By Mark Suster; if you get an email that looks like:
Hi [entrepreneur],
I hope all is well. I'm an investor at [Big Name, Large Fund VC] and recently came across [Your Company].
It looks as though you've built a very interesting business, and I'd love to spend some time getting a better understanding of your future plans for the company and if there is an opportunity to partner with [My Firm].
In case you aren't familiar, I've attached a brief overview on our firm. [It's big, well known & we've invested in all of these really cool companies]
Do you have time for a half hour conversation over the next week or so? What fits your schedule?
Looking forward to speaking,
Name
Then:
He's an analyst, which means he's very junior - probably 24. He's on a fishing trip. No reason not to call him but I wouldn't get too excited about it. Sorry.
We got a few of those calls at Woobius, and yeah, they all amounted to exactly nothing.
Even if you're talking to a partner, funding is nowhere near being in the bag. But if you've been contacted by an Analyst who's just fishing for information, then the right response, as Mark puts it, is a polite no or "yes, if".
Read Mark's full article here.
If you read this far, you should follow me on twitter here.