Can You Introduce Me to Investors?

I am frequently asked this question by early-stage founders I meet.

While there are many other posts online about idealized ways to do this, I want to write my own post to share with people when they ask me this question. I'll include a resource you can copy as well.

The problem with the simple question, "Can you introduce me to investors?" is that it is too generic and unfocused. Yes, I know people who are angel investors and venture capitalists. However, each investor has their own focus, stage, criteria, and average investment size (check size). I don't know the founder's business very well, who else they are speaking to, nor who they want to speak to.

Given this generic question, I'm likely to do ... nothing. Sorry.

Founders should prepare for fundraising by conducting in-depth research into who the right investors are. While there can be a sheer volume play here (I spoke to more than 150 investors to raise capital for Wallaby), you need to find people who are a fit.

Fit is more than the factors above; it is also about someone whose interests and investment hypothesis align with your business. I think it is very hard to convince someone to invest in your startup. You are looking for someone who is already predisposed to invest because they share your theories.

Research

Buy a subscription to Crunchbase. Maybe you can use AI tools now, but make sure they are accurate. Filter investors based on key criteria:

1. Investment stage (e.g., pre-seed, seed, Series A, etc.)
2. Investor type (e.g., angel vs. institutional)
3. Check size (e.g., $25,000 or $1,000,000, etc.)
4. Sector (are they generalists or focused on what you are working on)
5. Geographic rules (some folks only invest in the Bay Area, for example)
6. Activity (if they haven't recently written a check for another company, they probably won't for you)
7. Portfolio (are they invested in a direct competitor?)

You can also find lists of investors that someone else may be helping to maintain. For example, we maintain a fintech VC list at Totavi in the Totavi app.

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The Totavi App helps you navigate fintech with the Fintech Navigator™ and in-depth reports. Explore tools, insights, and research on payments, card programs, and more.

Totavi App

Asking for Intros

Once you have your list, you can reach out to people you know to see if they can make quality introductions for you. You want to make this as easy as possible.

Share the List

I recommend making your list in a Google Sheet so it's easy to share, and ask everyone you ask to make an intro to edit.

Ask people to "claim" one or two people on the list that they will introduce you to. This allows you to get as much coverage as possible and create peer pressure to sign up.

Provide Resources

There are a few resources I want to receive to make an intro:

1. A "blurb" or short investment intro. Write this as if the other person is sending it.
2. Links to your LinkedIn and your website
3. Links to a teaser document or presentation (can be hosted on Papermark or similar).

I exclusively do double-opt-in introductions, which means I will first email the investor to get their OK to introduce you.

The email I want to send probably looks like this:

Hey Investor Person,

I want to introduce you to Frida Goldman, co-founder and CEO of Rylan Card.

Frida has extensive experience in fintech from her 5+ years as official dog of Totavi. Leveraging this experience, she and her co-founder have decided to build a debit card for pets to use with agentic commerce, so that they can order their own toys. Rylan Card is powered by an AI trained to understand barking to acquire the right products.

The company has just launched its waitlist (with more than 100,000 dogs on it) and is currently seeking to raise ~ $1.5MM. I think they are a great fit for dogfoodventures.

Check out their teaser deck here.

Let me know if I can make the intro.

Thanks,
Matthew

The Follow-Up

Once I've made the intro and heard back, I will update the sheet.

The Google Sheet

I've made a fake example Google Sheet for you to copy and use:

Sample Investor Tracking

Google Docs

Final Thoughts

Whether you're emailing me or any one else, please remember that they are doing you a favor to make an introduction. Introductions are social capital and you need to earn the favor. Bad introductions reflect poorly on the connector.

• Be prepared
• Keep track of things
• Always respond right away to an intro email
• Thank the connector for making the introduction
• Ask the connector to do as little work as possible

Good luck!