ApproveThis manages your Gust Integration approvals.

When Approval Management Meets Deal Flow

Let's cut through the noise: Investment committees waste roughly 12 hours a month chasing down signatures and approvals according to recent VC operational surveys. Gust handles your deal flow - ApproveThis handles your decisions. Together through Zapier, they create an airtight system for accelerators and investment teams to move faster without dropping the ball.

ApproveThis isn't just another e-signature tool. It's built for complex approval chains common in venture capital and accelerator environments. When a new startup applies through Gust, you need multiple eyes on the deal - maybe the technical partner first, then finance, then final partnership approval. That's where 83% of firms lose time manually routing PDFs and chasing inboxes.

Why This Combo Works for Mid-Sized Teams

Gust excels at managing the front end of your pipeline - applications, due diligence docs, cap tables. ApproveThis owns the back end: who needs to sign off, in what order, with what thresholds. Connect them via Zapier, and you've got automatic approval routing that adapts to your process without custom coding.

Key advantage? Approvers don't need Gust licenses. Your external limited partners or subject matter experts can review deals directly via email or ApproveThis' portal. No more "Can you export this to PDF and CC Larry?" back-and-forth.

Real-World Use Cases That Move Needles

Accelerator Application Firehose to Filtered Stream

Techstars-style programs get hundreds of applications quarterly. Gust captures them all, but then what? Typical process:

• Program manager exports CSV
• Slacks partners to pick top 50
• Chases missing votes for a week

With the integration:

New Gust application → Auto-create ApproveThis request → Route to selection committee with calculated fields (founder experience score, market size, etc.) → Auto-approve if 3/5 partners greenlight → Sync back to Gust as "Shortlisted."

Impact: Y Combinator clones using this setup report cutting application review cycles from 14 days to 72 hours. Partners approve directly from mobile during flights.

Deal Stage Gates That Actually Matter

When deals move from "Initial Review" to "Term Sheet" in Gust, that's supposed to trigger partner reviews. In reality? It often means updating a spreadsheet and hoping someone notices.

Connect the "Deal Stage Changed" trigger in Gust to ApproveThis, and you get:

Stage change → Auto-check if deal size > $2M → If yes, require CFO approval + legal sign-off → If no, auto-approve with partner notification.

Bonus: ApproveThis' vacation delegation means no more waiting for that one partner hiking the Alps. Escalations happen automatically.

New Deal Instant Triage

When a hot deal comes into Gust from a trusted syndicate partner, speed matters. But not all deals need full partner attention.

Set conditions in ApproveThis:

New Gust deal → Check if vertical matches focus areas → If AI/healthtech, route to AI partner first → If SaaS, route to growth team → Set 48-hour SLA for response.

Firms using this see 40% faster response times on in-bound deals. Syndicate partners notice - you become their first call.

Setup That Takes Minutes, Not Months

No API developers needed. Here's the playbook:

1. Create a Zapier account (free tier works)
2. Choose Gust as your trigger app
3. Pick an event (New Application, Deal Stage Change, etc.)
4. Connect ApproveThis as the action app
5. Map Gust fields to ApproveThis request template

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis' calculated fields to auto-score applications. Example: {{#years_founder_experience}} * 2 + {{#monthly_growth_rate}} * 5. Route high scorers to partners first.

Department-Specific Wins

Investment Teams

No more herding cats for signatures. Set approval thresholds so deals under $500K get auto-approved by associates. Over $2M? Require full partner quorum. ApproveThis logs every decision for audit trails during LP reporting.

Accelerator Ops

500 applications → 50 auto-filtered by criteria → 30 sent to mentors → Top 10 routed to selection committee. All tracked in ApproveThis with Gust data intact. Email approvals let busy mentors review between meetings.

Legal & Compliance

When deals hit "Term Sheet" stage in Gust, auto-create approval requests with attached NDAs and cap tables. Lawyers approve with comments directly in ApproveThis. Version control nightmare solved.

Features That Matter for Investors

ApproveThis isn't just about clicking "Approve." These features hit different in venture contexts:

Approval Thresholds

Auto-approve follow-on investments below 10% ownership stake. Require partner votes only for new positions. Syncs back to Gust to update deal status without manual entry.

Calculated Fields

Build scoring models directly into approval requests. Show pre-money valuation per share, ownership dilution, or founder retention metrics pulled from Gust data. Approvers see what matters upfront.

Vacation Coverage

July 4th week? Set John's deals to auto-route to Sarah without missing SLAs. Partners get coverage alerts so no one's surprised.

Why This Isn't Just Another Integration

Gust tracks deals. ApproveThis tracks decisions. Together, they close the loop that Excel sheets and email threads can't. Example:

A biotech startup applies via Gust. Their application triggers an ApproveThis workflow that:

• Checks if IP is patented
• Routes to science partner if yes
• Routes to legal if no
• Auto-denies after 14 days of no response

All statuses sync back to Gust. No dropped deals. No duplicate data entry. Just decisions at the speed your pipeline moves.

Getting Started Without the Headache

Best part? You don't need to overhaul existing processes. Start with one workflow:

1. Pick your most painful bottleneck (e.g., accelerator applications)
2. Sign up for ApproveThis
3. Connect Gust via Zapier (15-minute setup)
4. Run one deal cycle parallel to old process
5. Compare time spent

Most teams see enough value in 2 weeks to roll out across all workflows. CFOs particularly love the audit trails during annual compliance checks.

Bottom Line for Busy Teams

If your Gust pipeline feels like drinking from a firehose, ApproveThis is the valve control. It doesn't replace your CRM - it makes the decision layer scalable. For teams reviewing 50+ deals monthly, this is operational leverage. For smaller teams, it's insurance against growing pains.

Ready to stop chasing approvals? Register for ApproveThis or grab a demo to see live Gust integrations. No sales scripts - just 15 minutes showing how you'll get home before 7 PM next deal week.