A friend of a friend happens to be looking to hire someone like you.
Your ex-boss decides to be an angel investor just as your friend chooses to found a startup.
A relative happens to work for the key decision-maker at the very company you want to secure an enterprise contract with.
You successfully raise a round of funding, and an employee happens to know a team of talented, tight-knit engineers looking for a new company to work for—
— These serendipitous events can turn into great opportunities for everyone involved. However, unless someone activates their relationships and networks with clear intent, these brilliant opportunities can go by unrealized.
The opportunity: when you combine the right approach with modern-day technology, you can effectively activate your networks to reach people who would otherwise remain strangers.
Warm email introductions are a great way to leverage the trust you have in your network, making the world a smaller, more accessible place for you. Warm introductions are one of the best ways to:
Secure an investor.
Source and hire talent.
Grow your sales.
Establish strategic partnerships.
Instigate, grow, and nurture friendships for life.
Get anything you want!
The reason warm introductions work well is based on the first-principles of being human— people tend to do business with people they trust. That's precisely why I don't recommend using a cold email outreach. Instead, it is wiser to activate your 1st-degree (warm) networks who will use the double-opt-in method to connect you with others. The double opt-in works as follows:
You request an introduction from your introducer.
The introducer passes it on to the party you want to connect with to get their written consent to make the connection.
The introducer makes the connection.
While the fastest path to anywhere is via trust, the fastest path to getting nowhere is by breaking trust. When making introductions, it's important to bear the following in mind:
First, when you make an ask of someone, they aren't obligated to help you. Furthermore, neither is the person they are potentially introducing you to. Therefore, it is essential to find ways to add-value upfront and ongoingly. If you make asks without reciprocating, you will diminish the quality of your relationship.
Second, many introducers— especially strong ones who are supernodes— are inundated with requests for introductions daily. For example, if someone receives on average, 500 emails per day, how do you make it easy for them to pass your request on? Therefore, to successfully activate introducers, you must reduce as much friction from their process as possible. Put another way: do most of the thinking and communicating on their behalf, so they don't have to.
Third— and I'll cover this in more detail in this post— don't be afraid to make an ask. While it is important to add value to another person in a relationship, it is just as important to give them opportunities to add value to you. Good relationships are built on a consistent, balanced flow of 'give' and 'take.'
So, in this post, I lay the foundational first-principles behind making introductions while sharing a 4-step process for writing an excellent request for introduction (email). I will also share several snippets that worked to great effect, so you can see how people apply the first-principles when writing their requests for introductions. Your requests don't have to be perfect to be useful. However, they must be thoughtful to all parties involved and as clearly communicated as you can.
(Note: The principles shared in this post can also be used to stimulate connections amongst your network. Whether you directly make the introduction, or, persuade someone to stimulate relationships amongst other parties— that one connection can offer passage for human potential to express itself in wonderful, unexpected ways.)
Step 1: Clarify Your Outcome
An introduction is typically a means to that end, not an end itself. When you clarify your actual outcome, you might solve your request for an introduction. While you may be clear what you want out of an introduction, it is equally important to understand what you ultimately want to achieve in the end.
Is it to eventually raise a fund?
Is it to find a new job?
Is it to secure a new hire?
Is it to grow your brand awareness through public engagements?
As you clarify your outcome, you might realize there are other, faster ways to achieve what you want. For example, if the outcome is to compile quality information about someone and their business, you could draw upon other sources such as Crunchbase, AngelList, and LinkedIn Premium. This can save everyone unnecessary effort. Here are some questions that can help you clarify your outcome:
What good thing do you want to achieve?
If you couldn't get an introduction, how will you go about achieving your outcome?
How, specifically, is your request for introduction the best way forward?
(Side note: Chris Neumann has a great tweet about Crunchbase: "Imagine if the next time you considered getting into a new relationship, you had a list of every one of that person's ex's and could call any of them to ask anything you wanted to. That's what Crunchbase is for founders.")
Step 2: Identify Opportunities to Add Value
What happens when all you do is ask from a relationship without giving anything back? The other party won't feel there is any value in continuing to interact with you.
What happens if all someone does in a relationship is 'give' to you without taking anything you offer them? You won't feel you are contributing to the relationship, you won't feel valued for what you bring to the relationship, and the interaction will be discontinued.
A relationship is an ongoing interaction in which parties perceive there is more value in participating, than not. To strengthen and grow relationships, parties engage in a two-way flow of values-exchange through ongoing 'give' and 'take.' Most people think that it is more important to 'give' than take in a relationship. Yes, having a ‘pay it forward’ culture is one of the things that makes Silicon Valley (SV) a special ecosystem. However, it's just as important to 'take' as it is to 'give' too— it must be balanced. Therefore, get clear about the following:
How your reaching out to establish a new connection will be beneficial to them.
How your reaching out to establish a new connection will be beneficial to you (we covered this in the previous section).
