Have you ever found yourself staring at a blank email screen, wondering how to reach out to potential investors without sounding too pushy or verbose? Well, I was in the same boat until I stumbled upon a game-changing YouTube video by Michael Seibel titled "How To Cold Email Investors" Let me tell you, it was an eye-opener!
Inspired by Seibel's wisdom, I decided to put his advice into action by creating my own email template. Here's a simplified version of what I came up with:
Subject: [Your Company]: Solving [Problem] in [Market]
Hi [Investor's Name],
[Your Name], co-founder of [Your Company], here. We're directly addressing [Problem] with [Brief Solution Description], already achieving [Key Traction Metric] in a [Market Size] market.
Highlights:
Solution: [Uniqueness]
Traction: [Launch Status/User Growth]
Team: [Expertise/Ability to Code]
For a deeper dive, I’ve included a brief deck (optional).
Looking forward to any insights you might have.
Respectfully, [Your Name]
[Your Title] @ [Your Company]
[Your Contact Information]
Michael's advice:
Do's
"First, make it short...something that I can read in 60 seconds or less, you can pretty much guarantee that I'll read it...You need me to just read what you're working on and understand what's working on enough to want to reply back...there's some things that I'm really interested in knowing.
The problem that you're trying to solve, what your solution is, have you launched or do you have any growth at all, how big do you think the market could be, do you have co-founders, and do you have the ability to write code?Don't use jargon...make sure to use simple language that you can use with any friend that you have...
Send your email from a company email address...that has your name in it...It's fine to attach a deck to your email, but it is not required. The last thing is to track opens. If you're emailing investors, track the open rate and make sure that people are actually seeing your email."
Dont's
"Don't make it long...oftentimes founders try to shoot for too much in that initial email exchange. Don't immediately request an in-person meeting...Don't send multiple follow-ups quickly...And the most important thing is don't not describe what your company does. You want me to be the one seeking more information from you. That gives you leverage. So that is some advice on how to cold email an investor."