---
name: investor-outreach
description: Draft cold emails, warm intro blurbs, follow-ups, update emails, and investor communications for fundraising. Use when the user wants outreach to angels, VCs, strategic investors, or accelerators and needs concise, personalized, investor-facing messaging.
origin: ECC
---

# Investor Outreach

Write investor communication that is short, personalized, and easy to act on.

## When to Activate

- writing a cold email to an investor
- drafting a warm intro request
- sending follow-ups after a meeting or no response
- writing investor updates during a process
- tailoring outreach based on fund thesis or partner fit

## Core Rules

1. Personalize every outbound message.
2. Keep the ask low-friction.
3. Use proof, not adjectives.
4. Stay concise.
5. Never send generic copy that could go to any investor.

## Cold Email Structure

1. subject line: short and specific
2. opener: why this investor specifically
3. pitch: what the company does, why now, what proof matters
4. ask: one concrete next step
5. sign-off: name, role, one credibility anchor if needed

## Personalization Sources

Reference one or more of:
- relevant portfolio companies
- a public thesis, talk, post, or article
- a mutual connection
- a clear market or product fit with the investor's focus

If that context is missing, ask for it or state that the draft is a template awaiting personalization.

## Follow-Up Cadence

Default:
- day 0: initial outbound
- day 4-5: short follow-up with one new data point
- day 10-12: final follow-up with a clean close

Do not keep nudging after that unless the user wants a longer sequence.

## Warm Intro Requests

Make life easy for the connector:
- explain why the intro is a fit
- include a forwardable blurb
- keep the forwardable blurb under 100 words

## Post-Meeting Updates

Include:
- the specific thing discussed
- the answer or update promised
- one new proof point if available
- the next step

## Cold Email Structure (Detailed)

**Subject line:** Short, specific, no fluff. Reference something the investor actually did or said.
- Good: "Structured products for prediction markets (Goldman co-founder)"
- Good: "[Fund Name] thesis + prediction market infrastructure"
- Bad: "Exciting opportunity in DeFi"
- Bad: "Partnership inquiry"

**Opening (1-2 sentences):** Reference something specific about the investor. A deal they led, a thesis they published, a tweet they posted. This cannot be generic.

**The pitch (2-3 sentences):** What you are building, why now, and the one metric that proves traction.

**The ask (1 sentence):** Specific, low-friction. "Would you have 20 minutes this week?" or "Would it make sense to share our memo?"

**Sign-off:** Name, title, one credibility line.

### Email Tone Rules
- Direct. No begging. No "I know you're busy" or "I'd be honored if you..."
- Confident but not arrogant. Let facts do the heavy lifting.
- Short. Under 150 words total. Investors get 200+ emails/day.
- Zero em dashes. Zero corporate speak.

## Warm Intro Requests (Detailed)

Template for requesting intros through mutual connections:
```
hey [mutual name],

quick ask. i see you know [target name] at [company].
i'm building [your product] which [1-line relevance to target].
would you be open to a quick intro? happy to send you a
forwardable blurb.

[your name]
```

## Direct Cold Outreach Template

```
hey [target name],

[specific reference to their recent work/post/announcement].
i'm [your name], building [product]. [1 line on why this is
relevant to them specifically].

[specific low-friction ask].

[your name]
```

## Anti-Patterns (Never Do)
- Generic templates with no personalization
- Long paragraphs explaining your whole company
- Multiple asks in one message
- Fake familiarity ("loved your recent talk!" without specifics)
- Bulk-sent messages with visible merge fields

## Quality Gate

Before delivering:
- message is personalized
- the ask is explicit
- there is no fluff or begging language
- the proof point is concrete
- word count stays tight
- under 150 words (cold email) or 200 words (follow-up)
- correct branding and terminology
- numbers match canonical sources