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The list of common mistakes includes "Spending a lot of time trying to get a warm intro. You’re better off just following these rules and emailing me directly."

The list of common mistakes includes "Spending a lot of time trying to get a warm intro. You’re better off just following these rules and emailing me directly." That goes contrary to a lot of advice other VCs say, which is that getting introduced to a VC is the most common way to get funded. Supposedly most cold emails don't turn into VC funding. Is this no longer the case?

sytse 10y ago
My take on this. This is advise for early stage investors (e.g. mostly angels and micro VCs). For A-round investments I think a warm intro is still needed.
- ci5er 10y ago
  Why?
  - sytse 10y ago
    Most VC's get approached a lot, they use this as a filter. Most angels get less dealflow. Some famous ones (Ron Conway) have set up a team (SV Angels) to deal with it.
downandout 10y ago
I think he was referring specifically to himself. However, he isn't that wrong. There are a few that want warm intros, and one that actually won't even talk to you without one [1]. But if you view your fund raising strictly in terms of dollars raised per hour spent, you'll find that simply contacting more people is the vastly more productive route in most cases. [1] https://lowercasecapital.com/prospecting/ https://lowercasecapital.com/prospecting/
dahart 10y ago
It may be a matter of degree. My experience is that warm intros do help for early stage investors, but they aren't a requirement. Maybe a simpler way to look at it is that a warm intro often helps any introduction no matter who it is, but if you're polite, direct, and charming, you'll be fine either way. Since it was qualified as "a lot of time", I'd suggest spending "a little time" trying to get a warm intro, if that doesn't work quickly, just email cold while keeping the posted advice in mind.
pbreit 10y ago
Maybe the point is, IF you have to spend a lot of time trying to find a warm intro, then you might be as well or better off just going ahead and cold emailing. But realistically, there are very few situations where a cold email is better or even as good as a warm email. A corollary is: if you're not resourceful enough to get a few warm intros, you are going to struggle mightily to found a company.
- graycat 10y ago
  There is a really big company nearly everyone in the world has heard of for decades. I know the founder, COB, CEO, and saved his company twice. Once I asked the founder for an introduction to a VC, and the founder turned me over to his also famous CIO. We chatted about old times and my startup. He gave me a warm introduction to a Silicon Valley VC. Did it help? Nope. Did the VC seem to care about the introduction? Nope. So, for a VC, what might be the role of a warm introduction? Sure: Keep down the e-mail traffic. Next, given a warm introduction, what does an information technology VC really want to hear? Sure, an easy way to make a lot of money quickly, i.e., an information technology company with some good barriers to entry in a huge market with significant traction growing very rapidly and with founders desperate for some cash and ready to sign an onerous term sheet? I never imposed on that very busy founder or his CIO again. Yes, some VCs regard a contact without a warm introduction as something contemptible from "over the transom". Well, sounds like the VC is so rich they don't want any more money, is having trouble handling their e-mail, or would be a total pain to have on a BoD. And, just what is the VC going to bring except fungible cash? Do they know how to manage high end sites of Windows Server and SQL Server, grow a large server farm, manage software development with 100 developers, protect against nuisance law suits, do well with publicity, etc.? What do they really know?
  - tmat 10y ago
    They're "The money guy." They don't need to know squat except how to squash ideas that don't turn out hockey stick growth. Most websites don't need funding, it's a misnomer, and ruins what could be a perfectly good life style business. People need to get over the idea that they're building the next big thing.. Because they're not. Turn out profitable business and then if the growth is there push on till the day. Otherwise enjoy what you have or sell it and try again.
wyc 10y ago
Maybe it makes more sense from an ROI perspective. Is it really beneficial to try to establish that warm intro with a 50-80% response rate vs. in the same amount of time, sending 20 cold emails with a 10-20% response rate? The respondents to a well-constructed cold email are also likely to self-select!
erikb 10y ago
He's not a VC, though. He's an early stage investor which I would put pre-VC. A VC may still require warm intros since he may get 1000 cold emails a day, not 100. And the warm intro is also more meaningful, since yo already should have some angel investors and partners in his area of activity.

