How to get warm intros to investors (tested on 10+ startups)

3yr ago

1 reply

Everyone: "Warm intro is the best way to get a meeting with any investor on the planet". Me at my previous startup: *asking for intros for 3 weeks and getting 0 meetings* Fast forward to today, I interviewed 100+ founders about fundraising and helped 10+ startups with their rounds. I decided to share my thoughts on getting warm intros and wrote a post: https://shizune.co/blog/how-to-get-warm-introductions-to-investors/ TL;DR: 1/ Who to ask for intros: portfolio founders -> your investors and advisors -> people you know -> everyone else. 2/ Do not take meetings from these guys: a) portfolio founders that closed their startups b) investors that passed on you. 3/ Always ask for intros (e.g. "Can you introduce me to X?"), never ask for recommendations (e.g., "Do you know any relevant investors for my startup?") 4/ Tell your referrers why you think the investor is great for you. They need a reason to make the intro. 5/ Always send your referrers a forwardable email. It's 0 work for them to make the intro. 6/ Things to include in your forwardable email: blurb (what are you building, who are your customers, traction, team, fundraising progress); why you think the investor is a great fit for you; ask for 15 min meeting. 7/ Create FOMO in investor follow-ups. Do not send messages like: "Did you get my last email?". Instead send: "We found a lead... Our revenue grew by 30% since our last call...Did you get a chance to discuss our company with other partners? What are the next steps?" Bonus: best strategies to grow your network. 1/ Use networking platforms that match you with other founders. 2/ Reach out to founders in your niche for advice. Check out my full post for email templates: https://shizune.co/blog/how-to-get-warm-introductions-to-investors/ How do you get warm intros to investors? Maybe I missed something?

Replies

Daniel Olmedo Nieto @daniel_olmedo_nieto

This is spot on. Founder that raised $4M here for seed stage in my previous startup. What I did to raise everything was: Build a list of 100 VCs that would have a high chance of investing in my company (around 100Hrs of research work). This is because fundraising is a numbers game. I got 90 No's before the first Yes. Remember this coment when you get the first 10 No's. Also after the first 45 No's. Go to each investor website, study their portfolio, and reach out through LinkedIn to founders that have been invested by them, normally to ones in my industry. Get videocalls, and from that, warm intros with the investors. It takes a f*ing ton of work, but it works. In terms of timings, my range has always been between 6 and 12 months. But there was a time we almost closed in 3 months, so it all depends on how lucky you get by contacting first the investor that is hyped about your vertical. I'm also building https://easyvc.ai, that automates that entire process (list building, warm intros, etc). Happy to help if you DM me!

Oct 4