How your getting connected that new person will be beneficial to your introducer.
When the above three are clear, then the introduction serves to enrich the relationships in the network. To better understand how each party can stand to gain from one another, you must do your research:
Understand their operating context, including goals/aspirations, challenges, pain points. When you appreciate their operating context, you can clarify opportunities to add value to their lives. You might not always have access to detailed information about this, and you will often have to make rational deductions. The point is to be thoughtful.
Elicit their value systems. People's behaviors demonstrate their core values. They always have time and resources to dedicate to their highest values, while they often never find the time or bandwidth to dedicate to their lowest values. By doing this, you can identify ways to help them fulfill their highest values.
There are multiple resources you can use to gather intel on people:
LinkedIn.
Instagram.
Twitter.
Crunchbase.
Podcasts.
YouTube.
Press Releases.
Company websites.
Blogs.
Medium.
Step 3: Clarify Your Value-Add
People get a good feeling if they are responsible for making a connection that leads to positive outcomes. Furthermore, by making connections that lead to positive results, the introducer is strengthening his/her reputation. Therefore, an introducer is more likely to make an introduction if they feel like there is a high likelihood of a positive outcome. For example, you help your friend make a crucial hire through an introduction, and that key hire ends up doing great things for your friend's business.
When you request an introduction, you must position yourself as relevant to the person (or persons) you want to reach. You must also communicate the potential value that could arise from the connection. If you did your research in Step 2, the following would become clear:
Goals: how you can help them achieve their goals?
Values: how you align at a values level? It could be your personal and professional mission and a common cause. People who share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes tend to feel good when they meet more people exactly like them.
Challenges: how you can help them solve their problems, or diminish their challenges?
To further assist your brain in coming up with a clear value-add, consider the following questions:
What might the other party lose that they value if they don't meet you?
Why should they meet you sooner than later?
What's the ideal outcome you imagine as possible for both of you?
Step 4: Create Your Request for Introduction (RFI) Snippet
Pretend you are an introducer and read the following paragraphs as if you just received these messages in your email inbox:
Request for Introduction 1:
“I notice you know Mrs. Smith at Company X. I would love an introduction to her! I’m sure something good will come out of it. Thanks!”
Request for Introduction 2:
"Hi! I hope you are well. I'd love to introduce you to my friend John Doe. He's a successful founder, angel, and exec. Up for it? Thanks."
Request for Introduction 3:
"I noticed your connections with Mr. Doe at Company X and Mrs. Smith at Company Y on Linkedin. Can you introduce me? I think they would be good customers for our company.”
Would you find it easy to make these requests for an introduction? Maybe you would, and maybe you wouldn't. It all depends on your unique position and context. I have surprisingly seen requests, such as the above two, work very well. However, if you haven't made your request clear and valuable to all parties involved, you make it harder for your introducer to help you. Therefore, an excellent Request for Introduction (RFI) Snippet does the following:
Establishes relevance.
Communicates credibility.
Positions value.
Makes it easy for the introducer to make the introduction.
In the following paragraphs, we share four RFI Snippets that you can learn from when creating your own. You will notice a variety of ways people write their requests for introductions— all tailored for their unique contexts. Again, the snippets don't have to be perfect. They need to be useful.
When writing yours, assess your unique context and situation and apply first-principles thinking. Furthermore, respect the parties involved and don't disclose anything you don't have permission to. If in doubt, it is always worth checking in with the respective parties.
Investment Snippet 1:
"Arjun, thanks for introducing us to [[Name]] at [[Fund]]. We are lining up meetings today for the 2nd/3rd week of September. Here's a blurb and customized link you can send:
PORTAL renders risky centralized exchanges and slow DEXs obsolete in one swoop by making private, fast Atomic Swaps easily accessible through every wallet.
With Portal's ZK-Swaps, every user can seamlessly participate in a global, decentralized liquidity pool, while fully preserving their privacy. Best part is they can access this right from within the most intuitive, beautifully designed and secure wallet.
Our mission is to create the trust-minimized trade layer for crypto and remove exchange risk as a barrier to adoption by the next billion users.
Our alpha has 80,000 users, with thousands engaging every day. Some investors include Tom Ding (co-founder of Dfinity), Josh Goldbard (CEO of Mobilecoin), and Trevor Koverko (CEO of Polymath). We also received an investment offer from Binance.
Intro deck here: [[link]]"
Investment Snippet 2:
"Parade is a freight workflow platform for transportation companies to manage relationships, analyze capacity, and automate load bookings. Since Parade's pivot and launch in September 2018, their team of former Uber/Facebook/Google engineers, ex-logistics professionals, and supply chain executives has partnered with over thirty of the largest public and private U.S. logistics firms to serve $3B+ of truckload spend digitally.
