Called eight prior LPs before committing. One call justified all of it.

Before my first LP position I asked the sponsor for references from investors in their earlier deals. They gave me six names. I found two more myself through a local investor group.

Seven of the eight calls were pleasant and useless. People liked the sponsor, distributions arrived, nobody had a complaint.

The eighth one had been in a deal that suspended distributions for five quarters. She walked me through the whole thing. The sponsor sent a letter within two weeks of deciding, held a call, took questions for ninety minutes, and sent monthly updates through the entire suspension instead of quarterly. Distributions resumed and the deal exited a year late at slightly under projection. She invested again.

That one call told me more than the other seven and the entire track record summary combined. I committed $40k.

What nearly went wrong: I almost only called the six names the sponsor gave me, and those six were obviously the happy ones. Finding the outside two is what got me to the useful conversation.

What I'd keep: ask specifically for an investor from a deal that underperformed. If the sponsor says there hasn't been one, they either haven't operated through a bad stretch or they aren't telling you.