Best practices for lining up equity investors pre-LOI — and where to find them?

I recently heard advice on a search podcast that it’s smart to start building relationships with potential equity investors before you have an LOI in hand, so that once a deal comes together you’re not starting from zero. Conceptually this makes sense, but I’m curious how people here have done this in practice — especially where to actually find these investors at the pre-LOI stage without being overly speculative or wasting anyone’s time. A few specific questions I’d love input on: • Where have you found pre-LOI equity investors (Searchfunder, warm intros, former operators, angels, small PE, search-specific funds, etc.)? • What’s the right framing when reaching out pre-LOI — general background + search criteria, or something more concrete? • How do you vet investor fit early (check size, decision speed, risk tolerance) without a deal to anchor the conversation? • Did you formalize anything (soft commitments, target check size ranges), or keep it strictly informal until LOI? I’m not trying to raise capital yet — more looking to build a short list of investors who understand my search thesis and could move quickly if/when a deal comes together. Would love to hear what’s worked (or not worked) for others.