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Krypton AI Research · Note 04

Preparing for a microcap investor conference

A day of one-on-one meetings is only as good as what you knew about each person before they sat down.

Published
Updated
Reading time
3 minutes
Based on
The public record

Key findings

  1. In our own conference work, Form 13F data identified only about one counterparty in ten.

  2. Work the public record in order: Form ADV, Form D, Form 13F, Schedules 13D and 13G, then BrokerCheck.

  3. What gets used between meetings is one page per meeting, not a briefing book.

01Why the schedule needs research

At events like LD Micro, Planet MicroCap, Sidoti, Roth or Noble, a small company can meet ten or more investors in a day. Many of the names on the schedule are small funds, family offices and private investors that most databases do not describe well.

In Krypton AI's own conference work, Form 13F data identified only about one counterparty in ten. The rest were too small to file one, or filed under a different name. Matching on names alone was worse than nothing: four confident matches were to different firms with similar names.

02The order that works

Work through the public record in this order, and stop when you have what you need. Each source answers a different question, and the early ones are the quickest.

  • SEC investment adviser search, then the Form ADV itself. Item 5.F gives assets under management and the number of accounts.
  • EDGAR Form D, for funds too small to file a 13F. It shows how much a fund has raised, how many investors it has, and who runs it.
  • Form 13F, for funds large enough to file one: what they own, and whether they own your peers.
  • Schedules 13D and 13G, for anyone who has ever held five per cent of a company.
  • FINRA BrokerCheck, for anyone who works at a broker-dealer.
  • The firm's own website, which is usually where titles and roles finally make sense.

03Confirm the person, not just the firm

The name on a schedule is a person, and the same name can belong to two people at two firms. Before you rely on anything, confirm that the person you researched works at the firm on the schedule today, from a second source such as BrokerCheck, the adviser search or the firm's own team page. A briefing about the wrong person is worse than no briefing, because you walk in confident.

04One page per meeting

Long briefing books do not get read between meetings. What gets used is one page per meeting with the few facts that change how the meeting goes: who is in the room, what the fund owns, whether it has owned you or your peers before, and what it is likely to ask.

A fund that held your stock and sold it needs a different first five minutes from a fund that has never looked at you. A fund that owns two of your peers will compare you with them, so know their numbers as well as your own.

05In the room

One-on-ones are short, and the first questions tell you what the investor already knows. Let them lead for a few minutes, then use the page. Write down the questions you could not answer well, because the same questions will come from the next fund.

06After the conference

The meeting is the start. Follow up with each fund with the materials it asked for, and find out what it actually thought, which is often different from what it said in the room. A company that learns why a fund passed can fix the reason before the next conference.

Keep the notes. The fund that passed this year is a former prospect next year, and it will remember whether you did what you said you would.

Sources

  1. SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure
  2. SEC EDGAR full-text search
  3. FINRA BrokerCheck

Krypton AI publishes no ratings or price targets and holds no position in a client's stock. LALC Capital, a separate company under common control, publishes independent research at /research. Krypton AI measures this for each client as part of its microcap investor relations work. What that work covers is in the microcap investor relations guide.

More research notes

  1. Note 01Microcap analyst coverage 2026: how a small company gets an analystAnalysts do not pick companies at random. Three things decide who gets covered, and all three can be measured.
  2. Note 02Why microcap stocks trade thin, and how to measure itMost small companies know their volume is low. Few measure it in the way funds and analysts judge it.
  3. Note 03Who is most likely to buy a microcap nextWe tested what predicts a fund's first purchase of a small company. One signal carried most of the answer.
  4. Note 05How to switch investor relations firms: a checklist for small public companiesChanging firms is mostly a matter of getting your own records back and not losing a quarter. This is the order to do it in.
  5. Note 06MZ Group alternatives for microcaps: what MZ offers and what else to considerMZ is built for reach. Whether reach is what a small company needs depends on which investors it is missing.
  6. Note 07Elevate IR alternatives: what Elevate offers and what else small companies considerElevate sells senior attention. The comparison that matters is what that attention produces on your shareholder register.
  7. Note 08How foreign companies listed in the US find US investorsA US listing lets American investors buy the stock. It does not make them look. We measured the gap across 638 foreign companies under $500 million.
  8. Note 09Hayden IR alternatives for microcaps: what Hayden offers and what else to considerHayden sells senior-led corporate access. Whether access is what a small company needs depends on which investors it is missing.