Asking an investor or board member for an intro

An intro from an investor or board member is the strongest door you can walk through. It's the easiest one to waste too, and once you've wasted it, you don't get another try with that person.

So ask rarely, ask with precision, and make it easy for them to say yes or no.

Why these intros are different

When a board member or investor forwards your note, they're spending their reputation. Senior executives take their calls. That's the whole point of the intro, and it's why they're careful about who they put forward.

A client intro says "this firm did good work for me." A board or investor intro says "I think this is worth your time." The bar for the second one is higher. The person making it is putting their judgment on the line in front of an executive they may need something from later.

Respect that and they'll help you more than once. Ignore it and they'll quietly stop answering.

Who to ask

Start with the people who already know your firm. Your own investors, if you have them. Board or advisory members. Former executives who've worked with you and now sit on boards.

Then map where they sit. Board members often hold seats at several companies. Investors know the leadership teams at their portfolio companies well. Mapping who you know at a target account works the same way here, just at a more senior level.

Look for a real connection, not just a shared logo. A board seat at the target, a portfolio relationship, or a close working history with the executive you want to reach.

Pick the target with care

Don't ask for an intro to an account you haven't researched. You should know what's happening there, who owns the problem, and what you think that problem is before you ask anyone to open the door.

Pick accounts where there's a clear reason now. A new CEO, a fresh line about a cost program in a filing, a restructuring, a cluster of hiring. A board member can tell in seconds whether your timing makes sense, and good timing makes them more willing to forward.

And ask for one intro at a time. A list of ten names reads like a favor request. One name with a reason reads like a judgment call they can make.

Write the ask

The ask has two parts. A short note to the board member or investor, and a forwardable note they can send on as is.

The note to them should say who you want to reach, why now, and that it's fine to say no. Keep it to a few lines.

The forwardable note does the real work. It's written to the executive, short enough to read on a phone, and built around a hypothesis about their problem. The forwardable note post covers how to write one line by line.

Here's an example forwardable note. Say a board member sits on the board of a mid-size specialty insurer that just named a new COO.

You started as COO a few weeks ago, and the last annual report says the claims platform is being replaced over the next two years. New operating leaders tend to inherit a replacement like that with the timeline already set and the team already stretched. My guess is the hardest part right now is keeping claims moving on the old system as the new one gets built. Is that right, or is the bigger worry somewhere else?

No pitch. No case study. Something the board member can send without worrying it'll embarrass them.

Protect their reputation

Follow up fast once the intro lands. If the executive replies, answer that day.

Keep the board member informed with one short note after the first conversation. They want to know it went well.

And if the executive says no, accept it gracefully and thank the person who made the intro. Don't push. Pushing after a senior intro is the fastest way to lose the person who made it.

Board and investor intros are not a pipeline strategy. They're a few precise moves a year, saved for accounts where timing, fit and a clear problem all line up.

Ask well and they'll keep opening doors. Ask often and they'll stop.