5 ms·

I hate getting emails that ask me for two or three time blocks that work for me. Be respectful of people's time and just pick a few times that work for you. I

I hate getting emails that ask me for two or three time blocks that work for me. Be respectful of people's time and just pick a few times that work for you. If they don't work for them, they'll usually tell you what does pretty quick.

Silhouette 15y ago
I'm afraid that was my first impression as well: this is a person who likes to give instructions to other people and thinks they should all consider it a privilege to work with his start-up. Clarity and conciseness are good, but the tone here came across as complacent/arrogant to me. Maybe it's a cultural thing; I'm a Brit, and often find US business people way too in-your-face to create a good impression and fit in well over here. Probably no harm done in this case, because any successful investor surely cares more about the facts than the tone anyway.
- int3rnaut 15y ago
  I had that same first impression, and I'm Canadian (her majesty has us all feeling a disdain for arrogance haha)--I think it is a cultural thing and what I take from this is to know who you're writing/talking to. Personally I'd tweak these templates in a different way, but that's the thing, their (great) templates and provide a good place to start. I always find that personal touches go a long long way in business.
jackpirate 15y ago
I honestly never know the best combination of polite and authoritativeness to to schedule meetings over email. Are you suggesting that people should a specific time and see if it works for the other person? (i.e. "I'll give you a call at 3PM on Monday if you'd like to talk more") or that he should have just asked the person to pick the best time for them, and then he could adjust his schedule around it. I normally opt for the second when I'm dealing with someone I don't know very well. The only thing that bothered me about the way he did it was that he capitalized the TWO. This makes it looks like he thinks the VCs are retarded. (Maybe if most VCs think other VCs are retarded, this could have helped his case :)
- sunir 15y ago
  Hey jackpirate, I see you are trying to figure out the best way to schedule business meetings. I do this all the time as Chief Handshaker at FreshBooks. Are you free Monday at 2pm CST to discuss this? I can call you at 321-555-1212. Cheers, Sunir Shah, Chief Handshaker, FreshBooks (416) 481-6946 x224 http://www.freshbooks.com/team/sunir http://twitter.com/sunir I stated the problem and my reason for talking to you. Then chose a time in your timezone (I guessed in this case) and I declared who is calling whom and by what means. I always prefer to call you at your number in case I am running late. If you accept, I'll send you a meeting invite. I used to not send meeting invites but I found that in 15% of the cases people don't mark meetings in their own calendars. My signature includes my contact information as well, which is useful later in the deal cycle. Don't make your phone number a mystery.
  - jackpirate 15y ago
    That's a great basic outline, and I agree with all the little touches you add, such as making it clear who is calling whom, and that your number is clearly visible in any case. My only problem is who should suggest the first meeting time/place. By suggesting it yourself, you are assuming a position of seniority in the relationship that may not be appropriate, and project the image that their time is not as valuable as yours. I personally only suggest a time if I have reason to believe that the other person will be available then. For example, "Would you like to talk about XXX over coffee after the conference we'll both be at?" Otherwise, I let them know that I will make myself available whenever is convenient for them.
    - sunir 15y ago
      If someone is really more important than you, they will get really frustrated if they have waste time driving the tiddly bits of the relationship. I cut down useless steps so I didn't waste time. I remained polite; I asked for the time, I didn't make it an order. I drove to an action to move the relationship forward. That's respect. If they aren't available at the time you ask, they will take command and respond with times they are available. Then you defer.
Tawheed 15y ago
The reason I ask for three blocks of time is because the Investor is WAY BUSIER than I am. SO, in this scenario, I'm giving him the option to basically PICK what time works for him and I will 99% of the time go with the first one. I also ask for TWO more so that we reduce on email back and forth. Its all about 1) less emails and 2) accommodating the investor. If he or she is already looking at the calendar for ONE time that works, sureley TWO more is not that bad and it increases the chances of getting a mutual time that works.
- diolpah 15y ago
  What? The person who works on perhaps seven deals over a five year investment cycle is 'way busier' than the person scratching to bring a new concept implementation to market as quickly as possible? Did I understand your position correctly?
  - cbr 15y ago
    I think he meant "way busier" in the sense of "fewer times open for a meeting". To someone coding a lot, which time to meet is mostly unimportant, while to someone working out lots of deals there may not be many open slots to put a meeting in.
- jackpirate 15y ago
  I think the "less emails" is not nearly as important as making it as easy as possible for them to respond to you. The more work they have to do, the more likely they are to just ignore the email rather than reply. That's why I would either not say anything or just suggest general times (e.g. "Afternoons on Mondays and Tuesdays are best for me.")
  - tnorthcutt 15y ago
    The beauty of asking for multiple specific times is that the asker can then respond affirmatively to one of those specific times (likely to the respondent's first choice), and eliminate any additional email exchanges.
spc476 15y ago
I read that as: Please give me two time slots you are available for a meeting, and I'll pick the best one that matches my schedule. I did not read it as: I want to pitch this over two time slots to you.

