It’s interesting to see both perspectives—one advocating for lightweight, customizable solutions like Google Sheets and Airtable, while the other highlights HubSpot’s out-of-the-box functionality and integration capabilities. From my experience, the best CRM for deal flow really depends on the scale, complexity, and collaboration needs of the firm. If the deal volume is relatively low and customization is a priority, Airtable with automation or a well-structured Notion workspace can work wonders. However, as the pipeline grows, tools like HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Affinity (which is built specifically for relationship-driven deal-making) can provide better tracking, email sync, and analytics.

A small SF/ETA group does not need to buy a deal log/CRM/contact log. With some well-organized filing systems and search abilities, you can accomplish almost the same thing. Thanks.