Is it Time for the Warm Intro to Die?

Is it time for the warm intro to die?

I get it. It can help a lot when you can get first hand intel or recommendations from somebody you know and trust about a potential startup to invest in.

I've asked for, and made, many warm intros.

In a context where we simply don't have enough time to dig deeply into every opportunity that crosses our path, the warm intro can be a strategic part of a vetting process that gets us closer to well aligned opportunities more quickly.

The warm intro is also terrible. It can be a big waste of time, fosters an unhealthy power imbalance, and can lead to a troubling lack of diversity in the startup ecosystem. It leaves many, many good opportunities behind.

Many VCs have moved past this - explicitly stating that their process doesn't require a warm intro. That in fact, they are eagerly looking for opportunities that might be coming from unexpected sources. But many explicitly say the opposite: "Don't bother talking to us, unless you know someone we trust."

I'm not suggesting this has a simple solution. Now that I'm a founder, and fundraising, I both try to play by the rules that already exist even as I rail against them. I've ignored VCs that only start conversations through warm intros even though I had one. And I've leveraged warm intros to start conversations with VCs that didn't need one.

It's complex.

I don't know what the full solution is. But I do know that there's a better future where in our business relationships (fundraising, partnerships, hiring, and more) we can make good decisions based on empathy and human-centric data.

A future where who you know is less important than what you can actually bring to the table.What do you think? Are we over the warm intro yet? What would you replace it with?