What I Need to Know to Make Investor Referrals
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Updated June 14, 2026.In case this is your first time at the site - I’m a hands-on operating partner to founder-led companies and a fractional COO. Over 20+ years, I have applied my growth and operations experience to help dozens of startups (Axiom, Spartan, etc.), having begun my career as a business and technology lawyer in New York City. So far, I have helped build one high-impact startup to nearly $100M in revenue and a second to exceed that benchmark.
I love to be helpful whenever I can be. This is particularly true when it comes to supporting startup founders. Making introductions is one way I can do that.
The intro could be to someone with expertise in an industry or a specific role. Sometimes, it's investors.
If I haven't worked with a company personally, it can be a little challenging to make investor introductions. To add value to the founder and prospective investor, I need to be more than a channel. What I like to do is help the founder position the company to the investor for the best possible impression.
There are six questions I ask to help do this. Answering these six questions is also a very useful shorthand for quickly vetting any new business idea.
The first question is: What is the problem to be solved?
In particular, I want to know whether an unmet or under-met need is arising in people’s lives. I'm looking for something visceral. I sometimes ask people to imagine the first part of a typical Shark Tank pitch, where the entrepreneur describes some hardship they've experienced or observed. It should be emotional. People aren’t going to change their ways if they don’t feel a push to change, arising from an uncomfortable situation.
Read also: When You Need a Fractional COO and Don’t
The second question is connected: What are the existing alternatives to solving this problem?
Maybe it's a current product that falls short in accomplishing a task. Maybe there isn't a good existing alternative at all, and people are silently struggling, unhappy and unable to progress toward the better future they imagine. Make this list.
The third question is: When does this situation arise?
What's the specific context when this unmet or under-met need shows up? Again, the idea here is to be very specific. Who are the people this happens to? When do they face the situation? Where? What are they doing at that time? Why are they doing it?
You'll notice I’ve asked very little about the product so far, which is by design. Most important is whether you have identified and can describe a compelling unsovled problem worth solving. That's what we're trying to understand with these first three questions.
Once you've gotten this far, you should be able tell an in-depth, true story about a struggling situation in which people find themselves.
Read also: How to Learn Jobs to be Done
Now you can answer question 4: What does your product do?
The description should detail how the product bridges the current gap between what people are trying to do and what they can achieve now. Go back to your list of current solutions as well. How does your product stack up? It doesn’t need to be better at everything, just better enough than the incumbent solutions at solving the particular problem you identified in question one.
Part five follows: How big is this opportunity?
Is this a $1 million revenue opp, $100M, or something much bigger? Ash Maurya suggests entrepreneurs start with a back-of-the-envelope calculation and then move onto a more detailed estimation, in each case looking at your annual recurring revenue in month 12 of year 3 after your launch. I like his approach.
I created my own step-by-step guide (originally for a University of Hawaii startup program) that you can find here.
Ideally, you’ll also show the total addressable market size, and how it was determined (Hint: It should be based in part on the information you’ve described in questions one to three).
Read also: Estimating Product Market Opportunity
The last question, and it’s often a hard one to answer: Why now?
Why could your product only exist now versus a year ago or 10 years ago? A compelling “why now” answer suggests you’re working on a problem that could only be solved recently. This increases the attractiveness of the idea significantly because it could be a genuine new-to-the-world innovation.
If your product could have existed anytime in recent history and hasn't, or did, but doesn’t now, it’s a yellow flag.
Maybe there isn't a problem to solve at all. People have tried and failed and disappeared, and you’re just the latest making an attempt.
Maybe there's an issue with feasibility. People have tried and failed because the product can’t be built or the business model math doesn’t work.
Maybe the product isn’t differentiated from a bunch of current alternatives. It’s just one more product in a long list of similar products that have been around for a while.
If there’s not a good “why now” answer, it doesn't mean you can't continue to build your business and maybe even thrive, but it suggests it may not be an explosive new opportunity with tons of growth potential.
Read also: Deadlocked? Use “Forced Empathy” to Resolve Conflicts and Strengthen Your Startup Team
Could you have discovered an enormous opportunity that could have existed before, and others have missed or failed to execute on? I suppose so, and in that case, you need to explain persuasively why that may be.
If I could only ask an entrepreneur one question about their company and product it would probably be this.
Answering these six questions will help ensure your new business is on the right track and help me or anyone else share your message with others.
What's the unmet or under-met problem?
What are the current alternatives that are falling short?
What is the context?
What is the product?
What is the scale of the opportunity?
Why is this idea coming into existence now?
For an intro to investors, I’d also love to highlight the traction you've gotten so far (e.g., notable customer numbers, wrapping up a round, a brand-name investor) and what you’re looking for from a meeting (e.g., a networking meeting to talk about the space you’re operating in, or a call to see if they’re interested in participating in a fundraising round).
Read also: Navigating Startup Fundraising: Insights from an Experienced COO
With this information, I can make an informed and meaningful investor introduction that will serve both parties.
I’m always happy to chat about business building.