Backstop Custom Links are awesome. With zero coding efforts, you can pass Backstop context (e.g. company name) to websites such as AngelList, LinkedIn, or Google. For instance, you are viewing ACME Venture Partners in Backstop and would like to run a Preqin search. In the Stone Age, you would open another browser, log into Preqin, copy and paste the company name, and hit search.
Using Custom Links, you automate all those several steps into one click. Refer to Backstop Support (registration required) for the exact mechanics. The objective here is to share field-tested, time-saving recipes. Feel free to build upon these and share your own variations. You’re very welcome!
We are covering recipes for the following sites, listed alphabetically for simplicity. Backstop makes a distinction between Organization and Person and determines which context is available. The recipes reflect that logic, whenever applicable.
- AngelList
- Bloomberg
- Preqin (subscription required)
AngelList
Organization
https://angel.co/search?q={Organization.Name}&type=companies
Bloomberg
Organization
https://www.bloomberg.com/search?query=%27{Organization.Name}%27
Organization
https://www.google.com/search?q=%27{Organization.Name}%27
Person
https://www.google.com/search?q=%27{Person.FirstName}+{Person.LastName}%27+%27{Person.CompanyName}%27
Organization
https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/companies/?keywords={Organization.Name}
Person
https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/people/?firstName={Person.FirstName}&lastName={Person.LastName}
Preqin
Organization
https://www.preqin.com/user/my/Universal_Search.aspx?q={Organization.Name}
Organization
https://twitter.com/search?q=%27{Organization.Name}%27
Person
https://twitter.com/search?q=%27{Person.FirstName}+{Person.LastName}%27
Takeaway
Backstop Custom Links enable passing CRM context to other external websites. This comes up utterly handy during the research or prospecting efforts. With some basic understanding of HTML query strings, you can readily whip up a bunch of shortcuts. Hello, free time!
