Today I received an email from a founder who was looking for investment from software/internet investors. That happens every day.
This particular email was addressed “TO” me and approximately 25 other investors, many of whom I know personally. Unfortunately, this also happens several times a week.
What does this say about the person sending the email?
1. They seem lazy. They just copy and pasted as many investor emails as they could find into the “to” line and then wrote one impersonal email. I don’t want to invest in lazy people.
2. They don’t seem to respect other people’s time. Who cares if someone accidentally hits “reply all” and 25 other random investors have to read their response? Well, I do. They all do. But the sender doesn’t show any sign of caring about this.
3. They probably don’t understand the internet. A simple bcc would have solved this problem, but they probably don’t get that. If they don’t use email well, will they use other tools well?
These are all things that you don’t want investors thinking after you send them an email.
We live in an age where the biggest brands are focused on delivering a highly personalized experience while going to great lengths to protect sensitive data. If you’re starting out with a less-than-optimal experience for your would-be investors while simultaneously being casual with their personal information, that’s a double whammy at the outset.
All of this is in contrast to the perfect email. You don’t have to send the perfect email, but if you want to make a good impression, please just don’t send the worst one!
