Cold Emails to Venture Capitalists

So you want to get a meeting with a top VC in Silicon Valley? If you don’t have a strong network, chances are it’s going to be an uphill battle. There are a few steps you can take to greatly increase your chances of getting a response from a cold email.

As described by Leo Polovets of Susa Ventures, shorter is almost always better. Here are a few key aspects of a good cold-email:

• In the first sentence say exactly what your company does in the simplest terms possible. You may think a VC understands everything about ad tech, security, or infrastructure software based on their previous investments, so you can dive into complex technicalities. Don’t! Be simple, be clear, and be succinct. In 2–3 sentences total, describe your product and why it’s an interesting space.
• Next, in bullet format, describe accomplishments to date. For consumer products include number of users/MAUs. For enterprise products include number of paying customers. Also include growth rates, revenue/ACV, and other relevant metrics. Roughly 4–7 bullets is usually sufficient for key metrics.
• At the end of the email, state how much money the business has raised to date and how much funding you are raising.
• Lastly, include one attachment with a management presentation.

Remember that VCs get far too many cold emails to read all of them. Your email must be short, punchy, and easy to digest in 1–2 minutes.

Other tips of getting responses from VCs.

Do research on the firms you want to email. The firm should invest in the relevant stage and sector. There is no use emailing a firm that writes $20m checks for your $1m seed round. Additionally, find the investment professional who has knowledge of the space.

It can be a toss-up whether to email a General Partner or Associate/VP level person. Arguments can be made both ways, but briefly a few things to consider. Partners typically have more demands on their time — they manage existing portfolio companies. Partners also have been in VC for years and may have very good deal flow from their networks. That said, Partners are also the decision makers, and having close contact with a decision maker is never bad. Associates/VPs are often the hungriest to meet new companies. A large part of their role is sourcing new deals. They could be more inclined to respond and get you an initial meeting with the firm.

Lastly, personalization never hurts. Almost all VCs have backgrounds on their website and LinkedIn. Look at their background. Can you add in any common interest or experience that might make a person more likely to respond?

Good luck!