Investor Introduction

Investor Introduction

The network is spent, not owned. Every introduction costs a small amount of credibility with the recipient, and a bad one costs more than a good one returns.

When to use

• A company is raising and is genuinely ready.
• An investor asks for deal flow in an area a cohort company is in.

Steps

1. Read introductions for this investor first. A run of no-outcome introductions to one person is the signal to stop, and it is invisible without the record.
2. Check the fit specifically — stage, sector, cheque size, thesis. A generic introduction spends credibility and returns nothing, and the recipient can tell it was generic.
3. Ask the investor first. Double opt-in, always. A forwarded deck without it is a cost imposed on somebody who did not agree to it.
4. Describe the company honestly, including the weak part. Overstating costs the next four companies far more than it gains this one.
5. Say why you thought of them. If you cannot, the fit is not there.
6. Record the outcome, including when it is nothing — which is the usual result and is exactly what the ledger is for.

Output

An introductions row with the fit, the opt-in, and eventually the outcome. The introduction itself goes out only with the operator's approval; nothing here promises anybody a meeting.