Investor target list
A working list of who you are approaching, why they fit, and how the introduction gets made.
Spreadsheet
Finding investors · Copyable template
Warm intro request template
The forwardable note that makes it easy for someone to introduce you, and easy for them to say no.
A warm introduction is useful when the connector can explain why the conversation is relevant. It is not a substitute for research, and an introduction requested without one is usually worse than a well-targeted cold email — it spends someone's relationship to deliver a conversation that was never a fit.
This is two notes in one message. The first is your ask to the connector, short enough to answer in ten seconds and easy to decline. The second is the forwardable block underneath, written so they can send it on without editing anything.
Copyable template
What is in it
- The note to your connector
- Why this investor
- Forwardable note: what we do
- Forwardable note: what we can show
- Forwardable note: the ask
- Forwardable note: why this fund
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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
Keep the forwardable block short enough that a connector can send it without editing. If no credible path to an investor exists, a thoughtful cold email still works — the quality of the targeting and the clarity of the evidence matter far more than dressing every message up as warm.
Where this comes from
The thinking behind it
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Related templates
Investor research worksheet
What to find out about a fund before the first meeting, and what each answer tells you.
Copyable template
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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