Getting Started with 4Degrees: Complete Guide

Welcome to 4Degrees! This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know to get up and running with 4Degrees in 10 easy steps. Whether you're a VC team tracking deals or an investment banking team managing records, this guide will help you maximize your relationship intelligence platform.

What You'll Accomplish

By the end of this guide, you'll have:

  • ✅ Set up your account and privacy settings
  • ✅ Synced your email and calendar
  • ✅ Added your contacts and deals/records
  • ✅ Configured network updates and notifications
  • ✅ Installed browser extensions for seamless workflow
  • ✅ Set up reminders and automation
  • ✅ Created custom reports and views
  • ✅ Integrated with your existing tools

Time to complete: 2-3 hours (can be done over multiple sessions)

Step 1: Register and Login

Standard Registration

  1. Click the invitation link that was emailed to you
  2. Enter your email address and create a secure password
  3. Fill out your profile:
    • Full name
    • Preferred name (for emails)
    • Industry (e.g., Venture Capital, Investment Banking)
    • Location (city)

SSO Users

If your organization uses Single Sign-On:

  1. Visit your custom 4degrees.ai domain
  2. Enter your email address - you'll be automatically authenticated

💡 Pro tip: Choose your industry carefully - this helps 4Degrees provide relevant features and terminology for your workflow.

📖 Read the detailed Step 1 guide →

Step 2: Configure Privacy and Sharing Settings

Before syncing your email, you'll set what information you want to share with your team. This is crucial for maintaining appropriate privacy levels.

Contact Sharing Levels

Choose how much contact information your teammates can see:

  • No information (affects some functionality)
  • Name and job only
  • All details (default)
  • All details and editing abilities (recommended for most teams)

Interaction Sharing Levels

Choose how much of your email and meeting history to share:

  • No information (affects some functionality)
  • Last interaction date only
  • All interaction dates (default)
  • All interaction types, dates + subject lines
  • All interaction note details (no email bodies)
  • All interaction details (includes email bodies)
  • All interaction details and editing abilities (recommended for most teams)

Advanced Options

  • Global settings: Apply the same sharing level to all contacts
  • Individual settings: Customize sharing per teammate
  • Preview functionality: See exactly what your teammates will see

🔒 Security note: 4Degrees follows industry-leading security practices. Your data stays safe within your team and is never shared externally.

📖 Read the detailed Step 2 guide →

Step 3: Sync Your Email and Calendar

Email sync is what makes 4Degrees powerful - it automatically captures your professional relationships and interactions.

What Gets Imported

  • Contacts: Everyone you've had two-way email conversations with
  • Interactions: Email threads and meeting invitations
  • Meeting data: Calendar appointments and attendees
  • Historical data: All past emails and meetings from your connected accounts

Sync Options

Gmail Users:

  1. Click "Sync Gmail account"
  2. Authorize 4Degrees to access your Gmail
  3. Choose which email addresses to sync

Outlook Users:

  1. Click "Sync Outlook account"
  2. Authorize 4Degrees to access your Outlook
  3. Choose which email addresses to sync

Alternative: Manual Management

If you prefer not to sync automatically:

  • Use the Chrome Extension to manually add interactions
  • Use the Outlook Add-in to selectively sync emails
  • Manually enter interactions through the web interface

📧 Email tip: You can sync multiple email accounts if you use different emails for different types of professional communication.

📖 Read the detailed Step 3 guide →

Step 4: Add Your Contacts

4Degrees will automatically create contacts from your email sync, but you can also add them manually or via bulk upload.

Automatic Contact Creation

If you enabled email sync, 4Degrees will automatically:

  • Create contact records for people you've emailed
  • Pull in basic information like name, job title, and company
  • Enrich profiles with additional data when possible

Manual Contact Entry

To add contacts individually:

  1. Go to the Contacts section
  2. Click Add Contacts → Add Individual
  3. Enter contact information
  4. Save the contact

Bulk Contact Upload

For large contact lists:

  1. Download the Contact CSV Template
  2. Fill in your contact information
  3. Go to Contacts → Add Contacts → Upload CSV
  4. Map your CSV columns to 4Degrees fields
  5. Review and import

📋 Template tip: The CSV template includes all available fields. You don't need to fill them all - just include what you have.

📖 Read the detailed Step 4 guide →

Step 5: Set Up Network Updates and Notifications

Stay informed about key events in your professional network to maintain strong relationships.

Network Updates

4Degrees monitors news and updates about your contacts and companies:

  • Job changes: When contacts switch companies
  • Company news: Funding rounds, acquisitions, major announcements

Configuring Notifications

Customize which updates you want to see:

By Role:

  • VC, VC-Seed, VC-Series A, VC-Series B
  • Entrepreneur, Engineer, Marketing

By Industry:

  • AI, Healthcare Tech, Finance/Insurance
  • eCommerce, Marketplace, Collaboration Tech

By Location:

  • Chicago, New York City, San Francisco
  • Los Angeles, London, Houston

By Your Tags:

  • Filter by custom tags you've created
  • Focus on specific relationship categories

🔔 Notification tip: Start with broader categories and narrow down based on the volume of updates you receive.

📖 Read the detailed Step 5 guide → 

Step 6: Install Browser Extensions and Mobile Tools

Extend 4Degrees into your daily workflow with our browser extensions and mobile app.

