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Discover Companies and Peoples with Searches
Discover Companies and Peoples with Searches

Kickstart your Harmonic journey with search examples and best practices

Harmonic Team avatar
Written by Harmonic Team
Updated yesterday

In Harmonic Console, you can create both Company and People searches. Let's focus on building an effective search strategy.

Build your Investible Universe

Your first step is creating a foundational search that matches your investment criteria while filtering out clear non-fits. Start by casting the widest possible net, then refine using these recommended filters:


1. Geographic focus

  • Select General tab

  • Navigate to Location filter

  • Select your target markets:

    • Country (e.g., United States, Canada)

    • State (e.g., California, New York)

    • City (e.g., San Francisco, Austin)


2. Funding stage

  • Select Funding tab

  • Under Company stage, select relevant investment stages

  • Set Total funding raised range:

    • Min: $ [your floor]

    • Max: $ [your ceiling]

3. Sector focus + exclusions

  • Select Sector tab

  • Under Industry, exclude sectors outside your focus

  • Under Technology, exclude non-relevant focus areas

  • Under Customer type, exclude non-relevant transactions

4. Finalize your universe

  • Click "See # Results" to preview your universe

  • Click "Save" in top right corner

  • Name your search and share with your team (e.g., Investible Universe)


Create slices of your universe

Once you've established your investible universe, create targeted segments for specific focus areas:


Companies in Network

Filter your universe to find companies where you have direct relationships through LinkedIn or email - perfect for identifying warm introduction paths.

Prerequisites:

Steps

1. Create a copy of your Investible Universe search.

2. Select “Team” tab, and underneath “Network” → Select "In my network"

3. Save your search!

💡 View a complete list of your connections in “My Network” tab! This is auto-created by Harmonic once you sync with your network.

Companies in Team Network

Discover companies where your team members have relationships to identify the best person for outreach. Particularly valuable for larger firms with multiple team members.

Ensure you have your network mapping enabled.


Prerequisites:

Steps: Follow the same process as "Companies in Your Network," but select "In team network" filter instead.

Stealth / Recently Founded Companies

Core Filters:

  • General:

    • "Added to Harmonic" in last week

    • "Founding year" since 2023/2024

  • Funding: Maximum funding = $0

  • Team: Maximum headcount < 5

Add signal boosters:

  • Team → "Founder Experience": Select relevant highlights (e.g., Deep technical background, Prior VC-backed founder)

  • Advanced → Highlight count > 0

Reduce noise:

  • Exclude keywords: "consulting", "advisor", "family owned", "freelance", "agency", "services"

A few considerations:

  1. Highlight filters may miss strong founders (e.g., engineers from newer startups)

  2. Top University signals can create excess noise

  3. "Company Type = Startup" filter may exclude valid companies

Ready to start searching?

Put these best practices to work by creating your first search in Harmonic Console! To see an extensive list of all search filters in Harmonic, see here.

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