Most fund CRMs were built for the investment pipeline, where a stage is a judgment about a deal the fund controls. A SourceX referral is different: the stages are decided by the company, SourceX and an Acquisition Partner, and the fund only observes them. A field design that admits this keeps the CRM honest.
Why one pipeline stage cannot hold a referral
A typical CRM deal pipeline does two things that suit sales teams and mislead a referral report. HubSpot's documentation is a clear example: each deal stage carries a win probability that admins can set, and the weighted amount multiplies a deal's amount by that probability. Put a SourceX referral into such a pipeline with an amount, and the CRM produces an "expected reward" that nobody at SourceX has offered.
HubSpotThe program terms explain why that number is empty. Before the referred company is paid, any reward shown is an estimate based on proposed compensation, and portal estimates are projections, not promises. A lead, meeting or signed agreement alone earns no payable reward. A pipeline stage called "Won" on the day a company signs is therefore a statement the program does not support.
There is a second collision. If the referred company is also a portfolio company, its CRM record already sits in an investment pipeline. A referral stage written into that pipeline would overwrite or confuse the investment stage. The referral needs its own object, or its own pipeline linked to the company record.
Three status families, and the fund events SourceX never sees
| Family | Values | Where it is published | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referral stage | The labels your partner dashboard displays for each referral | The how-it-works page says the dashboard shows each referral's stage | The company's application and SourceX's review |
| Credit decision | Pending application; credited; in duplicate review; not credited; lapsed | Program terms, sections 2 and 3 | SourceX, from dated records; "lapsed" is the fund's own label for a window that closed without an application |
| Reward status | Estimated, Eligible, Approved, Processing, Paid; reduced, reversed or canceled with a recorded reason | The rewards page | SourceX finance, after the company is paid and the payout conditions are met |
| Fund-side events | Relationship owner agreed to ask; CEO consent and its scope; introduction sent; reward received | Only in the fund's own records and bank | The fund |
Two details matter for mapping. A referral shows as Paid only after an actual payout has been recorded, and the reward becomes eligible for approval and payment after SourceX has paid the referred company; the rewards page and how it works describe the sequence. Copy dashboard stage labels exactly as displayed rather than translating them into fund vocabulary, because a translated label cannot be checked against the source next month.
Population and period. One record per unique company, with a parent and its subsidiaries treated as one company, as they are for the USD 50,000 floor, which applies once per referred company. The reconciliation runs monthly at a fixed cutoff date; the CRM's "last checked" field carries that date.
The status mapping and reconciliation guide
Part 1: the field map. Nine fields, each with one source of truth.
| CRM field | Type | Allowed values | Source of truth | Updated by | Never |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Referral company | Link to the company record | One per group; subsidiaries named in a note | The fund register and the CEO's description of the group | Platform analyst | Open a second record for a subsidiary |
| CEO consent | Date and scope note | Who may know what, and until when | The relationship owner's written note | Relationship owner | Backfill from memory |
| Introduction date | Date | The date of the written introduction | The sent message or portal submission | Partner who submitted | Use the date a name was first logged |
| Window closes | Formula | Introduction date plus 90 days | Program terms, section 2 | Automatic | Extend it because talks continue; the terms say the window does not extend |
| Credit decision | Picklist | The five credit values above | Partner dashboard and SourceX's decision | Analyst at the monthly check | Mark "credited" before the dashboard shows it |
| SourceX stage | Text | The dashboard label, verbatim | Partner dashboard | Analyst | Rename it into fund stages |
| Reward status | Picklist | Estimated, Eligible, Approved, Processing, Paid, Reduced or reversed, Canceled | Partner dashboard | Analyst | Pair it with an amount that feeds a forecast |
| Reward received | Currency and date | The amount and date the money arrived | The fund's bank record | Finance | Enter it before the bank shows it |
| Last checked | Date | The cutoff date of the last dashboard check | The reconciliation itself | Analyst | Leave it blank |
Part 2: pipeline settings. Keep referrals in their own pipeline or object, excluded from every forecast. If the CRM insists on a probability for each stage, leave the amount field empty: a weighted amount is the amount times the probability, so an empty amount weights nothing. Never put SourceX's estimate in the amount field.
Part 3: the monthly three-way match. Pull the CRM list, read the dashboard for every referral, and check the bank for every reward marked Paid. Each disagreement gets a code.
| Code | Mismatch | Which record wins | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | CRM ahead of the dashboard | The dashboard | Roll the CRM back; keep the company's own news, such as a signing, as a dated note shared with its permission |
| M2 | CRM behind the dashboard | The dashboard | Update the CRM and the last-checked date |
| M3 | Company in the CRM but not on the dashboard | Neither yet | Before day 90, note the window date; after it, mark lapsed |
| M4 | Company on the dashboard but not in the CRM | The dashboard | Create the record, find out who introduced it and file the CEO consent note |
| M5 | One company, two CRM records | One record per group | Merge, and name the entities in a note |
| M6 | Paid on the dashboard, no bank receipt | The bank, for cash | Leave reward received empty; after a few business days, ask SourceX with the referral details |
| M7 | Status moved backward | The dashboard and SourceX's recorded reason | Record "Reduced or reversed", the reason and the adjusted figure SourceX states |
| M8 | Credit disputed or in duplicate review | SourceX's decision | Keep "in duplicate review"; disputes go to SourceX with the referral details and evidence, as section 7 of the terms sets out |
A September close, matched line by line (Illustrative)
Illustrative. One fund's referral records at a 30 September cutoff. Generic companies, invented statuses and amounts.
