How to ask for warm intros

I get asked for investor intros almost every week. Sometimes I say yes immediately. Sometimes I ask for more info. Sometimes I don't respond at all — not because I don't want to help, but because most founders make it hard to help them well.

Here's the rule. If I'm going to forward your note to an investor I respect, you need to make it forward-ready. That means I should be able to:

• Copy-paste your blurb into an email
• Send it as-is to the investor
• Feel proud attaching my name to it

If you make me write the intro for you, the odds drop fast.

When a founder asks me properly, my workflow is simple: I forward their message to the investor, ask "would you like to be connected?", and if the investor says yes I make the intro. Your job is to make step one effortless.

When you ask for an intro, include a short blurb (4–5 lines max) that covers exactly four things:

• 1. Team — who you are and why you're credible.
• 2. Commercial traction — revenue, pilots, LOIs, customers, or proof of demand.
• 3. Investor cap table — who already backs you. Signals matter.
• 4. The ask — what you want from this specific investor.

That's it. No pitch deck. No attachments. No life story.

If you can't fit it into 4–5 lines, it's not ready.

Here's a blurb I've forwarded to investors verbatim — copy-paste, no edits:

That's what I forward. Nothing more. Team, traction, cap table, ask — all four boxes checked in one paragraph.

Every one of these creates friction and tanks the odds:

• "Can you intro me to [Investor]?" — no context, no blurb.
• "We're early but huge potential" — no numbers, no proof.
• "Happy to send a deck" — make me chase you for the basics.
• Long paragraphs with no numbers.
• Asking for multiple intros in one message.

Investor intros are borrowed trust. If you respect the person making the intro, you'll make it easy, concise, and specific. Do that and you'll be surprised how often the answer becomes yes.