Getting the connect request right — How to make sure you don’t get lost in the crowd.

As an eco-system connector, I get lot of emails where founders need help connecting with other founders, investors and employees looking for connecting with companies. I’m always happy to facilitate these connections as people take serious note when such connections are made. I feel blessed to connect both sides and at times I end up getting a lunch/dinner as reward. I’m also grateful to all the folks who respond back to me. I have a high response rate from most people I write to :)

I also get a lot of emails where people just share their CV and want me to forward it to my network. They don’t bother to do the research on the type of companies that they would like to work for or at least personalise the emails that they want me to forward to the respective companies. I’m very careful when it comes to sending emails to my network as I already send a lot of emails and don’t want to be known as the guy who sends ton of junk emails. As a connector, I want to be valuable to them and want to only send valuable content, that connects to them. I too would like to look good in front of them… think about it :)

So, if you want me to hook you up, here are some rules that apply if you are looking for a job or trying to make a connect with an investor:

Do your Homework First

Research about the type of company or the kind of investor you would like to work/partner with. It is very important because if you can’t narrow down your search, then i don’t think i will be able to help you.

• If you are a startup trying to find an angel investor or a VC, search for the companies they have already invested in. There are enough resources today which have the portfolio of investors or VCs. You can find reviews about companies who have worked with a VC/Angel investor on Quora or you might also find some articles written about them on LinkedIn… Just google for it.
• If you are a potential employee, just try and find out the companies where you would be a good fit, will it be an MNC, Funded Startup, Bootstrapped Startup, IT Services company, or even a VC! Just try to picture yourself in the kind of an environment that will suit your skills better and add value to your employer. I still remember the period when i was looking out for a change after my ten year stint at Nasscom. I had a conversation with Pavan Vaish of Daksh, who helped me visualise the future of my career and it was clear that I would never be able to work in MNCs or IT Services or large Corporates. I had made a list of around 18 companies and then prioritised the top 5. Equally important is where the company is based out of. I was also very clear that I’m not in a stage to relocate and so, I never looked for companies outside of the Noida/Delhi region. Even Gurgaon was too far and I made my up mind that I would look at companies there only if nothing else clicked..

Do your research about the Company/Founder/Investor, etc

It is always important to do proper research about the company that you would like to work with; try and find out if there are any roles available that suit your profile, try and find out more about the founders. People always want to hear good things :)

This is from one of my friends who was keen to explore opportunities with Paytm

I met Vijay couple of times and been at his office in the summer of 2015 when I was doing my Stanford internship. The big banner in the board room with the vision statement to bring 500 million people in the financial inclusion is very inspirational and something to work on. I like the hustle culture at Paytm and the energy of young teams working hard to change the status quo.

The same applies if you are looking for a VC connect, try and find out about the investor, the kind of companies that they have invested in and what areas/fields they invest in. If they invest in Deep Tech, SaaS, they might probably not invest in B2C, etc. Most of the investors do put up their own thesis on why/where they invest.

This is another one pitching to an Angel investor:

I hope you’re doing awesome as ever. I would like to take your help in getting connected to NAME. He is among the few people in India, who evangelises build technology product businesses from India. And he does what he preaches, as we can see it in his angel investments. Frrole, Mobilewallah and HashCube are some super interesting investments he have made because they are ‘pure tech’ companies.

I truly believe that India has capability to build a home-grown technology mammoth. And I also truly believe that Horntell has potential to be that mammoth. :) Great people like NAME would be truly crucial on our long journey ahead.

If you are making a pitch to a potential customer, please make sure you do research about the person who would be deciding on the software. I really like this piece as someone from Freshdesk is pitching to a potential customer and this was the first three lines

First of all, big congratulations on your awesome idea! The uniqueness of your concept and service is inspiring. I remember using Timedoctor to see how I prepared for my exam after seeing my father use it for his company. I loved it! My best wishes to your team. You can read about this incident in a detailed blog here

I would always encourage you to experiment with the subject line. Don’t just say My CV, etc in the subject. Write something which will be appealing to the founder as I’m always looking for ‘Forward Ready’ emails. Basically, i will just forward your email and check with the other person if it is ok to connect. I might tweak the subject, but will always be good to distinguish your email with the hundred other emails in the person’s mailbox.

How can you contribute to their company/portfolio

Very few people actually write about the role that they can play in the company. Most of them are always wanting to talk about themselves, but very little about how they can help the company grow or the impact that they can make. Founders are always looking for people who understand their business and have clarity on the impact that the person can make. If you are writing a covering letter, it has to be different for each company based on their products, markets, etc. The same covering letter will not work with all companies. If you do that, there are less chances of you getting a meeting with the Founder.

The same rule applies for email to investors too… Make sure you emphasize on how your company will look good in their portfolio.

So, help me look good when I make connections and I promise to help you make the intro you wish for. Good Luck!