sytse 10y ago

My take on this. This is advise for early stage investors (e.g. mostly angels and micro VCs). For A-round investments I think a warm intro is still needed.

ci5er 10y ago
Why?
- sytse 10y ago
  Most VC's get approached a lot, they use this as a filter. Most angels get less dealflow. Some famous ones (Ron Conway) have set up a team (SV Angels) to deal with it.

downandout 10y ago

I think he was referring specifically to himself. However, he isn't that wrong. There are a few that want warm intros, and one that actually won't even talk to you without one [1]. But if you view your fund raising strictly in terms of dollars raised per hour spent, you'll find that simply contacting more people is the vastly more productive route in most cases. [1] https://lowercasecapital.com/prospecting/ https://lowercasecapital.com/prospecting/

dahart 10y ago

It may be a matter of degree. My experience is that warm intros do help for early stage investors, but they aren't a requirement. Maybe a simpler way to look at it is that a warm intro often helps any introduction no matter who it is, but if you're polite, direct, and charming, you'll be fine either way. Since it was qualified as "a lot of time", I'd suggest spending "a little time" trying to get a warm intro, if that doesn't work quickly, just email cold while keeping the posted advice in mind.

pbreit 10y ago

Maybe the point is, IF you have to spend a lot of time trying to find a warm intro, then you might be as well or better off just going ahead and cold emailing. But realistically, there are very few situations where a cold email is better or even as good as a warm email. A corollary is: if you're not resourceful enough to get a few warm intros, you are going to struggle mightily to found a company.

graycat 10y ago
There is a really big company nearly everyone in the world has heard of for decades. I know the founder, COB, CEO, and saved his company twice. Once I asked the founder for an introduction to a VC, and the founder turned me over to his also famous CIO. We chatted about old times and my startup. He gave me a warm introduction to a Silicon Valley VC. Did it help? Nope. Did the VC seem to care about the introduction? Nope. So, for a VC, what might be the role of a warm introduction? Sure: Keep down the e-mail traffic. Next, given a warm introduction, what does an information technology VC really want to hear? Sure, an easy way to make a lot of money quickly, i.e., an information technology company with some good barriers to entry in a huge market with significant traction growing very rapidly and with founders desperate for some cash and ready to sign an onerous term sheet? I never imposed on that very busy founder or his CIO again. Yes, some VCs regard a contact without a warm introduction as something contemptible from "over the transom". Well, sounds like the VC is so rich they don't want any more money, is having trouble handling their e-mail, or would be a total pain to have on a BoD. And, just what is the VC going to bring except fungible cash? Do they know how to manage high end sites of Windows Server and SQL Server, grow a large server farm, manage software development with 100 developers, protect against nuisance law suits, do well with publicity, etc.? What do they really know?
- tmat 10y ago
  They're "The money guy." They don't need to know squat except how to squash ideas that don't turn out hockey stick growth. Most websites don't need funding, it's a misnomer, and ruins what could be a perfectly good life style business. People need to get over the idea that they're building the next big thing.. Because they're not. Turn out profitable business and then if the growth is there push on till the day. Otherwise enjoy what you have or sell it and try again.

wyc 10y ago

Maybe it makes more sense from an ROI perspective. Is it really beneficial to try to establish that warm intro with a 50-80% response rate vs. in the same amount of time, sending 20 cold emails with a 10-20% response rate? The respondents to a well-constructed cold email are also likely to self-select!

erikb 10y ago

He's not a VC, though. He's an early stage investor which I would put pre-VC. A VC may still require warm intros since he may get 1000 cold emails a day, not 100. And the warm intro is also more meaningful, since yo already should have some angel investors and partners in his area of activity.