Write the email a partner can forward
Many good first emails get forwarded: to the partner who covers your sector, to an associate, or into the Monday meeting. Write yours so it stands on its own. The rhyme, what you do, the number, and the ask all belong in the body, with no inside references and nothing hidden in an attachment.
I found this out from the other side. A partner I knew forwarded me a founder’s email by mistake, with one word on top: thoughts? The founder’s note opened with following up on our chat at the event. The colleague had no idea what event, what chat, or what company. The note died in a forward.
That is what an unforwardable email looks like. It only makes sense to the one person who was there.
Here is what I check before I send.
The first line names the rhyme. The second line says what the company does and for whom, in plain words a stranger understands. A colleague reading the forward needs both.
The number is in the body. Not in a deck, not behind a link. One number, with its trend.
The stage and the round size are in the body. The person receiving the forward has to know whether this is their kind of deal in one read.
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No flattery about the partner. Loved your podcast reads strangely when it lands in a colleague’s inbox. The reason is about their check, not their personality.
No attachment needed to understand it. If the email only makes sense with the PDF open, it will not survive a forward from a phone.
Short enough that the forward note can be a single word. A partner forwards a 120-word email with worth a look? They do not forward a 600-word email at all.
A signature with your name, company, and one link. The colleague needs a way to find you without replying through the partner.
My test is simple. I imagine the email arriving in a stranger’s inbox from the partner, with worth a look? above it. Does it make sense to someone who has never heard of me and did not get the first line’s context? If not, I rewrite until it does.
When a partner replies that they are passing it to a colleague, I thank them in one line and do nothing else. No second pitch, no extra attachments. The original email is already built to travel. If the colleague writes, I answer the colleague.
Fundraising is super easy once every email you send could survive being forwarded without you in the room. There are 60,000+ active investors, and many decisions get made by the colleague you never emailed. Write for that person too.