Traction—
Over XX freight brokerage customers deploying their digital transformation strategies using Parade's SaaS solutions;
July 2019 private launch of the carrier facing solution; already XXX+ trucking company customers, XXX+ signing up on the waitlist per day
Combined segments generating $XXXK MRR growing at ~XX% MoM
Tech — integrates artificial intelligence, IoT visibility, and API connectivity into seamless workflow process automation
Network Effects— Each Parade brokerage customer adds their network of carriers to Parade, which has resulted in XXXK+ active trucking companies under a unified platform that drives inbound discovery for our premium carrier solutions
Market— A unified private network to efficiently execute digital contracts for the $800 billion freight industry
Model— Segment-based B2B SaaS subscription model for brokers and carriers
Fundraising — raising Series A; seed & strategic backers include Arena Ventures,Redwood Logistics, and several transportation executives.
Deck: [LINK]"
Hiring Snippet:
"As I mentioned, I have started looking for opportunities outside of [[Company]] to repeat the success I have had there. I started at [[Company]] five and a half years ago, when we were about $XXM in Revenue. Today we are about $XXM in revenue and I was a critical conduit in taking the company public last April. Today I manage [[Company’s]] entire Strategic Business as the VP of sales and lead teams across North America that include Sales, Sales Engineering, Biz Dev, Marketing Customer Success, and GS.
I was fortunate to be part of [[Company]] and help build a strong culture of grit, growth, and winning, in a complex Enterprise sales environment. My teams and I drove the largest net-new logo wins of companies that were listed on our SEC S1 filing for IPO (the ones with the orange arrows in the screenshot below) —
I am now faced with an opportunity to take [[Company]] from $XXM ARR to $XXB ARR (4x growth), or take the experience I have had over the last 5+ years and repeat it for another high-growth startup. Given the opportunity, I would love to lead a sales team helping a company to go up-market and get to an IPO.
Here are a few videos that highlight some of the work I have done:
[[Video 1]]
[[Video 2]]
[[Video 3]]
Also, here is my linkedin. I'd love your help to get connected to any opportunities that you think may be a great fit for me."
Sales Snippet:
"I'm reaching out because Rubrik is hiring SDR's (Sales Development Representatives) and I saw you're connected with Bipul Sinha. Are you able to make the intro?
We're selectively expanding our employer network @ SVAcademy as we transition our pipeline of fresh, highly vetted SDRs into the field, and we can definitely help Rubrik with its SDR needs.
Brief overview of SVAcademy below, and our one-pager (just created!) has more detail on us, here.
Thanks, and hope you're doing great!
___________________________________________
About SVAcademy:
SVAcademy is an employer-funded school for emerging sales leaders backed by Bloomberg and various senior SaaS execs.
We help a small number of high-growth, Tier 1 VC-backed SaaS companies accelerate SDR hiring by providing them with access to our proprietary pipeline of certified, junior sales reps.
SVAcademy selects the top 3% of applicants to our school from colleges around the country, we test and train them rigorously for thirteen weeks with a real-world supervised internship prospecting cold leads for Talend (NASDAQ: TLND), and then match the students who make it all the way through with our SaaS employer partners (and continue coaching them for the first year to make sure they're successful).
We intentionally seek to attract underrepresented talent to increase diversity in the industry, and provide fresh, differentiated pipeline to our employer partners to build high-performing, resilient organizations. Tuition is covered through a scholarship funded by our hiring employers (based on ongoing performance from the student).
SVAcademy's team has started and sold SaaS companies to Oracle and HP, hired and trained more than 400 SaaS sales reps, conducted admissions at Harvard, and coached more than 100,000 students across the country. You can find more about us on our website: sv.academy."
Once you have a snippet, make the ask from your introducer and set a reminder to follow-up if you don't receive a response within 7-10 days. The best way to set a reminder is to use either Superhuman, or, if you're more sophisticated with managing your networks, Affinity.co.
Concluding Remarks
When you make requests for introduction, remember: the introducer has to make it relevant and valuable to his or her networks. Trust in them erodes if they don't do their best to be diligent regarding the connections they make. Furthermore, your introducer went out of their way to make the connection on your behalf. Even if they didn't feel it took much effort on their behalf, it is always good practice to thank them, and, where you can, find ways to reciprocate.
Relationships are built on a fragile and precious fabric called feelings. It is important to respect that. There are plenty of ways you can reciprocate the favor to your introducer— it all depends on what the specific person values. You can run through Step 2 of this post if you want to more deeply understand what they value and how specifically you can be of ongoing value to them. You might, for example:
Send a personalized thank you note or card.
Share a piece of relevant, helpful insight.
Treat them to lunch or a coffee.
Provide some uncharged consulting time.
Offer to make an introduction on their behalf.
Many good companies, friendships, and causes start because of the right values-aligned people connected around a shared vision. I believe that clear requests for introductions are one of the fundamental mechanisms to catalyze that. And, if the person you reached out to for isn't the right person to help you, a clear request will help people point you in the right direction.