| Ref | CRM before the check | Dashboard on 30 September | Bank | Code | CRM after |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Stage "Won", amount $55,000, weighted at 90% | Credited; Estimated | Nothing | M1 | Credited; Estimated; amount emptied |
| R2 | Introduced 52 days ago | Not shown | Nothing | M3 | Pending application; window closes in 38 days |
| R3 | No record | Credited; Estimated | Nothing | M4 | Record created; a venture partner introduced it; consent note filed |
| R4 | Two records, a parent and its subsidiary | One referral, under the parent | Nothing | M5 | One record; subsidiary named in a note |
| R5 | Approved | Paid | $55,000 received 22 September | M2 | Paid; $55,000 received |
| R6 | Paid; $60,000 received in June | Reduced, reason recorded | No change | M7 | Reduced or reversed; SourceX's reason and adjusted figure copied |
| R7 | Credited | In duplicate review | Nothing | M8 | In duplicate review; not counted as credited |
| R8 | Introduced 95 days ago | Not shown | Nothing | M3 | Lapsed on its dated day |
| R9 | Paid | Paid | Nothing yet | M6 | Paid; reward received left empty; query sent |
Before the check the CRM held nine records for eight of these companies and missed a ninth. After it, there are nine companies and nine records. R1 is the costly error: the weighted field had been adding $49,500 to a forecast for a reward the program treats as an estimate. R6's company had its payout cut after the reward was paid; under the terms a refund or chargeback that lawfully reduces the Actual Supplier Payout reduces the reward proportionately, and any excess already paid is adjusted, so the CRM copies SourceX's stated figure rather than computing one.
One row per company, and the cases still open
- Groups. R4 shows the commonest duplicate. If another partner introduced a sister company, or the parent dealt with SourceX earlier, the terms do not say how credit falls; SourceX resolves it in duplicate review, and meanwhile the CRM shows "in duplicate review".
- Colleagues. Only one partner is credited per company. If two fund accounts introduced the same company, the CRM records both introducers on one company record and the credited account in the credit field.
- Known-to-SourceX companies. Any earlier lead, account or email between SourceX and the company makes it a duplicate. Those companies stay in the CRM as "not credited", with the reason, so nobody re-introduces them next quarter.
- Open cases. After the September close, five companies are unresolved: R2 waits for an application before day 90, R7 for SourceX's duplicate decision, R9 for the bank, and R1 and R3 for everything after review. Each has its next event in the CRM.
The confidentiality side of reporting from these fields, which names can leave the fund team and which cannot, is covered in the permission-aware monthly report.
What leaves the CRM for the fund's report
- Credit line: "Nine companies: six credited, one awaiting an application (window closes in 38 days), one in duplicate review, one lapsed."
- Reward status line: "Three Estimated, shown without amounts; two Paid; one Reduced."
- Cash line: "Rewards received in the quarter: $55,000. One Paid status awaits its bank receipt."
- Never exported: weighted amounts, estimates summed into "potential", a run rate built from one quarter's receipts, or any amount for a status before Paid.
The VC referral dashboard guide defines a denominator for each stage, and why signed agreements are not closed referral revenue explains why signed and estimated figures stay out of income lines.
Where a CRM mapping goes wrong
- Labels change. Dashboard stage labels can be renamed. Copying them verbatim and dating each check makes a rename visible instead of silent. A live guide to tracking a referral from submission to qualification describes the early stages from the partner's side.
- Automation. Workflow rules that move a stage after a date, or that set a probability by stage, can undo manual corrections. Test every rule on one record before the first close, and switch off any that writes to the referral fields.
- Assistant answers. The portal can be queried through an MCP connection by a signed-in partner. Useful for a quick look; the CRM is still updated from the dashboard itself.
- Confidentiality. SourceX statuses and decisions reach the fund under the Channel Partner Agreement. Limit who can see the referral object, and keep no buyer fields: partners never receive confidential buyer information, applicant documents or other partners' records.
- Manual copying. A monthly copy by hand will contain errors. The three-way match exists to catch them, so run it even in months when nothing seems to have moved.
Methods note. The field map, mismatch codes and the September close were built for this page from the SourceX program terms (Version 2026-11-04), the rewards and how-it-works pages, the refer.sourcex.si home page and HubSpot's pipeline documentation, all checked 2026-10-26; the amounts were recomputed to the 2026-11-04 terms on 2026-11-04. HubSpot is an example, not a recommendation; check your own CRM's behavior. The nine companies are invented. SourceX has not published typical time in each status or the share of referrals reaching Paid, and those figures are not yet published.
Which companies earn a CRM record
A company gets a referral record when its CEO has agreed to the conversation and it plausibly fits: 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), years of records it created itself, the rights to license them and a CEO who authorizes the discussion and signs for the company. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 70% of the data is in English.
The record holds metadata only: which systems hold which records, for how many years and who administers them. Never attach exports, samples or credentials to a CRM record; partners do not handle client records at any stage. Whether the records match current demand, and whether customer contracts limit reuse, stays unknown until SourceX reviews them. More measurement guides sit in the guides hub.
Next step
Refer a company. No cap on rewards. Default reward on a company's first qualifying transaction: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; further qualifying transactions first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing pay 15%. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, including the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
When the CRM can hold stage, credit and reward status in separate fields, register for a partner link, check each company against who qualifies and keep the program terms open during the first monthly match.
Keeping referral records straight is fund operations work; reviewing SourceX as a business is a different decision, and readers doing that can request materials through the SourceX investor overview.
This article is for information only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. Any offering by SourceX is made only to verified accredited investors through its offering documents.