Maximizing Email Engagement: Nurturing Investor Connections for Success

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Over the course of a given week, we get many inbound form submissions for our Studio or our early stage investment model. As I’ve written before, here is how to best write that cold outreach to break through the clutter and get noticed. But after that initial outreach, there is sometimes a back and forth via email before a live conversation. Here are some basic tips for how to do that well.

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Respond

I would say that anecdotally over half of the time I reply to an outreach asking further questions, I hear nothing back. Be ready to respond. And responding several days/weeks later shows you don’t prioritize the relationship.

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Show you are interested

Sometimes when people do reply, it is with short terse responses like “Yes” “See deck” or “Call me to discuss.” These types of responses show little effort and imply they do not value a partnership. Instead, use this as an opportunity to share more about your business and even ask additional questions to the investor to continue the dialogue.

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Answer the question

As an example, when asked a question about early customers and their feedback some entrepreneurs just avoid answering and instead write something else. Avoiding the question either shows you are trying to hide something, are not paying attention, or some other negative implication. Instead, answer the question and then elaborate further to clarify. On the flip side, I have seen a simple question turn into a five page novel response … strike the right balance on what matters.

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Clarify how the investor can be supportive beyond money

Everyone asks for money; very few also do research and ask for support given the investor’s experience in a market, industry, or from their portfolio. Stand out by showing the investor you see how a partnership is valuable beyond just the money.

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Remember that emails back and forth are an opportunity to build the relationship between entrepreneur and investor and evaluate if you are both a good fit for each other. There have been some email exchanges that have an incredibly positive impression and push us closer to wanting to work with the founder, while other exchanges have made it clear we would not be a good fit for each other.