Seedscout runs on forwardable intro emails. Every founder on the network has put one together and once they upgrade to a paid plan, they can forward it to any investor on the platform.

If you don’t know what a forwardable intro email is, stop reading this post and read this first. By continuing to read this post, we are assuming you know what a forwardable intro email is and why it matters.

Even if you know WHAT a forwardable intro email is, that doesn’t mean you know how to write one. With that said, there is a major difference between an okay forwardable intro email and a great one. Okay emails get read, but great ones get meetings. In this email, we're going to break down the elements of what makes a three bullet forwardable intro great, so you can succeed on the Seedscout platform (and off it too). For brevity, we will refer to the the three bullet forwardable intro as “TBFI”.

What Are The Elements That Make Up A TBFI?

There are several elements that make up the TBFI for founders on Seedscout. As you can see we have fields for each one to make organizing your TBFI simple on Seedscout. These elements include:

1. Startup Name

2. Startup One Liner

3. Founder’s LinkedIn

4. First Bullet

5. Second Bullet

6. Third Bullet

7. Ask Bullet

8. Pitch Deck / Memo File

Let’s break down each one so we can make sure your TBFI is as optimized as possible.

Company Name

This one is easy. Make sure your company name is spelled correctly and remove any legalese from the name (like Inc. or LLC). This should essentially be your branded company name that you go by publicly or that you want to be known for.

Company One Liner

This is the hardest part of the whole TBFI in my opinion. You will hook people’s attention with this or lose them forever. You need to be interesting enough to dive into but not so interesting to look too “out there”. The main point of this is to keep it short to one sentence and write in plain language. Don’t tell us the features you’re using or the awards you’ve won. Simply tell us what your startup does. It’s okay if not everyone understands at first, but you want to working towards a quick an easy blurb that even a kid can understand.

Founder’s LinkedIn

Every TBFI includes the founder’s LinkedIn URL. Make sure this is updated. It’s less key that you’re active on LinkedIn and posting, and more key that you'r profile looks clean. In essence, this means:

• Nice looking profile picture

• A title that makes it clear you’re the founder of X startup, not working on multiple side gigs

• All relevant experience listed (The more notable logos you can mention, the better)

• Having mutual connections with notable investors - the best way to do this is just to keep your network updated on LinkedIn. When you meet with someone, add them on LinkedIn after. Add all your investors too. A high signal network on LinkedIn counts for something.

• Ideally have a pretty URL, that has your full name in it. For example, my LinkedIn URL is https://linkedin.com/in/matsherman. This is much better than https://linkedin.com//in/devrg343rf. It’s a small detail, but it matters.

The Three Bullets

The three bullets are a chance for you to put your best foot forward within the Seedscout ecosystem. This is, more or less, your pitch deck in email form. This is where you’re making the strong case that you are company that is worthy of an investors time.

Cover Different Parts Of Your Company For Each Bullet

Each bullet should highlight a different aspect of your company, showing the diversity of good things happening that make you investable. Generally, bullets should cover three of the five in the following list:

• Traction - Do you have user growth or revenue growth? Let it be known!

• Team - Have you assembled a rockstar team? Highlight some of their backgrounds.

• Product - Is your product live and functional? Impressive! Make it known. Just have an MVP? This is still progress, add it in.

• Fundraise - Are you getting much traction on your fundraise so far? 80% closed? Have some high signal investors? Make a note of them here.

• Market - Do you have evidence that you’re tackling a large and growing market? Do you have specific numbers to share? Make those known.

These are the things that investors are going to be looking for in an opportunity. Generally, you’ll want to mention the three bullets where you have something exciting to share. So if you haven’t raised a dime yet, then maybe don’t gloat that you haven’t raised anything and instead talk about your amazing team or impressive traction.

Your “ask”

Every intro request happens for a reason. Make it clear why you are seeking an intro. Let the investors know how much you are raising and what timeline your raise is on. Remember, you can always oversubscribe but can’t undersubscribe. So skew towards asking for a lower raise number, and if the investor interest is there, you can raise more. vs. seeking $4M out of the gate as a first time founder/fundraiser.

Your Deck / Memo

Candidly, Seedscout is aiming to replace the pitch deck and memo, so personally I don’t put TOO much stock in to this. With that said, a great pitch deck can do wonders for you. As long as it’s clear, well designed, and spoken in plain language, it can do well with investors and earn you a meeting. If you can’t make a deck to save your life, you’re better off going without one.

Putting It All Together

Now that we have all the elements of a forwardable intro email put together, let’s see what it looks like when combined as a final product. And because I eat my own dog food, I am just going to share our own email that is live on the Seedscout platform right now.

As you can see, we hit all the major elements and include three bullets around product, team, and fundraise traction.

This Can Be Used Anywhere, Not Just On Seedscout

Note, this format is not reserved for just Seedscout customers. Anyone can format their emails in this way. Use our formula and you will get better results than sharing your life story in an email. We promise!

At the end of the day, there is no perfect format for your TBFI and there is not a perfect equation of words you can put down to get meetings all day. With that said, we hope this post can help guide you on how to make a more effective TBFI that gets you more meetings. Best of luck on the platform (or using it outside of Seedscout) and if you need any tips or help, feel free to email me directly and I am happy to help → mat@seedscout.com. Happy scouting!