Shortly after starting Honeycomb, I asked our investor Kyle Lui to make an introduction for me. “Sure, send me a forwardable email,” he replied.
I had no idea what he meant. “Isn’t every email forwardable?” I thought to myself in confusion.
The forwardable email
A ‘forwardable email’ is an email that you send to the introducer, which they can forward to make the connection. It includes your ask for the intro and the context for the intro in a succinct format.
Sending a forwardable email makes it more likely you will get the introduction, because it makes it easy for the introducer.
It is a common way to make professional introductions — people who do a lot of professional networking, like investors or executives, generally prefer and expect it.
An example
Jane asks me for an introduction to Peter. Here’s a forwardable email Jane might send me:
Subject: Intro Peter Boyce (Stellation Capital) / Jane Doe (KidTech)
From: jane@example.com
To: amelia@join…eycomb.comHi Amelia,
Thanks for recommending the intro to Peter - his experience growing consumer products could be invaluable as we work on our go to market channels. A little more info for him below:
KidTech is taking a new approach to the childcare space. We're building a marketplace using the latest trust technology, so parents can really trust the childcare providers they hire, while saving money.
- Jane
Guidelines
Include the name of the final recipient in the subject line.
Include a few sentences with context for why you are asking for the introduction, and a short blurb about you / your company.
Send the email to the introducer.
Next, I forward the email to Peter with a few lines on top like this:
Hi Peter,
Jane is a good friend from college and working on an interesting company in the family tech space. I think you might be interested. Are you open to an intro?
Amelia
—
Subject: Intro Peter Boyce (Stellation Capital) / Jane Doe (KidTech)
From: jane@example.com
To: amelia@join…eycomb.comHi Amelia,
Thanks for recommending the intro to Peter …
If Peter says no: I reply to Jane’s email to let me know.
If Peter says yes: I CC Peter into the email thread with Jane. At this point, Jane should move me to BCC, then continue the email thread with Peter 1:1.
Parting thoughts
Sending a forwardable email makes it easier for someone to make an introduction for you. Learn how to do it, and people will appreciate you for it.
Notes
[1] Thanks to Waseem Daher and Alex Iskold for inspiring this post with their own, both of which were helpful to me.
Thanks to Keir Mierle for reading early drafts of this post.