Forward Thinking Media - Just Make It Easy
A large part of a founder’s job is to make asks of busy people (like investors, board members, employees, future hires, etc). Unfortunately, I think the art of the “ask” has been lost (or has never been taught in the first place). Most asks that come from first time founders look more like a life story than an actionable request. It looks like three paragraphs of backstory along with a couple sentences of big vision, with a quick ask left somewhere in the middle for the the busy person to decipher. Well guess what? 9/10 times, they won’t take the time to figure out the founder wants… simply because they don’t have the time. It’s not that they don’t have time to help. It’s that they don’t have time to figure out what help is needed. Even though founders have an hour to craft the message to what they think is perfection, that message sits among thousands of emails vying for a busy person’s attention. They have 30 seconds to read and act. Due to this dynamic, if you have an ask for a busy person, just make it easy. Want an intro to someone in their network? Just send a forwardable intro email. Do not ask if they know anyone who might like X and leave it open ended. Want their quick advice? Just ask a 1-2 sentence question over email or text. If necessary, you can move it to a call. Want their feedback? Share a link and make a specific ask about the content. Do not share your life story and ask “what do they think”. Busy people have limited time. They also want to do well with that time, so if you want something from a busy person, just make it easy. If you liked this post from Mat Sherman's Newsletter, why not share it? |
Older messages
The Deal Flow Triangle
Thursday, September 30, 2021
A Simple Framework For Diversification In Startup Investing
Why Send Forwardable Intro Emails?
Friday, September 24, 2021
The Operating System For Transferring Trust
Be Anyone
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Why To Make It On The Internet
I'm Coming to NYC!
Monday, September 13, 2021
Hey everyone, Wanted to drop a quick note saying that I will be traveling to New York City at the end of this month and will be hosting a meetup…
Scouting Through Market Maps
Friday, September 10, 2021
How To Evaluate Deals As a Startup Scout
You Might Also Like
The Growth Newsletter #167
Friday, March 29, 2024
Wallet Opening Words that increase conversions Demand Curve Read on demandcurve.com The Growth Newsletter #167 Wallet Opening Words that increase conversions Copywriting is one of the most
The maturation of Munich
Friday, March 29, 2024
Does Europe need the "next Silicon Valley"? The frantic search for buried hydrogen and a big raise for industrial automation. View in browser Morgan Stanley flagship logo Good morning there,
Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users
Friday, March 29, 2024
The company's bet on AI boyfriends and other paywalled features is making some employees nervous Platformer Platformer Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users By Zoë Schiffer • 28 Mar 2024
Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users
Friday, March 29, 2024
The company's bet on AI boyfriends and other paywalled features is making some employees nervous Platformer Platformer Inside Grindr's plan to squeeze its users By Zoë Schiffer • 28 Mar 2024
SaaSHub Weekly - Mar 28
Thursday, March 28, 2024
SaaSHub Weekly - Mar 28 Featured and useful products Loach logo Loach Say goodbye to unachieved OKRs with Loach, an OKR management solution that empowers your team to seamlessly align their daily work
84 new Shopify apps for you 🌟
Thursday, March 28, 2024
New Shopify apps hand-picked for you 🙌 Week 12 Mar 18, 2024 - Mar 25, 2024 New Shopify apps hand-picked for you 🙌 What's New at Shopify? 🌱 New login requirements for the Order Status Page Changed ⸱
We've Been Tinkering
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Join Our Beta! ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
AMA with Chiedo John, Director of Growth @ GitHub
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Live on Wednesday, April 3rd, starting at 9 AM PST͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
red hot startup intel
Thursday, March 28, 2024
FULL SWOT analysis on Ramp, Databricks, Cohere, Devoted Health, and Coalition inside Scouting Reports on 🔥 Startups Download Now Hi there, Psst. Want competitive intel on the top 5 industry leading
The Ultimate Amazon Guide: Strategies For Sellers In 2024
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Learn from Melisa Vong for FREE in the Start Your Ecommerce Business Summit ! Another day, another exciting opportunity to introduce you to one of our 20+ ecomm trailblazers in the Start Your Ecommerce