Silhouette 15y ago

I'm afraid that was my first impression as well: this is a person who likes to give instructions to other people and thinks they should all consider it a privilege to work with his start-up. Clarity and conciseness are good, but the tone here came across as complacent/arrogant to me. Maybe it's a cultural thing; I'm a Brit, and often find US business people way too in-your-face to create a good impression and fit in well over here. Probably no harm done in this case, because any successful investor surely cares more about the facts than the tone anyway.

int3rnaut 15y ago
I had that same first impression, and I'm Canadian (her majesty has us all feeling a disdain for arrogance haha)--I think it is a cultural thing and what I take from this is to know who you're writing/talking to. Personally I'd tweak these templates in a different way, but that's the thing, their (great) templates and provide a good place to start. I always find that personal touches go a long long way in business.

jackpirate 15y ago

I honestly never know the best combination of polite and authoritativeness to to schedule meetings over email. Are you suggesting that people should a specific time and see if it works for the other person? (i.e. "I'll give you a call at 3PM on Monday if you'd like to talk more") or that he should have just asked the person to pick the best time for them, and then he could adjust his schedule around it. I normally opt for the second when I'm dealing with someone I don't know very well. The only thing that bothered me about the way he did it was that he capitalized the TWO. This makes it looks like he thinks the VCs are retarded. (Maybe if most VCs think other VCs are retarded, this could have helped his case :)

sunir 15y ago
Hey jackpirate, I see you are trying to figure out the best way to schedule business meetings. I do this all the time as Chief Handshaker at FreshBooks. Are you free Monday at 2pm CST to discuss this? I can call you at 321-555-1212. Cheers, Sunir Shah, Chief Handshaker, FreshBooks (416) 481-6946 x224 http://www.freshbooks.com/team/sunir http://twitter.com/sunir I stated the problem and my reason for talking to you. Then chose a time in your timezone (I guessed in this case) and I declared who is calling whom and by what means. I always prefer to call you at your number in case I am running late. If you accept, I'll send you a meeting invite. I used to not send meeting invites but I found that in 15% of the cases people don't mark meetings in their own calendars. My signature includes my contact information as well, which is useful later in the deal cycle. Don't make your phone number a mystery.
- jackpirate 15y ago
  That's a great basic outline, and I agree with all the little touches you add, such as making it clear who is calling whom, and that your number is clearly visible in any case. My only problem is who should suggest the first meeting time/place. By suggesting it yourself, you are assuming a position of seniority in the relationship that may not be appropriate, and project the image that their time is not as valuable as yours. I personally only suggest a time if I have reason to believe that the other person will be available then. For example, "Would you like to talk about XXX over coffee after the conference we'll both be at?" Otherwise, I let them know that I will make myself available whenever is convenient for them.
  - sunir 15y ago
    If someone is really more important than you, they will get really frustrated if they have waste time driving the tiddly bits of the relationship. I cut down useless steps so I didn't waste time. I remained polite; I asked for the time, I didn't make it an order. I drove to an action to move the relationship forward. That's respect. If they aren't available at the time you ask, they will take command and respond with times they are available. Then you defer.

Tawheed 15y ago

The reason I ask for three blocks of time is because the Investor is WAY BUSIER than I am. SO, in this scenario, I'm giving him the option to basically PICK what time works for him and I will 99% of the time go with the first one. I also ask for TWO more so that we reduce on email back and forth. Its all about 1) less emails and 2) accommodating the investor. If he or she is already looking at the calendar for ONE time that works, sureley TWO more is not that bad and it increases the chances of getting a mutual time that works.

diolpah 15y ago
What? The person who works on perhaps seven deals over a five year investment cycle is 'way busier' than the person scratching to bring a new concept implementation to market as quickly as possible? Did I understand your position correctly?
- cbr 15y ago
  I think he meant "way busier" in the sense of "fewer times open for a meeting". To someone coding a lot, which time to meet is mostly unimportant, while to someone working out lots of deals there may not be many open slots to put a meeting in.
jackpirate 15y ago
I think the "less emails" is not nearly as important as making it as easy as possible for them to respond to you. The more work they have to do, the more likely they are to just ignore the email rather than reply. That's why I would either not say anything or just suggest general times (e.g. "Afternoons on Mondays and Tuesdays are best for me.")
- tnorthcutt 15y ago
  The beauty of asking for multiple specific times is that the asker can then respond affirmatively to one of those specific times (likely to the respondent's first choice), and eliminate any additional email exchanges.

spc476 15y ago

I read that as: Please give me two time slots you are available for a meeting, and I'll pick the best one that matches my schedule. I did not read it as: I want to pitch this over two time slots to you.