Startups Stack Exchange Archive

Asking my boss for investor introductions

I currently work for a well-funded startup that’s growing quickly / hiring like crazy. I’ve been here for about 6 months, but have also been working on a side project (with 2 co-founders) that I think has a lot of potential. I can’t leave my current job until we get funding for the side project.

It seems like my best shot at meeting investors is to ask my current boss (our CEO) for introductions. I don’t want her to think that I’m not committed to my current job, but I also don’t want to pass up the opportunity to get funding for my own company. What’s the protocol here?

Answer 3365

I don’t think there is a common way to go about this. The answer depends a lot on the personality of your boss. Their is a few thoughts you should consider before taking a decision.

  1. Do your boss still need to make more funding? If so, introducing you to her network of investors could be a threat to her business.
  2. Could your boss in any way be under the impression that just a fraction of your idea is developed in her company? If so, you could even end in a legal issue. It doesn’t matter if you can prove, if it isn’t, if she think it is, she probably wouldn’t introduce you.
  3. Do you have a personal relationship to your boss, if so, is it good? If it isn’t good, you probably shouldn’t expect any help, but this is obvious.
  4. If you chose to ask her, an approach could be asking how she managed to get funds? People often like to tell their own story. We all like the change to sound like experts and give advice(just think about stack.exchange). Being asked for advice is flattering. Tell her your challenge and she maybe suggest to put you in contact with some people in her own initiative. Share your passion for startup, she would recognise that and probably respond to it.

If you ask directly, you lose the change to get a feel of what the answer might be. If you somehow can get to talk about startup in a more casual way, you can probably getter a better feeling of what to do.

Again there is no correct way to approach it and taking to her about it will always involve some level of risk.

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