How Milkshakes Helped Get Me 30% More Investor and Customer Meetings
During a 15 year career as an entrepreneur and startup founder, I spent tons of time sending the kinds of emails most parents (and 25% of all Law and Order episodes) warn people to never respond to: I asked thousands of strangers online if they’d agree to a meeting.
I emailed potential investors: “Hey, my company is a great company that’ll make you tons of money! Wanna meet for coffee?”
I emailed potential customers: “Hey, my company is a great product that’ll make you tons of money! Wanna meet for coffee?”
I emailed potential employees: “Hey, my company is a great company that’ll pay you tons of money… and we’ve got an office ping pong table! Wanna meet for coffee?”
For non-entrepreneurs, these kinds of online solicitations might seem strange in a “To Catch a Predator” kind of way. For me, the only strange thing was that I didn’t actually like coffee. And yet, most of my meetings took place in coffee shops.
Because I got tired of meeting at coffee shops and having to spend the first 10 minutes of every conversation defending my dislike of coffee (it tastes terrible! am I the only person who realizes that?), I decided I’d try something different. Instead of inviting strangers to meet for coffee, I started asking them if they’d…
