Article
How To Ask For Introductions Like a Pro | by Mike Ghaffary
medium.com
Quoted on this wiki
Every place a page here uses this source, in the order the words come in it.
_________ “Also notice how Paul gets all the information he needs to decide whether a meeting is a good use of time, and he can reply back easily to double opt-in for this introduction (Jane has already opted in by requesting it), or to say it’s not a good use of time for some reason.” Also note the deck was sent without requiring an email login. Docsends are pretty standard now, but a trackable link still means you want a favor from someone, and yet you think your interest in tracking their behavior outweighs their convenience to easily view the content. That might be the wrong balance depending on the situation. If using a trackable link, I would recommend using Docsend without requiring an email login.
You > Introducer > Recipient “Thus, all the “introductions” you’ll see below aren’t really introductions at all, they are requests for introductions.” The corollary here is that You, the person requesting the introduction, should assume that the Introducer is going to double opt-in, and thus you make it really easy for them by writing what Chris Fralic calls a Self Contained Forwardable Email, or SCFE for short.
You > Introducer > Recipient “Double opt-in means never introducing someone, even a good friend or relative who you are sure won’t mind, without asking permission first.” The corollary here is that You, the person requesting the introduction, should assume that the Introducer is going to double opt-in, and thus you make it really easy for them by writing what Chris Fralic calls a Self Contained Forwardable Email, or SCFE for short.
Extra context from previous email thread that’s confidential, personal, or needs to be cut out — start a new thread every time “Listing out all the introductions you want in the forwardable email — now it’s not forwardable because for example if you want multiple job options or multiple investor intros, the Introducer isn’t authorized to share the full list with everyone! Thus you need 1 email per 1 requested introduction.” The only exception to that rule is the Generic Intro Request— if whoever is helping you explicitly says that’s better. You can also throw in one Generic Intro Request after your specific email requests, for example 3 specific names you asked to be introduced to, then another generic one that the introducer can send to whoever they want in case they have other ideas.
I thought it would be helpful to share some of the best practices I’ve seen and try to follow. “First, figure out what type of introduction this is. Some common types:” Advice —but please don’t say this if it’s not really for advice and you want 1. investment or 2. a job!
Advice —but please don’t say this if it’s not really for advice and you want 1. investment or 2. a job! “Business introduction, partnership, or new customer” There will be 3 people in this chain:
First, figure out what type of introduction this is. Some common types: “Advice —but please don’t say this if it’s not really for advice and you want 1. investment or 2. a job!” Business introduction, partnership, or new customer
You > Introducer > Recipient “Double opt-in means never introducing someone, even a good friend or relative who you are sure won’t mind, without asking permission first.” The corollary here is that You, the person requesting the introduction, should assume that the Introducer is going to double opt-in, and thus you make it really easy for them by writing what Chris Fralic calls a Self Contained Forwardable Email, or SCFE for short.
You > Introducer > Recipient “Thus, all the “introductions” you’ll see below aren’t really introductions at all, they are requests for introductions.” The corollary here is that You, the person requesting the introduction, should assume that the Introducer is going to double opt-in, and thus you make it really easy for them by writing what Chris Fralic calls a Self Contained Forwardable Email, or SCFE for short.
I thought it would be helpful to share some of the best practices I’ve seen and try to follow. “First, figure out what type of introduction this is. Some common types:” Advice —but please don’t say this if it’s not really for advice and you want 1. investment or 2. a job!
First, figure out what type of introduction this is. Some common types: “Advice —but please don’t say this if it’s not really for advice and you want 1. investment or 2. a job!” Business introduction, partnership, or new customer
Advice —but please don’t say this if it’s not really for advice and you want 1. investment or 2. a job! “Business introduction, partnership, or new customer” There will be 3 people in this chain:
You > Introducer > Recipient “For the Introducer (the person you are asking), the rule of great introductions is to always do the double opt-in.” The corollary here is that You, the person requesting the introduction, should assume that the Introducer is going to double opt-in, and thus you make it really easy for them by writing what Chris Fralic calls a Self Contained Forwardable Email, or SCFE for short.
You > Introducer > Recipient “Double opt-in means never introducing someone, even a good friend or relative who you are sure won’t mind, without asking permission first.” The corollary here is that You, the person requesting the introduction, should assume that the Introducer is going to double opt-in, and thus you make it really easy for them by writing what Chris Fralic calls a Self Contained Forwardable Email, or SCFE for short.
The corollary here is that You, the person requesting the introduction, should assume that the Introducer is going to double opt-in, and thus you make it really easy for them by writing what Chris Fralic calls a Self Contained Forwardable Email, or SCFE for short. “The key here is to make it really easy for the Introducer to forward your email from a mobile phone. Please don’t require them to use their laptop (which might never happen).” Hard to do on mobile, usually because…
_________ “Notice how easy it is for Mike to forward that email from his iPhone, without any editing needed.” Also note the deck was sent without requiring an email login. Docsends are pretty standard now, but a trackable link still means you want a favor from someone, and yet you think your interest in tracking their behavior outweighs their convenience to easily view the content. That might be the wrong balance depending on the situation. If using a trackable link, I would recommend using Docsend without requiring an email login.
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