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Great. Here is a hypothetical for you: we are a bootstrapped company with traction and earnings, but we're located in Armpit, KS and the only people we are netw

Great. Here is a hypothetical for you: we are a bootstrapped company with traction and earnings, but we're located in Armpit, KS and the only people we are networked with are our suppliers and our customers. We want to raise from a well connected firm like yourselves to launch our next phase of growth. How, exactly, do we do that without already being part of your referral network? In anticipation of your answer, "you'll find a way" is a pure blank-out. You've already closed your circuit. How do you expect the hypothetical "us" to break in?

raminassemi 12y ago
Here's one possible way: 1. Reach out to people who got funded by the VCs you want. 2. Ask them for a 10 minute phone call or if you can invite them for coffee. Do this with enough people and some WILL take the time. 3. Be awesome when talking to the founders (so they like you and believe you've got the stuff. 4. Ask for an intro. 5. Repeat 1 - 4 until you get an intro. Details: https://medium.com/@Steli/how-to-get-warm-introductions-to-vcs-a8fbe3affd01 https://medium.com/@Steli/how-to-get-warm-introductions-to-v...
- ulfw 12y ago
  Just playing devil's advocate here. So you suggest people waste: - a lot of their own time researching say 25 random other companies, reach out to their founders (who are in a completely different field of business etc) - fly out to San Francisco from Armpit, KS. Waste 5 of those 25 founders time for coffee who actually agreed to meet with you even though you have nothing in common with them - then tell them that you're also not interested in them really. All you want is a backhanded intro to their investors, which they hope they will give you Only so that the investor will get 2-3 emails from founders who really know nothing about you other than what they found out in a 10 minute phone call or a rushed 30 min Starbucks on 2nd and Folsom. Shouldn't an associate (who actually gets paid for this job) do this, rather than waste founders who are busy building their own companies? Don't you think that system is broken?
  - raminassemi 12y ago
    "Just playing devil's advocate here." Not sure what you're getting out of that, but I'm happy to play along :-) "you suggest people waste: - a lot of their own time" I wouldn't call it "wasting time" if it gets you the result you want. "even though you have nothing in common with them" Being startup founders is already having a lot in common. "All you want is a backhanded intro" I wouldn't do any of this in a backhanded way, founders will smell it. Be transparent and upfront. "Only so that the investor will get 2-3 emails" The question was how to get warm introductions... these are warm introductions :) "from founders who really know nothing about you other than what they found out in a 10 minute phone call" ... or from follow up interactions you've had with them after that initial 10 minute phone call... "Don't you think that system is broken?" Nope :) I think it's an imperfect system - but then everything in the real world is.
throwaway141127 12y ago
Here's a system that worked for us. 1. Identify VC companies who invest in our space through web research. 2. Search for people who work at the companies on LinkedIn. It shows your contacts who know those people, and also contacts who have contacts who know those people. 3. From the contacts who know people, identify those who you think would be willing to make an introduction. Talk to them, see if they will. 4. From the third-level people, check how you're connected and see if the intermediate contact is someone who can make an intro that you can then use to get the VC intro. Repeated across every member of our team, we found a bunch of useful contacts and got a bunch of meetings. To be fair -- step 4 didn't turn up many useful ones, most came from step 3. And to add to that, no-one invested. But it wasn't for lack of intros or meetings.

raminassemi 12y ago

Here's one possible way: 1. Reach out to people who got funded by the VCs you want. 2. Ask them for a 10 minute phone call or if you can invite them for coffee. Do this with enough people and some WILL take the time. 3. Be awesome when talking to the founders (so they like you and believe you've got the stuff. 4. Ask for an intro. 5. Repeat 1 - 4 until you get an intro. Details: https://medium.com/@Steli/how-to-get-warm-introductions-to-vcs-a8fbe3affd01 https://medium.com/@Steli/how-to-get-warm-introductions-to-v...

ulfw 12y ago
Just playing devil's advocate here. So you suggest people waste: - a lot of their own time researching say 25 random other companies, reach out to their founders (who are in a completely different field of business etc) - fly out to San Francisco from Armpit, KS. Waste 5 of those 25 founders time for coffee who actually agreed to meet with you even though you have nothing in common with them - then tell them that you're also not interested in them really. All you want is a backhanded intro to their investors, which they hope they will give you Only so that the investor will get 2-3 emails from founders who really know nothing about you other than what they found out in a 10 minute phone call or a rushed 30 min Starbucks on 2nd and Folsom. Shouldn't an associate (who actually gets paid for this job) do this, rather than waste founders who are busy building their own companies? Don't you think that system is broken?
- raminassemi 12y ago
  "Just playing devil's advocate here." Not sure what you're getting out of that, but I'm happy to play along :-) "you suggest people waste: - a lot of their own time" I wouldn't call it "wasting time" if it gets you the result you want. "even though you have nothing in common with them" Being startup founders is already having a lot in common. "All you want is a backhanded intro" I wouldn't do any of this in a backhanded way, founders will smell it. Be transparent and upfront. "Only so that the investor will get 2-3 emails" The question was how to get warm introductions... these are warm introductions :) "from founders who really know nothing about you other than what they found out in a 10 minute phone call" ... or from follow up interactions you've had with them after that initial 10 minute phone call... "Don't you think that system is broken?" Nope :) I think it's an imperfect system - but then everything in the real world is.

throwaway141127 12y ago

Here's a system that worked for us. 1. Identify VC companies who invest in our space through web research. 2. Search for people who work at the companies on LinkedIn. It shows your contacts who know those people, and also contacts who have contacts who know those people. 3. From the contacts who know people, identify those who you think would be willing to make an introduction. Talk to them, see if they will. 4. From the third-level people, check how you're connected and see if the intermediate contact is someone who can make an intro that you can then use to get the VC intro. Repeated across every member of our team, we found a bunch of useful contacts and got a bunch of meetings. To be fair -- step 4 didn't turn up many useful ones, most came from step 3. And to add to that, no-one invested. But it wasn't for lack of intros or meetings.