communicationI’m in the process of reaching out to some veteran VCs and entrepreneurs via my school’s alumni network, and I’m wondering if I should make my emails very to the point or if I should introduce myself and my experiences a little more. I’m not applying to jobs with these individuals, more just trying to see if they will talk with me in person and build a relationship with them.
I am a recent college graduate and I’ve been working in a 1 year position that will finish in July. After that I hope to find a small startup that could use my ability to learn quickly and adapt to the challenges of a new startup.
I could go into detail more if it will help, but the crux of the question for me is how much brevity is considered favorable and when does it become so brief it is impolite? Throw me some examples maybe so I can help think about the emails I am writing?
Don’t spam an identikit question. Be brief and interesting, and ask for something limited and concrete, so that the recipient may as well write you a quick answer as ignore you and feel the very small nag of conscience.
Hi, I’m Fernando. I really admire your work on X, which we looked at in our Y class. I hope you don’t mind me reaching out via the Z alumni network. I’m coming to the end of a 1 year placement, and I’m starting to look at small startups with a view to joining one where I could both add something to the team and learn from the experience. From my peer group, I’ve learned that it’s super hard to tell the difference between startups that look the part, and ones that really have what it takes to push through to success. Some of my professors say it’s all about the team, some say it’s all about the idea, some say don’t join a team, start a team.
So I wondered, would you be willing to share from your experience your answer to one question. What one or two factors have you seen in startups that tell you a team doesn’t have what it takes to succeed?
Thanks so much for your time.
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