Chrome Extension

The Chrome extension works on any website, including LinkedIn:

  1. Install the 4Degrees Chrome Extension
  2. Log in with your 4Degrees credentials
  3. Use it to:
    • View contact information on LinkedIn profiles
    • Add new contacts directly from websites
    • Add deals/records from company websites
    • Search your 4Degrees network from anywhere

Outlook Add-in

For Outlook users:

  1. Install the 4Degrees Outlook Add-in
  2. Authorize the add-in
  3. Use it to:
    • View contact context while reading emails
    • Add new contacts from email signatures
    • Create deals/records from email conversations
    • Attach email threads to existing records

Mobile App

Access 4Degrees on the go:

  • iOS: Download from the App Store
  • Android: Download from Google Play
  • Features: View contacts, update records, manage reminders

📱 Mobile tip: The mobile app is perfect for updating records and checking reminders while traveling or in meetings.

Step 7: Set Up Reminders and Task Management

4Degrees helps you stay on top of follow-ups and relationship maintenance.

Contact Reminders

Set recurring reminders to stay in touch:

  1. Go to Contacts and select contacts
  2. Click Set Recurring Reminder
  3. Choose frequency (1 month, 3 months, 12 months)
  4. Add reminder notes

Deal/Record Reminders

Create one-time reminders for specific deals:

  1. Open a deal/record
  2. Click Add Reminder
  3. Set due date and assignee
  4. Add context notes

Team Collaboration

  • Assign reminders to teammates
  • CC others to keep them informed
  • View all team reminders in the Manage Reminders page
  • Get email notifications when reminders are due

Best Practices

  • Relationship maintenance: Set 3-6 month reminders for key relationships
  • Deal follow-ups: Set specific reminders for next steps after meetings
  • Team coordination: Use one-time reminders to help your team follow up on tasks

⏰ Reminder tip: Start with longer intervals and adjust based on your relationship cadence and deal velocity.

📖 Read the detailed Step 7 guide →

Step 8: Create Reports and Analytics

Get insights into your network and deal flow with custom reports.

Pre-built Reports

4Degrees comes with standard reports for:

  • Contact reports: Relationship network analysis
  • Deal reports: Pipeline and deal flow analysis
  • Interaction reports: Communication patterns and frequency

Creating Custom Reports

  1. Go to Reports → New Report
  2. Choose Contacts or Deals as your data source
  3. Configure your report:
    • Grouping: Organize by stage, date, industry, etc.
    • Filtering: Focus on specific criteria
    • Visualization: Choose charts, graphs, or tables

Common Report Types

For Investment Teams:

  • Deals by stage and assigned team member
  • Deal flow by industry and geography
  • Relationship network by investor type

For Investment Banking Teams:

  • Records by sector and deal size
  • Client relationship strength analysis
  • Business development pipeline tracking

For Relationship Management:

  • Contact interaction frequency
  • Network growth over time
  • Geographic distribution of relationships

📊 Analytics tip: Start with simple reports and gradually add complexity as you understand your data patterns.

📖 Read the detailed Step 8 guide →

Step 9: Set Up Automation and Workflows

Save time by automating repetitive tasks and creating smart workflows.

Deal/Record Automation

Create automated actions based on specific triggers:

Common Automation Examples:

  • Stage changes: When no interactions for 10 days → Change stage to "On Hold"
  • Reminders: When deal enters "Due Diligence" stage → Create reminder for IC prep
  • Assignments: When new deal added → Assign to specific team member

Setting Up Automations

  1. Go to List Settings → Automations
  2. Click New Automation
  3. Configure the automation:
    • Name: Give it a descriptive name
    • List: Choose which deal list this affects
    • Trigger: Set the condition (e.g., "No interactions for X days")
    • Action: Choose what happens (e.g., "Change stage," "Create reminder")

Automation Best Practices

  • Start simple: Begin with one automation and add more gradually
  • Test thoroughly: Monitor new automations to ensure they work as expected
  • Document your logic: Use clear names and notes for team understanding

🤖 Automation tip: Automations only affect records created after the automation is set up - they're not retroactive.

📖 Read the detailed Step 9 guide →

Step 10: Integrate with Your Existing Tools

Connect 4Degrees with your other business tools for seamless workflow.

Zapier Integration

4Degrees partners with Zapier to connect with 1000+ applications:

Popular Integrations:

  • Google Sheets: Sync contact and deal data
  • Microsoft Outlook: Enhanced email integration
  • Slack: Team notifications and updates
  • HubSpot: Marketing automation
  • Mailchimp: Email marketing campaigns
  • Typeform: Lead capture and surveys

Setting Up Integrations

  1. Create a Zapier account
  2. Search for "4Degrees" in the Zapier app directory
  3. Choose your desired integration
  4. Follow the setup wizard
  5. Test the integration

Integration Use Cases

  • Automated data entry: New form submissions create 4Degrees contacts
  • Team notifications: Slack alerts for new deals or status changes
  • Marketing sync: Update contact preferences between systems
  • Reporting: Export 4Degrees data to Google Sheets for analysis

🔗 Integration tip: Start with one or two key integrations and expand based on your team's workflow needs.

📖 Read the detailed Step 10 guide →

You're All Set! 🎉

Congratulations! You've successfully set up 4Degrees and are ready to leverage the power of relationship intelligence for your deal flow and network management.

Next Steps

  1. Week 1: Focus on familiarizing yourself with the interface and core features
  2. Week 2: Start using network updates to re-engage with your contacts
  3. Week 3: Refine your automation and reporting based on real usage
  4. Month 1: Evaluate and optimize your workflow based on actual data

Getting Help

If you have any questions or need assistance:

  • Email: help@4degrees.ai
  • Knowledge Base: Browse our comprehensive support articles
  • In-app Support: Use the help button in the 4Degrees interface

Pro Tips for Success

  • Start with core features before exploring advanced functionality
  • Involve your team in setup decisions to ensure adoption
  • Review and iterate on your setup as you learn what works best
  • Use the data - the insights are only valuable if you act on them

Welcome to 4Degrees! We're excited to help you build stronger relationships and close more deals. 🚀

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