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How to activate your investor and advisor network to open strategic accounts Investors and advisors often have some of the strongest professional networks around your company, but most startups only tap into that network occasionally. When activated thoughtfully, these relationships can help open doors to:
  • strategic accounts
  • senior buyers
  • design partners
  • partnerships
Unlike other connectors, investors and advisors have strong incentives to help your company succeed. Because their upside is tied to your growth, introduction requests can often be more direct and proactive than other referral channels. The key is making specific, low-friction asks that are easy for them to act on.

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1. Identify Your Connector Network

Start by identifying everyone who could realistically make introductions. This typically includes:

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Investors

  • venture partners
  • angels
  • board members

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Advisors

  • formal advisors
  • strategic advisors
  • industry mentors
These connectors tend to have deep networks with senior operators, which makes their introductions particularly valuable. Investors in particular often have access to:
  • portfolio founders
  • senior operators
  • executives across their network
These are often difficult contacts to reach through outbound alone.

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2. Map Their Networks in HiveSight

Add your investors and advisors into HiveSight to map their professional relationships. HiveSight analyzes these networks and surfaces connections to companies in your target account list. This helps identify where a real relationship may already exist. Example: 
Investor: Alex

Connections inside target accounts:

VP Product → Rippling
Head of Marketing → Brex
Director IT → Ramp
Instead of broadly asking investors:
“Do you know anyone who might be interested?”
You can ask about specific people or companies. This dramatically increases the chance that the introduction happens.

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3. Select a Small Number of High-Value Opportunities

Investors and advisors are generally happy to help—but their time is limited. Focus on a small number of high-value introductions. Good candidates include:
  • strategic accounts
  • companies already showing interest
  • companies similar to existing customers
  • design partner opportunities
Typically 3–5 intro opportunities per ask is a good range. These should ideally be:
  • specific people
  • specific companies
  • clearly relevant to your product

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4. Who Should Make the Ask

Introduction requests to investors and advisors should typically come from: Founders or senior executives. These relationships are often personal and high-trust, which makes a direct request appropriate. Typical ownership looks like this:
RoleResponsibility
Founder / ExecutiveMakes the intro request
GTM / RevOpsPrepares opportunity list
Account ExecutiveRuns the sales conversation
In many companies, the playbook owner (RevOps, marketing, or partnerships) prepares the intro opportunities and draft messages, and the founder sends the request. This keeps the process efficient while maintaining the personal relationship.

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5. Ask at the Right Moment

The best time to request introductions is when you are already communicating with investors or advisors. Common moments include:
  • investor update emails
  • quarterly check-ins
  • fundraising conversations
  • major product or growth milestones
Embedding intro requests into existing communication makes the ask feel natural and expected.

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6. Make the Ask Specific

The biggest mistake founders make is asking for generic introductions. Instead of:
“Let us know if you know anyone who might be interested.”
Ask about specific people and companies.

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Example Intro Ask (Investor Update)

One small ask this month:

We’re starting conversations with a few companies similar to our current customers.

While reviewing our network it looks like you may know a few folks including:

• Mike Chen at Rippling  
• Laura Davis at Ramp  
• Alex Patel at Brex  

If any of those are strong relationships and you'd feel comfortable introducing us, we’d really appreciate it.

Of course, no pressure at all if the connection isn’t strong.

Happy to draft a short intro message to make it easy.
Why this works:
  • specific contacts
  • minimal effort required
  • easy to ignore if the connection isn’t strong

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7. Provide a Ghostwritten Intro

Just like with customer introductions, providing a draft message makes it much easier for the connector to help. Most investors or advisors will simply forward the intro message.

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Example Ghostwritten Intro

Hey Mike —

Wanted to introduce you to Justin (cc’d).

He’s the founder of HiveSight, a platform helping GTM teams turn customer relationships into pipeline.

Thought it might be relevant given the work you're doing at Ramp.

I’ll let you two take it from here.

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8. Who the Intro Should Include

When an investor or advisor makes an introduction, the goal is to quickly turn that introduction into a meaningful conversation. The introduction should typically include:
  • the Account Executive responsible for the account
  • optionally the founder or executive
Example structure: 
Investor
→ introduces
→ Target Contact
→ Account Executive
→ (optional) Founder
This ensures the conversation begins with someone who can:
  • understand the context
  • run discovery effectively
  • move the opportunity forward

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9. Follow Up and Close the Loop

After an introduction happens:
  • Thank the investor or advisor immediately
  • Follow up quickly with the new contact
  • Keep the connector informed if the conversation progresses
Example: 
Thanks again for making that intro — really appreciate it.

We had a great conversation and will keep you posted.
Closing the loop helps reinforce that their introductions are valuable.

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Best Practices

A few principles help keep this process effective. Make specific asks

Investors are far more likely to act when the request is clear. Keep requests small

A handful of opportunities is better than a long list. Respect relationship quality

Only request introductions where there is likely a real connection. Make declining easy

Investors should never feel obligated to introduce someone. Close the loop

Always report back after introductions.

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What a Healthy Investor Intro Motion Looks Like

Over time, teams build a simple rhythm:
  1. Add investors and advisors into HiveSight
  2. Identify connections to target accounts
  3. Select a small number of strategic intro opportunities
  4. Prepare intro requests and draft messages
  5. Founder sends the request during investor updates or check-ins
  6. Follow up and report outcomes
When done consistently, investor and advisor introductions can open doors to high-quality strategic opportunities that are difficult to reach through outbound alone.