How to Ask for, and Execute, a Valley-Style Business Introduction
A Silicon Valley kabuki protocol documented by Pete Kazanjy (opens in a new tab), author of Founding Sales (opens in a new tab), the startup sales handbook.
A well-executed intro assist is a beautiful thing.
When You Ask Someone for an Introduction
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Identify the Target: Specify the person you want to connect with (e.g., "I would like to connect with Josh Reeves at Gusto.") instead of a vague request like "Can you help me get into Gusto?".
- You can do this by looking for the relevant target person on LinkedIn
- Also check LinkedIn to confirm that the person you're requesting the intro from has a relationship with the target. If unsure, ask if they know who the right target is.
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Ask the Intermediary: Request if they'd be willing to connect you with the target. Mention that you will write everything up for them to forward along, so all they'll have to do is hit "forward" and add some comments.
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Write a Self-Contained Forwardable Email: If they agree, create an email for them to forward. For details, see The Art of the Email Introduction (opens in a new tab).
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Compose as Yourself: Write the email as if it's from YOU, not the intermediary. They'll add their comments when forwarding.
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No Blind Introductions: They're NOT going to blindly introduce you. They're going to forward it along and ask the recipient if they would be open to connecting. No "CC'd here" – they'll forward it and wait for the recipient to opt-in.
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Include Relevant Content: Add information that would interest the target, explaining "what's in it for them."
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Send to the Intermediary: Let the intermediary forward it to the target with their comments.
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Immediate Follow-Through: If connected, follow through IMMEDIATELY (ideally within 1 hour) to show seriousness to the target (and courtesy to the introducer).
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Schedule the Meeting: Send a specific meeting invite, detailing attendees, email context, venue, and who will call whom. Generally, you should call them. Include details in the "location" field if it's a live meeting. You will likely be traveling to them if it is a live meeting.
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Close the Loop: After connecting, especially if successful, inform the introducer about the outcome (because a. It's a nice thing to do, b. They'll be more apt to introduce you to someone the next time.)
Reference Architecture
Subject: "Potential Introduction to Monster alliances team re: job distribution?" or "Potential Introduction to Alison Schurman of Monster alliance team re: job distribution?"
Hi Pete,
Thanks for the help connecting with Alison.
As we discussed, we're an early-stage startup that helps job seekers more efficiently discover, apply, and process potential job opportunities. We do this using machine learning and AI, along with great automation and user-friendly software. It's like a job candidate CRM. Here’s more information on us (opens in a new tab).
I would love to connect with Monster, as they are a source of job postings that we aggregate (along with Indeed, Dice, CareerBuilder, and others) to help candidates better manage their job search process.
We'd like to discuss being part of their publisher program, given our hundreds of thousands of users searching our aggregated job postings monthly. I believe Monster is always looking for more traffic and applicants to send across.
Thanks for passing this along, and I hope to hear back!
Jeff
On Response:
Thanks Pete! Putting you to BCC.
Alison, glad to connect.
As noted, we have a significant amount of job seeker traffic and would like to get Monster job postings in front of them and monetize that for our business.
I understand your team is always looking for high-quality traffic sources.
I would love to get 30 minutes to discuss this later this week.
I have openings at:
- 1, 1:30, 2, 2:30 on Wednesday
- 2, 2:30, 3, 3:30, and 4 on Thursday
- 9, 9:30, 10, 10:30 on Friday
If any of these work, let me know and I'll send an invite. If not, I can propose other times.
Thanks!
Jeff