How to Write Cold Emails to Investors That Actually Get Replies

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You and 100 other founders are cold messaging the same investor. Here’s how to stand out….

You want your message to be short and compelling. The longer it is, the less likely the investor will read it.

First, let’s cover three critical components of a great cold message. Finally, we’ll put them all together and draft a cold message for a startup.

Part 1: Why You’re Exceptional

Before you even tell us your idea, tell us why you’re an exceptional founder.

Many startups pivot away from their original idea. The one thing least likely to change: the founder.

So, sell us on you!

Show us you’re exceptional. Give us your biggest achievements.

Say that in high school, you created a car detailing business that made it to $1 million a year in revenue. That’s incredible!

Your new company might not have anything to do with car detailing. But you should definitely share that information with us!

Part 2: What You Do, In One Simple Sentence

Once you’ve told us why you’re exceptional, tell us what you’re working on now.

Get the idea for your startup down to one simple sentence. Be clear and specific. No jargon.

Say you’re Travis Kalanick in 2010 and you’re starting Uber. Here’s what that one simple sentence could look like:

“Uber gets you a private driver from anywhere to anywhere.”

Right away, it’s clear what Uber does. Now, imagine if Travis had come out with this sentence:

“Uber is a platform for democratizing transportation through a decentralized network of individual service providers.”

The sentence is still true. But it obscures what Uber does.

When investors don’t understand, they tune out.

Part 3: Traction

You told us why you’re exceptional. You told us what you’re working on now.

Finally, tell us how it’s going.

Give an annualized revenue number if you have revenue. If you don’t have revenue, give the number of monthly active users. If you don’t have that, give us the number of people on the wait list.

You want to provide evidence that your company is growing.

Naturally, higher growth is better! But don’t give in to the temptation to make up numbers.

Putting It Together: Drafting a Great Cold Message

Let’s put these three elements together…

Say Jim has a company called Superstartup. It provides AI coaching to founders.

Jim had a very successful car detailing business in high school, which shows his ability as an entrepreneur. His startup also has some good early traction.

Jim could write a cold message like this:

“Hi Mr. Moneybags,

I’m Jim. In high school, I grew a car detailing business to $1 million a year in revenue.

Now I’m building Superstartup — every founder’s AI coach.

We’ve hit $200,000 ARR in 2 months since launch.

Deck attached.

Worth hearing more?”

The message is just a couple of lines. It’s factual and shows what a great entrepreneur Jim is.

Send that message to 100 seed investors, and you’ve got yourself a hot fundraise.

Wrap-Up

Most of your competitors for funding will send long, meandering messages.

Those messages won’t include the information investors want. And they won’t get a meeting.

You need to be different!

Show us why you’re special. Be clear on what your company does. Give us evidence that it’s working.

If you can hit those points concisely, you’re going to book a calendar full of investor meetings. You only need one term sheet to change everything.

Try writing up a draft cold message. And if you want my feedback on it, leave it in the comments!

How to Write Cold Emails to Investors That Actually Get Replies

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