Sequence template · 3 steps over 8 days

Asking a mutual contact for a warm investor intro

For founders raising a round: a three-step sequence to the person who knows the investor, with a forwardable note they can send in one click.

Goal. A warm introduction to one named investor, made by someone they trust

Step 1Day 0, campaign start

Subject A small favour regarding {{investor_name}}

Hi {{first_name|there}},

I am raising for {{company}} and {{investor_name}} at {{fund_name}} is on my short list because of the companies they have backed in our area.

I noticed you know them. Would you be willing to introduce us, if you think it is a good fit? I am asking you first because a note from you carries more than a cold message from me.

If you would rather not, or the relationship is not one to spend on this, tell me plainly and there are no hard feelings.

For context, {{company}} is {{one_liner}}.

One investor per message. Asking for a list of intros in one email is the fastest way to get none. Give the contact an explicit permission to say no.

Step 2Day 3

Subject Re: A small favour regarding {{investor_name}}

Hi {{first_name|there}},

To make this easy, here is a version you can forward as it is, so you do not have to write anything:

"{{company}} is {{one_liner}}. The founder is raising and asked me whether you would be open to a short conversation. Happy to connect you if useful."

That way {{investor_name}} can say no to you before I ever appear, which is fairer on everyone.

If the timing is bad on your side, a "not now" is enough.

The forwardable paragraph is the whole point of this step. It should read as if the contact wrote it, so keep it short and unsalesy.

Step 3Day 8

Subject Re: A small favour regarding {{investor_name}}

Hi {{first_name|there}},

I will leave this here so it does not turn into a nag. If you have already sent something to {{investor_name}}, thank you, and I will take it from there when they reply.

If not, no problem at all. I would still like to send you an update on {{company}} in a few months, if that is welcome.

Closes the loop with the contact and keeps the relationship. Three steps is the limit for a favour.

This sequence goes to the mutual contact, never to the investor. Its job is to make a favour easy to grant and easy to refuse. Investors respond to introductions from people they trust; the person granting the introduction is spending some of that trust on you, so every message here respects that.

Who to put in it

One row per investor, addressed to the one person best placed to introduce you. If two contacts know the same investor, pick one; two requests for the same intro embarrass everyone. Run this as a small campaign with a handful of rows, and check every field by hand in the To check queue before the first send. A wrong investor_name or fund_name here is not a typo, it is a burnt bridge.

Do not use a shared sending mailbox for this. Send from your own address, the one the contact already knows, so the thread looks like what it is: a personal request. The rotation and mailbox choices described in mailbox rotation explained are for volume campaigns, not for this.

What to change before sending

Write one_liner as a single plain sentence that someone outside your industry could repeat. It appears inside the forwardable paragraph in step two, so it must work in the contact’s voice as well as yours. Test it by reading step two aloud as if you were the contact. If you have a deck, do not attach it; send it as a tracked offer link only after the investor has agreed to talk, following the golden rules of sending offers and proposals.

How to read the replies and when to stop

“Sent, they are open to it” means you now write to the investor yourself, referencing the contact by name, and take the contact out of the campaign. “Let me check with them first” is the double opt-in working as intended; wait, and do not send step two. “I do not know them well enough” is a no; thank them and mark the reply Not interested so step three does not send.

Silence after step three is an answer. Do not add a fourth step and do not raise it in person unless the contact does. If the round closes, send the update you promised, whether or not the introduction ever happened.