How to Get Better Introductions

0:00 How to do entrepreneurs every year?

0:04 As a VC, I meet with hundreds and thousands of entrepreneurs every year.

0:09 And one of the most common things they ask me for is introductions.

0:14 We have an incredible network.

0:16 And I love to build that network.

0:17 And I love to use it by introducing entrepreneurs to great people, whether they're investors,

0:22 potential customers, potential employees.

0:24 I make over a thousand introductions a year.

0:29 I figured out how to do it more effectively and I want to share that with you now.

0:33 So if you as an entrepreneur are coming to me looking for an introduction to Acme company,

0:38 for instance, I will ask you for affordable email.

0:41 I am not asking you to write my email.

0:45 I hate when people do that.

0:47 They'll pretend they're me.

0:49 Dear Acme company, I just met this amazing entrepreneur.

0:52 Who's going to make the next unicorn in Chicago?

0:55 You should invest.

0:56 I hate that.

0:58 That's not what I'm asking you to do.

1:00 What I'm really asking you to do is write an email to me

1:04 explaining why you want the introduction to Acme Company.

1:07 Something like this.

1:09 Dear Troy, it was great meeting with you the other day.

1:12 I did a little research on Acme Company and you were right.

1:14 There is incredible synergy between our company and Acme Company.

1:17 Here are the three things I think we could get out of a meeting with them.

1:21 I take that email that's very transparent in your voice

1:24 and I send it to my contact at Acme Company.

1:29 I do so in a way where I say,

1:31 hey, Acme Company, here's an entrepreneur I recently met

1:34 that I think you might be interested in.

1:35 Do you want the intro?

1:37 What I've done is I have subtly changed the tone of the email

1:41 from my asking Acme Company to do me a favor by meeting with you

1:46 to asking Acme Company if they want to meet with you.

1:51 I'm introducing them to someone interesting.

1:53 I'm doing them a favor. As someone who makes over a thousand introductions a year it's really

1:59 important because I could never pay back thousands of favors. I'd much rather be in the position where

2:05 I'm doing thousands of favors. And by the way 98-99% of the time they say of course go ahead

2:13 and make the introduction. I introduce you to Hack Me Company. I get out of the middle.

2:18 So if you want an introduction from me or from just about anybody else I strongly suggest the

2:23 art of the forwardable email. Write a transparent email being clear about why you want the introduction

2:29 and who you're writing to. Dear Troy, I'd love an introduction to Acme Company. Here's why.

2:36 I'll then forward that email. It'll be transparent. Acme Company will feel like I'm doing them a

2:42 favor. You'll be set up for success because they will have read your words about why you want the

2:48 introduction. They'll know who they're dealing with. If you follow these tips, I'm confident

2:54 you'll have a higher success rate and I won't owe thousands of people favors.