A Great Cold Email Always Beats an Awful Warm Email
An email introduction made by someone who doesn’t know you (or doesn’t like you) isn’t going to do you any favors
The “always find a warm intro to a VC” axiom is often misunderstood.
Its purpose is to remind people of the value of a mutual connection who can vouch for an entrepreneur’s abilities, experience, and perseverance. This value is real, but people further misinterpret the axiom to mean that they should find someone who happens to have the VC’s contact info and get them to forward an email without much context or relevance. At least one-third — and maybe as much as one-half— of the “warm introductions” I receive fall into this category.
What happens in this case? Usually, something like the following:
Me: Hey thanks for the forward. Are you vouching for this person or just passing along? Are you investing as an angel, or would you if you could?
The “warm” intro: Well, I met them at an event somewhere but don’t really know them… I worked with them but they’re actually not that good… [or some variation of these]
Me: …
From my standpoint, it’s a negative signal for an entrepreneur to take this route. It suggests a lack of…
