warm intro

Definition

An introduction to an investor or customer through a mutual connection, vastly more effective than cold outreach. The difference between your email being read and being instantly deleted by an EA.

Example Usage

I've been trying to reach Sequoia for months, but I finally got a warm intro through my accelerator mentor.

Origin

Sales and networking terminology adapted to venture capital

Fun Fact

Studies suggest warm intros to VCs are 10-13x more likely to result in a meeting than cold emails, which is why LinkedIn exists.

Source: Venture capital and sales networking terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

Venture Capital

Money given to startups by firms who expect most of their investments to fail spectacularly, banking on one unicorn to pay for all the donkeys. VCs will fund almost anything if you put AI in the pitch deck and promise to disrupt something.

💰 Finance / Accounting🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

stack ranking

The internal process VCs use to rank portfolio companies or investment opportunities from best to worst. A forced ranking system that ensures someone always gets picked last for dodgeball.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

signaling

The information conveyed to the market by investor actions, such as who leads a round or whether insiders participate in follow-ons. In startup land, subtext is text.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

unicorn hunting

The venture capital strategy of seeking only investments with potential to return the entire fund, requiring massive exits. A portfolio approach that ignores solid doubles and triples in favor of swinging for nonexistent fences.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

innovative

The adjective slapped on every product, service, and startup pitch deck to signal 'we're doing something allegedly new.' Something innovative is supposed to be groundbreaking and forward-thinking, though these days it often means 'we added AI to it.' If your company isn't innovative, you're basically admitting you're stuck in 2005 with a flip phone.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

co-founder

The person you start a company with based on four hours of friendship and mutual delusion, who will become either your closest ally or your most expensive breakup. Dating is easier than finding a compatible co-founder.

🚀 Startup / VC

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