Field Notes

Leaving Affinity before your renewal hits

9 min read

Coming from

Affinity

Moving to

Attio

Scope

If you have weeks, not months

If your Affinity renewal is inside the next 60 to 90 days, the project is no longer an open-ended CRM evaluation. It is a dated migration with a contract clock attached. In our experience, this buyer state shows up as the sharpest trigger because the firm needs a plan it can defend internally.

The work splits into three decisions: what must move before the contract date, what can wait until cleanup, and whether the team can afford overlap between Affinity and Attio. The answer depends on workspace size, list structure, email and meeting history, departed-user data, and how much schema redesign is actually required.

Cliff math

The cliff math

Start with the contract end date, then work backward. We typically see three timeline bands, plus one slower case when the migration becomes a redesign project.

Small workspace, no redesign

We typically see this when the workspace has a simple CRM shape, a small user base, and no major list-to-object redesign. The goal is a clean cutover, not a new operating model.

Multi-fund workspace

We typically see six weeks when one Affinity instance supports multiple funds, teams, or pipelines. The extra time goes into schema decisions, list mapping, permissions, and stakeholder review.

Email and meeting history in scope

We typically see eight weeks when historical interactions, departed-user data, or meeting history must move. API quota, access windows, and validation time become part of the critical path.

8w+

Migration plus redesign

If the move includes new objects, reporting, warehouse sync, AI workflows, or a rebuilt IR model, treat the cliff migration as Phase 1. Ship the minimum viable Attio instance first, then redesign deliberately.

Playbook

Week-by-week playbook

Keep improvements out of pre-cliff scope. Each week should produce a decision or a tested artifact.

Inventory and decisions

Run the attribute review that opens the project, pull record counts, review lists, identify stale fields, and decide what must migrate before renewal. This is also where you confirm whether the project is lift-and-shift or a rebuild. If the team cannot answer that in Week 1, the scope is already slipping.

Configure Attio

Build the Attio workspace around the agreed schema. Map companies, people, deals, lists, custom fields, owners, notes, and key integrations. Run the first import dry run with enough data to expose field mapping problems, duplicate risk, and missing permissions.

Dry run migration

Run the full migration dry run and compare counts against the Affinity source. Validate records, notes, list membership, files, ownership, and interaction metadata. Train the core operators on the working Attio instance, not on slides or abstract process diagrams.

Cutover week

Freeze changes in Affinity, run the final export, import into Attio, and move the team to Attio as the source of truth. Friday cutovers work when Monday starts clean. The team should know where to log deals, notes, tasks, and follow-ups before the weekend.

Cleanup starts

Use the first post-cutover week for cleanup, not redesign. Fix duplicate records, missing owners, stale fields, broken views, and workflow gaps. Keep a parking lot for Phase 2 improvements so the team does not reopen the pre-cliff migration scope.

Overlap decision

Parallel run or zero overlap

Parallel-running is a tradeoff, not a default. Overlap reduces cutover risk, but it adds cost, duplicate work, and source-of-truth confusion.

Option A

Parallel run

Use parallel run when the CRM holds LP-facing data, active diligence, partner relationship history, or sensitive interaction records. It gives the team a short learning window and lets operators compare outputs before Affinity access ends.

"If we get all the data over the first half of March, then we'll have, like, a month of learning time and being able to leverage Affinity while it still exists."

Early-stage VC · 5–15 seats

Option B

Zero overlap

Use zero overlap when the team is small, the budget is tight, the workspace is simple, or the contract situation makes dual payment unrealistic. This requires firmer scope control, cleaner dry runs, and fewer pre-cutover redesign decisions.

"I don't have the budget for two CRMs."

Mid-size VC · 10–25 seats

Decision rule

Parallel-run when the cost of a bad cutover is higher than 30 days of overlap; choose zero overlap when budget or contract constraints make dual systems impossible.

Auto-renewal

If you are in an auto-renewal

An auto-renewal turns migration planning into contract-risk management as much as anything technical.

The most useful stance is factual and prepared. Confirm the signed term, the notice date, the export rights, and any read-only access options in writing. Once the migration project is underway, the dated plan that comes out of scoping gives the team a concrete reference to take into renewal conversations, and it separates the contract negotiation from the operational question of whether the firm is ready to leave.

Asks for your last conversation

›Ask for mid-contract exit terms if the renewal was unintentional or in dispute.
›Ask for a single-user seat to keep relationship and interaction history accessible, which can matter for partners who have already left the firm.
›Ask for proration on the unused months if the firm exits mid-term.

"We found out that the previous summer we had signed a two-year renewal with them, which we didn't even remember."

Multi-fund firm · three active funds

Last 60 days

The last 60 days are for reducing unknowns. Do not spend them debating every future workflow. Spend them securing access, proving the import, and narrowing the cutover scope.

Confirm contract dates. Verify the notice deadline, renewal date, paid-through date, and any read-only access period. Put the exact dates in the migration plan.
Secure export access. Confirm API access, admin ownership, CSV exports, file exports, and departed-user visibility while the subscription is still active.
Freeze the scope. Separate must-move data from post-cutover cleanup. Lists, fields, files, notes, and interactions need explicit scope decisions.
Run count checks. Compare Affinity source counts to Attio import counts for companies, people, opportunities, notes, files, and list membership.
Pick the source of truth. Name the date when Attio becomes canonical. After that, Affinity is reference-only unless a specific exception is documented.

Neon Deer Data · Certified Attio Partner