How to Use Warm Introductions

Most people make warm intros WAY harder than they need to be. If you want someone to help you with a connection, you have to make it easy for them. So, based on my experience making thousands of warm intros for founders in Climate (and asking for hundreds myself), here are my 8 guiding principles to make the whole thing easier for everyone: 1. Respect the double opt-in. I never make surprise intros, period. I always ask the other person first. Your job is to give me the material to get that "yes."  Note: if you're someone that makes a lot of warm intros...always do double opt-in. Otherwise you burn social capital with every bad intro. 2. Ask permission. Unless we are close and you know the answer already, ask if I actually know the person well enough to make a meaningful introduction before you send the intro request. It saves YOU time, trust me. 3. Clean slate. Start a new email. Never reply to an old thread about something else. Lots of reasons for this, but the biggest is that you don't want inappropriate content being shared with someone on an intro. It happens all the time, don't do it. 4. Subject lines matter. Make the subject specific to the intro. If you are asking for intros to three different people for the same ask, give them unique subject lines. Otherwise Gmail groups them and it's easy to lose track. 5. Write a forwardable note. Don't write a script for me to say. It sounds fake. Instead, write a clear note to me that provides context I can forward immediately. Easy format: "Hi Dimitry, thanks for the offer to connect me with [Target Name]. Here is some context to pass along..." 6. Get to the point. Who are you, what do you do, and what is the ask? Are you raising? Selling? Looking for advice? Don't bury the lede. 7. Personalize it. Customize the note for the specific person or firm. Generic requests get ignored. 8. Timing counts. Send it when I am likely to see it and act on it. Tuesday morning usually beats Friday night. Your goal is to remove friction. Do everything you can to avoid it.

I sent 100+ cold emails to VCs and got 1 response. Then I flipped my approach and secured 50+ meetings that led to our $790k pre-seed. Here's what I learned the hard way: Founders send cold emails to VCs because they OVERESTIMATE what they’re building and UNDERESTIMATE the power of their networks. - Overestimating what you're building looks like "There's nothing in the market like my product, so investors will definitely reply to my email." Newsflash: that’s not enough. - Underestimating your network means ignoring people you already know with VC connections. Cold emailing doesn’t work. I sent 100 emails and got one response (a polite ‘no’). What works is using your network to get warm introductions to VCs. Not just any "connectors" - I'm talking about people who genuinely know you and can vouch for your work. Two reasons this changes everything: 1. When someone they trust introduces you, investors pay attention. 2. People who know you are genuinely happy to help. They want to see you win, so give them an opportunity to do so. Start with your actual network: - Former colleagues who've moved to startups - Alumni from your school working in tech - Friends who've raised capital before The key is they need to know both you AND the investor well enough to make a credible introduction. A weak connection making a lukewarm intro is worse than no intro at all. Here’s the template that I used to request warm intros for Chezie: SUBJECT: Quick question about [VC Partner name] BODY: Hi [Connector's first name], I noticed your connection to [VC Partner/Firm] and wanted to reach out. I'm building [Company] ([one-line description with traction point]). We're raising our [round] and I believe [VC Partner] would be a great fit because [specific reason tied to their investment thesis/portfolio]. Would you be open to making an introduction? I can send over a forwardable email to make it easy. Thanks for considering, Toby - - - This approach completely changed my fundraising trajectory. Instead of sending cold emails into the void, I was having real conversations with investors who came in with context and interest. Those 50+ meetings I mentioned came from about 30 people in my network who believed in me enough to make introductions. The hardest part is setting aside your pride and actually asking for help. Stop wasting time on cold emails that won't get read. Start with the relationships you've already built. What's been your experience? Have warm intros opened doors that cold outreach couldn't? I’ll go first by sharing my stats in the comments 👇🏾

I haven't sent a cold email in three years. Most service business owners I talk to send 1,000 a month. Here is the math nobody runs: Cold outreach: send 1,000 emails. ‣ Get a 1% reply rate, which is generous. That's 10 conversations. ‣Close 10% of those to a discovery call. That's 1 call. ‣Close 30% of discovery calls to clients. That's 0.3 clients per 1,000 emails. Warm pitch: ask 30 people in your network for an intro. ‣ Reply rate is 50%, often higher. That's 15 conversations. ‣ Close 30% to a discovery call. That's 4-5 calls. ‣Close 50% to clients (warm closes higher than cold every time). That's 2-3 clients per 30 warm intros. One requires 1,000 emails, a $400 outreach tool, and three months of follow-up sequences. The other requires 30 conversations with people who already trust you. Mathematically, cold does not work. The reason most people default to it anyway is because it feels like work. You can sit at your desk and check off "200 emails sent today" and feel productive. Asking for a warm intro is uncomfortable. It requires actually talking to people. It requires admitting you have something to sell. The math doesn't care which one feels productive. Neither does your bank account. If you haven't built a warm pipeline yet, the move is not "send more cold emails." The move is to write down 30 people who already know what you do, and ask each one for one introduction. That's a week of work. It pays for the year. 1,000 strangers or 30 people who trust you. Pick one. Intro script is in the Sales Pipeline Vault. Free. terryrice.co/vault

