Entrepreneurs often wonder why investors don’t respond to their requests to meet. They tell me that it’s hard to reach investors.
In fact, it’s never been easier to reach investors. We now have LinkedIn, Twitter, AngelList and other networking platforms. We have access to their blogs. We have networking events, hackathons, meetup groups, competitions, special conferences and panel events which investors attend. And of course, with little effort, we can search them out on Google.
The problem is not finding them. We can find them easily enough. But how do we actually approach them, so that they will pay attention to what we have to say and be compelled to meet us?
In fact, it’s never been easier to reach investors. We now have LinkedIn, Twitter, AngelList and other networking platforms. We have access to their blogs. We have networking events, hackathons, meetup groups, competitions, special conferences and panel events which investors attend. And of course, with little effort, we can search them out on Google.
The problem is not finding them. We can find them easily enough. But how do we actually approach them, so that they will pay attention to what we have to say and be compelled to meet us?
Double your chances of meeting with the right investors
The real problem is that many entrepreneurs go about this the wrong way. And this is how they usually go about it: they make their introductory message all about themselves.
So, for example, on a subject line in a first message we might typically see something like: “£100,000 investment required”, or “Be part of our exciting new venture for £150k investment”, or “Innovative new start-up requires cash” – and the kind of statements that are all about what the entrepreneur needs.
Investors are far less likely to open a message like this, let alone read it, because from the subject title they can be pretty certain it’s going to be from someone they don’t know trying to sell them their deal.
If you try to sell your deal to an investor too much, especially on your first approach to them, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll contact you. And beyond a certain point, even the more words you use makes it more likely that they are NOT going to contact you!
So, for example, on a subject line in a first message we might typically see something like: “£100,000 investment required”, or “Be part of our exciting new venture for £150k investment”, or “Innovative new start-up requires cash” – and the kind of statements that are all about what the entrepreneur needs.
Investors are far less likely to open a message like this, let alone read it, because from the subject title they can be pretty certain it’s going to be from someone they don’t know trying to sell them their deal.
If you try to sell your deal to an investor too much, especially on your first approach to them, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll contact you. And beyond a certain point, even the more words you use makes it more likely that they are NOT going to contact you!
Keep your approach brief, informal and interesting. | So, what do you do instead? Well, make your approach more about them. For example, the subject line of an initial message to an investor might be something like: “Your recent blog post” and maybe the title of that blog post. Or it may be about a conference they’ve attended, or an investment they’ve already made in something that’s fairly similar to your deal, and so on. |
Now that you’re talking more about their world and what they’re interested in, I can assure you this will at least double the chance of them responding. And not only that, but if you carry on talking about them and connecting your investment deal to what interests them (in at least half of the message you convey), they’ll suddenly be very interested in you and what you have to offer. This is especially the case if you’re able to, very concisely, describe your deal in a couple of sentences, and make your approach brief, informal and interesting.
So, whether your first approach to an investor is in writing or face-to-face, if you do this one thing - make your message more about them than yourself - you can almost certainly double your response rate.
But don’t take my word for it. Try testing it out and see for yourself.
So, whether your first approach to an investor is in writing or face-to-face, if you do this one thing - make your message more about them than yourself - you can almost certainly double your response rate.
But don’t take my word for it. Try testing it out and see for yourself.
Find out how to increase your chances of investment at my next event How to Attract the Right Investors on 22nd September, 2pm-6pm, at the British Library's Business & IP Centre. Other dates are available. Follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook for special offers and discounts to my events.
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