Finding and targeting the right investors
How to Get Investor Responses With Cold Email, AI and Credibility
Live Q&A: How to Get Investor Responses, Use AI for Outreach, and Build Credibility Fast
Capital raisers and sponsors who send cold outreach to investors and want to improve reply rates and show credibility with a young track record.
Summary
About 30 of the 40 billionaire interviews Richard C. Wilson's team has done came from cold emails. He says they have contacted every billionaire they can identify through LinkedIn, Facebook and email, many times. The emails stay very short and offer value first. Examples include connecting the person with others or buying 500 copies of their book.
The live Q&A also covers AI and credibility. Richard says his team uses AI on due diligence documents, real estate inspection summaries, chat bots and custom GPTs, but has not found a standout LinkedIn tool. A guest who started in 2019 asks if that is enough history for a pitch deck. Richard says it depends on the stages reached.
- 1Keep the email very short
- 2Offer value first
- 3Customize it to their interest
- 4Space follow ups by how busy they are
- 5Stay patient over time
5 key takeaways
- Keep cold emails very short. Richard says short emails are one lesson from cold emailing billionaires. In one example, a pitch of about a sentence and a half drew positive replies from both owners of a car service business.
- Offer value before asking. Richard suggests offering something first, such as connecting the person with others or buying 500 copies of their book. The goal is a message that feels more valuable than the other emails in their inbox.
- Match follow-up spacing to busyness. The busier the person, the more Richard spaces follow ups, at 6 to 8 or 12 weeks. For less busy people he might follow up every 6 to 15 days. His 14th pitch to Mark Cuban took more than 2 years and finally got a reply.
- Serve their interests, not yours. Richard says wealthy families are not there to review as many pitches as possible. They want to be good stewards of capital they spent decades building. Serving their interest first lets your interest get heard.
- Show stages and team size. For a company that started in 2019, Richard says credibility depends on what was done in that time. He points to stages reached, deals completed and full-time employees, such as 30 or 60, as tangible numbers.
In their words
"Keeping the email very short, offering to add value to them first by connecting them with others or buying 500 copies of their book."
"The busier the person is, the more I space it out by 6 to 8 or 12 weeks."
"So when you serve their interest first, then your interest can get listened to more naturally."
Facts and figures
- Richard's team has interviewed 40 billionaires, and about 30 of those interviews came from cold emails.
- Mark Cuban replied on Richard's 14th pitch, sent over more than 2 years.
- Richard pitched a car service business with 13 locations a creative financing idea as an alternative to giving up ownership.
Sources
From Richard C. Wilson's Centimillionaire Strategies YouTube channel: Live Q&A: How to Get Investor Responses, Use AI for Outreach, and Build Credibility Fast. Quotes come from the video captions, lightly edited for readability. Figures are the speakers' own estimates and experience.
General education only. Not legal, tax or investment advice.
Talk to a securities attorney to explore options around deal structure options, investor outreach rules and offering documents. Do not use AI to write your own legal agreements.
Related questions
- How do I close a funding round?I close a funding round by focusing on investors who fit the opportunity and moving each interested prospect through clear, consistent follow-up.
- What documents do investors request during due diligence?Prepare a clear, organized package covering your operations, investments, compensation, team, and track record.
- How do I raise capital for my business?I raise capital by building a repeatable system for attracting the right investors, establishing credibility, and developing relationships before asking for money.
Questions about this video
Is a 2019 start date enough to be credible to investors?
Richard says it depends on how much was done in those years. He suggests showing the stages reached, the number of deals and the full-time employees hired.
How often should you follow up with a busy investor?
Richard spaces follow ups by 6 to 8 or 12 weeks for very busy people. For less busy people he may follow up after 6, 10, 12 or 15 days.
Has Richard found a good AI tool for finding investors on LinkedIn?
Not yet. He says his team has not found a standout LinkedIn tool and is still deciding which data enrichment providers to trust for its CRM. It is testing AI on due diligence documents and inspection summaries.
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