place.
Portfolio tracking without copy-paste
When founders send updates or decks, Kept reads ARR, runway, headcount and milestones and shows each figure with its source: the document and page it came from, such as “Q3 deck · p.7”.
So when someone asks why a company’s ARR changed, you can answer with a source, not a guess. And if Kept reads a number differently from how your firm does, correct it once with a reason and it applies that reading next time.
When a spreadsheet is still fine
If you are tracking a handful of relationships, a spreadsheet probably covers it. If you are a solo GP working mostly from memory and email, any new tool may not be worth the switch yet.
Kept is for firms where the volume of deals, people, updates and portfolio numbers has grown past what one file can hold reliably. Request access and you can try it on your own inbox.
Moving over
There is nothing to migrate before you start. Connect your inbox and Kept begins building the record. Your deals and relationships are already in your email. Kept brings them to the surface.
You can export everything as CSV or JSON at any time. If you have a spreadsheet you’d like to bring across, talk to us during onboarding about what makes sense for your setup.
Frequently asked questions
Can I import my spreadsheet?
Start by connecting your inbox, which gets your deal and portfolio context into Kept straight away with no data entry. If you have a spreadsheet you want to bring in, raise it during onboarding and we’ll work out what’s practical.
How do I get access?
Kept is in early access, so request access. When your access is ready, every plan starts with a free trial. After that, Kept is priced per firm, from $149 a month for up to 3 people. See pricing.
What about portfolio reporting?
Kept tracks portfolio metrics with their sources attached, so the numbers you use have a clear origin.