An introduction should give the recipient a reason to take the conversation and give you context before you arrive. Build each request around a route: identify who already knows the target, who can make the request comfortably, and what the intermediary can say about why the conversation matters. A warm path can still be weak if the person receiving it cannot place you. Recipients may check your background through shared networks before accepting the introduction.1
Choose the target
Point every request to a defined buyer or conversation. A narrow target gives contacts enough context to decide whether they can help.
Start by selecting the types of companies that might buy the product.2 Start with industries where you have domain expertise and companies similar to those you have worked with before.3 Then write down the outcome you want from the introduction. It may be a customer conversation, feedback on a problem, or an investor conversation.
Ask yourself:
- Which company or person would teach us the most right now?
- What would make this conversation worth the intermediary's effort?
- What do I want to learn before asking for a next step?
Map the route
A request is easier to act on when people can see where they fit. Search the relationships already close to the business before contacting one person at a time.
Check leadership, co-founders, investors, and previous customers for possible paths to the target.4 Whenever possible, find an investor introduction before contacting the company directly.5 Executive outreach and shared or mutual investor connections are sales plays.6
Create a route for each target. Start with the person closest to the target and record who can connect you to that person. If the route has more than one intermediary, keep working it. Reaching a target may take a couple of hops when you are not already connected.7
Check the connection
A mutual connection gives you access, but you still need to know what kind of access it provides. Before asking for an introduction, learn how well the intermediary knows the target and whether they are comfortable making the request.
Look for mutual LinkedIn connections with target investors when you are building an investor route.8 Search beyond the obvious relationship because people may be connected through several social networks.9 The person receiving the introduction may check on you through a shared network before accepting it.1
For an investor route, speak with other founders who know the prospective investor. Conversations with founders can help you qualify that person before you spend time on the meeting.10 Ask the intermediary:
- How do you know this person?
- What would make them willing to take this conversation?
- Would you feel comfortable forwarding a short note from me?
Move on when the contact understands the target and agrees to make the request. If they cannot explain the relationship, look for another route.
Make the request easy to forward
The intermediary should understand the request without reconstructing your story. Give them a clear target, a reason for the conversation, and a simple next action.
For an investor campaign, send the target investor list to current investors, mentors, and other close network members who may know someone on it.11 Name the exact connection you believe an intermediary can make, then ask whether they are willing to introduce you.12 Ask for one introduction at a time when the relationship is personal enough to carry your request.
For customer outreach, use executive and investor connections to create a warm introduction to a target account.13 Keep the note usable as written. The intermediary should be able to forward it with little editing and still sound credible to the recipient.
A useful request answers these questions in order:
- Who are you hoping to meet?
- Why does this person make sense for the conversation?
- What should the intermediary ask them to do?
Build relationships before the campaign
Build the relationship before you need an urgent introduction. Keep potential future contacts warm through useful conversations and occasional updates that give them context.
Start building relationships with future investors before the next fundraising round approaches.14 Keep existing investors involved throughout outreach to new investors.15 When a conference creates a natural meeting point, use it to meet the investor.16 Introduce yourself and your team to investors as part of that engagement sequence.17
The same principle applies to customer routes. Stay in contact with people who can introduce you to potential customers, even when you are not asking for an introduction that day. When the request comes, the intermediary has recent context and the target has a clearer reason to respond.
Run the conversation and feed it back
An introduction gets you the conversation. Use it to learn what should happen next, and keep the outcome open until you understand the fit and the problem.
When pitching investors, make learning and fit the immediate goal. Do not expect funding from the first conversation.18 A meeting obtained from a cold email does not mean that the investor will invest.19 Ask what they are seeing, what would make the opportunity relevant, and who else might have useful context.
Keep two kinds of conversation in motion: conversations with potential customers and conversations with people who can introduce you to potential customers.20 After committing to an idea, get feedback from potential customers as soon as possible.21 Insights from those early conversations can direct product strategy and increase the likelihood of a sale.22
Close the loop after every conversation. Take the insights back to the team.23 Use them to discuss what the product needs to build next.24 Work with the team on how the learning should change positioning and go-to-market strategy.25
What not to do
These mistakes waste relationship capital or give you a false read on progress.
- Do not make cold email your default investor route when one estimate puts the chance of getting a meeting at 1 in 600.26
- Do not treat a meeting as an investment decision.19
- Do not meet a potential investor without a proper introduction.27
- Do not wait until the next fundraising round is close before building relationships with future investors.28
- Do not build one broad route for every type of customer, because it is almost impossible for a product to be game-changing for every type of customer.29