Choose an introducer based on the strength of the relationship they can carry into the conversation. Start with reach, then check whether the person knows your target well enough to give a qualified introduction. A contact may be able to make an introduction while believing someone else would do it better.1 Build the route around that judgment. Check the purpose of the connection, how the source knows the target, whether the source is best placed, and whether the target has agreed to receive the introduction.
Define the purpose
Decide what you want the connection to accomplish before judging who can open the door. A clear purpose helps the source choose a useful route.
Determine what type of introduction you are making before you write the request.2 Business introductions can involve a partnership or a new customer.3 Label a request as advice only when advice is genuinely what you want. Investment and job requests need their own label.4
Write the purpose in language the source can pass on without interpretation. If the source has to guess whether you want advice, a commercial conversation, or access to capital, the handoff starts with a mismatch.
Map the routes
Map routes from the target outward, then inspect the relationship behind each one. Start with paths that give the source a reason to know the target.
Check for a mutual contact, a shared event, or a common client when looking for a warm route.5 Research the partner's connections to find a strong introduction.6 If you are not already connected, the route may require multiple intermediary connections.7
Use the connection view to identify prospects who can receive a direct introduction.8 Look at the recommendations at the bottom of LinkedIn profiles to see who knows the prospect best.9
When the target is an investor, ask:
"Your CEO or founder networks: Have they pitched this investor in the past, and did they maintain their relationship?"10
"Your peer network: Do you know anyone with a past work or alumni connection to this investor?"11
Keep each possible source attached to the reason they can open the route. Shared context gives you something specific to ask about and the source something specific to say.
Rank the sources
Rank each route by relationship quality and the source's judgment about the target. Access gives someone a possible route; trust lets them carry your context into the conversation.
For an investor target, personal relationships with that investor are described as the best introductions.12 Seek warm introductions from trusted sources.13 An introduction to an investor from a founder of a portfolio company is presented as the best type of introduction.14
At the point of the ask, the source either knows you well enough to put their reputation on the line or does not.15 Ask whether the source can explain why the target should take the conversation, how recently they have interacted, and whether the connection has enough substance to support your request. If they can answer those questions with confidence, move to the permission check.
Test the relationship before you ask
Run the relationship check before sending a template or forwardable message. The source is judging their own position in the route, so give them room to choose the right handoff.
Ask, "See you know Jim at Blue Shirt Capital. Do you think you are best placed to make an intro for me?"16 Then ask whether the person knows your target well enough to make a qualified introduction.17 A vague answer means you should find another route or ask who would be better placed.
Use double opt-in before the introduction moves. Double opt-in means asking the receiving person for permission before making the introduction, even when the source expects a friend or relative to be comfortable with it.18 Hold the introduction until it is relevant to the deal.19
Prepare the handoff
Once the source agrees, make the next action easy. Give them enough context to represent your request accurately and enough structure to pass it on without rewriting it.
Do your homework and make the source do as little work as possible.20 An effective request identifies the person and company, links to the person's LinkedIn profile, and states whether the request concerns a job, mentorship, business development, or investment.21 An efficient request with a profile link and a reason for the connection saves the source time and shows that you have done the work.22
Be ready to send either a paragraph describing your goal or a clean email the source can forward with their own note.23 Include the purpose, target, and reason for contact so the source knows what they are being asked to endorse.
What not to do
Selection fails when reach stands in for trust or when an accepted request is treated as a completed introduction.
- Do not pick a source on reputation alone. Brand-name founders, service providers, headhunters, and people trying to enter investing can be useful and dangerous sources.24
- Keep an offered introduction pending until it happens. An offered introduction may never happen even when the recipient is excited.25
- Do not let the source guess what you are seeking. An introducer may mischaracterize who you are or what you want.26
- Do not leave scheduling open to repeated exchanges. Back-and-forth messages can prevent the meeting from being scheduled.27
- Do not assume an email connection completes the work. Making an introduction involves more than connecting two people by email.28