Most investment firm websites fall into one of two traps. Either they look dated, built on a platform nobody's touched since 2018, or they overcorrect and end up looking like a consumer SaaS product, bright, casual, and completely wrong for an audience of capital allocators who are evaluating trust before anything else.

If you're a VC fund, private equity firm, or family office building or rebuilding your web presence, here's what actually matters, and two templates built specifically to solve it.

What investment firm websites actually need to get right

Institutional buyers don't respond to the same design cues as consumers. They're not looking to be persuaded by a bold headline or an animated hero. They're scanning for reasons to trust you and reasons to walk away, often in the same five seconds. That means restraint matters more than flash, typography carries more weight than illustration, and a broken layout or generic stock photo can quietly end a relationship before a single email is exchanged.

Northbrook, for firms that need authority on day one

Northbrook is built for venture capital funds, private equity firms, and emerging managers who don't yet have decades of history behind them but still need to look like they do. It's a single, dark, editorial site, tightly controlled typography, a CMS-driven portfolio section so a small team can list active investments without touching code, and enough restraint that it reads as established rather than trying too hard.

This is the right starting point if you're a newer fund, a solo GP, or a small team that needs one confident page rather than a sprawling site with sections you'll never finish filling in.

Stills, for firms with real depth to show

Stills is the fuller version of the same philosophy. Fourteen pages, three CMS collections covering portfolio companies, team, and insights, and an actual investor portal, not a placeholder page promising something is coming later. If you're managing an active portfolio, a growing team, and ongoing reporting, Stills gives you the structure to present all of it without collapsing into a generic SaaS layout.

Which one is right for you

The decision comes down to where your firm actually is right now, not where you want to look like you are. If you're early stage and need one strong, credible page fast, start with Northbrook. If you already have portfolio companies, a team to introduce, and content to manage over time, Stills is built to carry that weight.

Both are built on Framer, meaning no developer is required to launch, and both are live and ready to customize today.