Silicon Valley Etiquette and email Forwardables for year 2025 (and beyond)

This article is built on legendary ‘Silicon Valley Etiquette’ piece written in 2015 by @tristanpollock — link to the original: https://medium.com/500-stories/silicon-valley-etiquette-5987a36b1d93

When it comes to raising funds, a lot has changed over the years. But when it comes to asking for introduction — not much has changed!

If you look back at the legendary advice shared by Tristan Pollock on Silicon Valley etiquette, you’ll find that much of it still holds true, even a decade later. While the tech world continues to evolve, the principles around communication etiquette and double-opt intro remain timeless.

That said, there’s one key update I’d like to add about asking for an introduction.

Assuming that you understand what a double-opt introduction principle is — The principle is straightforward: You, as the requester, ask someone — let’s call them the “connector” (ideally a founder) — to help you make an introduction to an investor, business contact, or any other person. To make it easy for the connector, you focus on crafting a short, clear, and targeted message that gets straight to the point and is tailored specifically to the person you’re trying to connect with.

Once the connector receives your message, they reach out to the person you want to meet and ask if they would be interested in speaking with you. Only if the person says “yes,” will the connector actually make the introduction.

The reason why this works well is that it ensures you’re only connecting with people who are genuinely interested in speaking with you, saving both you and your potential contact time. Since this is an asynchronous process, email is an ideal way to do it — it allows for easy sharing of supporting materials, and links, and gives the receiver time to consider the request before responding.

For more info check this article by

Richard Titus

https://medium.com/@richardtitus/more-on-the-continuing-art-of-the-double-opt-in-intro-1609d5e7cb88

An Updated Email Template for Silicon Valley Etiquette

Now that you’ve got your deck ready, it’s time to craft the perfect email. Here’s a simple, modernized version of the email template that Tristan Pollock outlined, with a focus on clarity and conciseness.

Subject: Introduction to [Investor Name] at [Fund Name]

Body:

Hey [Your Contact’s Name],

I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to get in touch with [Investor Name] from [Fund Name]. They have a strong portfolio of companies like [Company Names] and would be a great strategic fit with [Your Company Name].

Below is a quick blurb you can forward to them:

[Your Company Name] is a [short description of your company, e.g., “tech company focused on generative AI for drug discovery”]. We’re currently raising [$Amount] and would love the chance to connect with [Investor Name].

Traction:

• $XM sales run-rate in 6 months
• X% month-over-month growth
• Average transaction size: $X (or Churn, or CAC, etc.)

We’re raising $XXX to scale our operations, grow our MRR (or other key metric) by X% in Y period, hire additional Z team-members, and extend our runway by X months.

You can view our investor deck here: [Insert link to Docsend/Papermark]

Thanks so much, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Title and Company Name]

The Power of the Link, Not the Attachment

When sharing your investor deck, never send attachments. It’s 2025, and sharing attachments via email can trigger spam filters or cause your email to be marked as suspicious. The real risk here is that you might miss out on potential meetings or connections simply because your email got lost in the weeds.

Instead, use services like Docsend or Papermark to send a link to your investor deck. Why? — because it is 1000x better, period. :) if you need more persuasion, read the about the key advantages below:

• Track engagement: You’ll be able to see when an investor (or anyone else) views your deck, how much time they spend on each slide, and even which parts of the deck they find most compelling or don’t spend time on.
• Control your content: By using these services, you maintain full control over the latest version of your deck. If you need to make a change, you can update the deck without needing to resend the link.
• Minimize security risks: By sending a link, you can avoid the security concerns that come with attachments and ensure that the deck can’t be easily forwarded to competitors. Remember, your deck may make its rounds, so be mindful of what you share.

Remember, the goal of your deck isn’t to land a cheque — it’s to land a MEETING! Focus on creating a brief teaser deck (no more than a 10–12 slides) that highlights the key details of your company and traction, but without overwhelming the reader with too much information (don’t do deep dive into your product features but rather focus on your overall company and team UVPs + growth, growth, growth, tech, tech, tech…). The objective is to spark curiosity and get an investor to want to ask more questions!

A Few Key Takeaways

1. Always be concise and direct — Investors are busy, and they appreciate an email that gets straight to the point. Your goal is to create intrigue, not overwhelm them with unnecessary details.
2. Show traction — Always include some hard numbers to show progress. This could be sales run-rate, user growth, or anything that demonstrates momentum.
3. Say how much are you raising and how much you raised so far— Especially, important if you have a lead investor or don’t/ if you have fund committed or in your bank account. Spell it out.
4. Keep your deck brief — A short teaser deck: 1.5–2 minutes is the avg viewing time!! If the investor is interested, they’ll ask for more. Period.
5. Use tracking links — As mentioned, services such as Docsend give you insight into how your deck is being viewed and engaged with. This can give you valuable feedback, but it also lets you know if someone’s actually taking the time to review your materials.
6. Do your homework — don’t ask for introductions to investors who aren’t the right fit for you! So, what does a “right-fit” investor look like? At a minimum, the ideal investor should meet the following criteria:

• Geographical Fit: They invest in your region or are open to investments in your location.
• Industry Alignment: They specialize in your industry segment and the type of solutions you’re building.
• Ticket Size Compatibility: They invest at your current funding stage (e.g., pre-seed, seed, Series A, etc.).

Additional points:

• Lead Investor or Not: If you need a lead, focus your efforts first on the VCs that do lead the rounds
• No Conflicts of Interest: They haven’t already invested in a direct competitor, which could lead to a conflict of interest.
• Active Investor: They are actively deploying capital and looking for new opportunities.

By doing this research upfront, you ensure that your time and the time of your connectors are spent on introductions that are mutually beneficial and likely to lead to a successful partnership.

Lastly, making introductions takes effort — it’s not just about forwarding an email. It requires thought and attention, and the value of an introduction directly correlates with the care put into it. Be considerate — if the introduction holds significant value, think about compensating the person or, at the very least, acknowledging their contribution.

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For the end, keep in mind to try your best to ALWAYS BE THOUGHTFUL, RESPECTFUL, and KIND. Founders and investors will TRULY appreciate it.

Catch you next time, stay kind, and keep pushing forward!