“Can you intro me?” is the networking version of “u up?” 😅 Give people context (event, signal, content) and the intro suddenly feels normal. I think a lot of teams approach warm intros as a one-off request. You want to meet someone, so you go to a connector and ask for an intro. They say yes or no, and that’s it. That works in some cases. What I’m seeing is that this motion works best when you think in terms of intro systems, not just intro requests. The idea is to use the network to create the conditions for the intro to happen. Let’s say you have a list of 100 target accounts. You create an event and invite those companies. Now there is context. 📍 When you reach out to a connector, you are not just asking for an intro. You can say: “These companies matter to us, we’ve invited them to this event, it would be helpful if you could nudge them.” The intro becomes much more natural. You can also layer additional context around the account: • Events or moments where people are already invited • Content they have engaged with • Signals that show familiarity with your company Now the intro sits inside a broader motion. That’s where it gets interesting. Intros become part of your outbound and inbound motion. You are creating a bit of surround sound around the account. Cold outbound, content, and events are still part of the system. The network adds another layer on top.

Most warm intros don’t fall apart because of timing....they fall apart because the ask creates too much work. Here’s a small professional habit that will quietly change how people respond when you ask for an introduction: the forwardable email. I get asked often to connect people, and I’m generally happy to do it. But what makes the difference between an immediate “yes” and a mental note I never get back to isn’t seniority, urgency or how exciting the ask is - it’s clarity. When you ask someone for an intro, you’re asking them to: - explain who you are - explain why the connection makes sense - vouch for you with their reputation A forwardable email respects that. It lets the connector help you without rewriting your story or guessing what you want. What I mean by a forwardable email: - Short - Clear - Written in your voice - Ready to forward as-is (no copy-pasting into a NEW email template to send to the receiver - a.ka. the person you want the intro to) **** A simple template that works: Subject: Intro to NAME? Body: Hi PERSON YOU ARE ASKING TO MAKE THE INTRO - wanted to follow up on our previous chat! If THE PERSON YOU WANT TO CONNECT WITH is open to it, I’d love an intro. A bit about me: [1–2 sentences, bonus points to backlink to your LinkedIn URL]. I’m hoping to connect with them about [specific reason]. If they’d be open to chatting, I’d love to connect. Thanks so much! **** That’s it. No long backstory. No “tell me what you’d like me to say.” No accidental homework for the person helping you. And one last thing: write it in your own voice. This is a structure, not a script. If you want people to say yes to making introductions, make it easy for them to do so - and respectful of everyone’s time. I promise you, this tiny habit compounds faster than you think.

Stop introducing people without consent. It’s not thoughtful, it’s lazy. Good introductions build trust. Bad ones waste everyone’s time. Here’s a 3-step framework to make introductions that actually help. Step 1: Get consent first Always ask both people if they want to be connected. It shows respect and prevents awkward obligations. Harvard research found that unsolicited connections lower both parties’ willingness to engage by almost 30 percent. A quick “Would you like me to introduce you?” saves time and protects relationships. Step 2: Explain the value When you make an intro, clarify why they should meet. For example: “Chris, meet Lisa, a soulful artist whose sound complements your production style.” Context builds curiosity and increases the chance of collaboration. Step 3: Keep it short People are busy. A concise introduction is more likely to get a response. Just share who they are, why they should connect, and then step back. Respecting time builds credibility. Pro tip: The best connectors create clarity, not clutter. ♻️ Share this with your network 🔔 Follow Kabir Sehgal for more

5 mistakes I made when I first started asking for intros: (Every single one killed my success rate) Mistake #1: Being too vague What I said: “Do you know anyone at Snowflake?” Why it failed: They had to do the thinking. They didn’t. Fix: “Would you be open to introing me to Sarah Chen? I saw you’re connected.” Specific asks get answers. Vague asks get ignored. Mistake #2: Not giving them the words What I said: “Could you intro me? I’ll let you explain what I do.” Why it failed: Now they have to figure out how to describe me. They won’t. Fix: “Happy to send a 2-line blurb you can forward.” Make it effortless. Give them the copy-paste. Mistake #3: Asking people I hadn’t talked to in years What I said: “Hey! Long time. Can you intro me to your CEO?” Why it failed: No relationship. No trust. No response. Fix: Reconnect first. Add value. Then ask. Cold intro requests are just cold emails with extra steps. Mistake #4: Not giving them an out What I said: “Would really appreciate the intro.” Why it failed: Pressure. They felt trapped. Fix: “Totally understand if the timing’s not right or it’s not a good fit.” Easy outs paradoxically increase yes rates. Mistake #5: Asking for too much too soon What I said: “Can you set up a call with your CRO for me?” Why it failed: I skipped steps. I was asking for a sales meeting, not an intro. Fix: “Would you be open to making an intro? Just a connection — I’ll take it from there.” Small asks get big results. The pattern: Every mistake came from making it hard for them to say yes. The fix is always the same: Be specific. Do the work. Make it easy. Warm intros aren’t magic. They’re just cold outreach with the friction removed.