Warm intro request template
The forwardable note that makes it easy for someone to introduce you, and easy for them to say no.
Copyable template
Finding investors · Spreadsheet
Investor target list
A working list of who you are approaching, why they fit, and how the introduction gets made.
A list of 300 firms with “seed” in their thesis produces a process nobody can run. Thirty to sixty names, ranked by fit, access, and stage, is a list you can actually work — and a smaller list run well beats a large one run badly.
Three tiers, run in sequence rather than all at once: a top tier of ten to fifteen strong-fit names where a warm path exists, a second tier of fifteen to twenty-five you open once you have momentum, and a reserve you hold back in case the round needs more coverage.
Every row needs a next action. A row without one is not being worked; it is being collected.
Spreadsheet
What is in it
Target list
One row per investor. The fit reason and the access path are separate columns on purpose — if you cannot write both, the name does not belong in the top two tiers yet.
Tier summary
Counts per tier against the sizes the approach assumes, so an overloaded tier one is visible before you start sending.
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Get the spreadsheet
The template is ready. Add your email to open it, and you will also get The Raise Memo — a note for founders raising capital.
How to use it
Notes
If you are in a hot round with inbound already outpacing your bandwidth, building a large target list is wasted effort — run the inbound well instead of manufacturing more top of funnel. And when a pattern shows up in tier one, a repeated ask or a repeated pass reason, fix it before opening tier two rather than sending the same story to twenty more people.
Where this comes from
The thinking behind it
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Investor research worksheet
What to find out about a fund before the first meeting, and what each answer tells you.
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From the publication
Read The Raise Memo
A note for founders raising capital—what investors notice, how conviction gets built, and what to do next.
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