How to contact VC firms
A firm is an institution with staffed entrances, and it publishes most of them. This is what each one is for, and how to use it without wasting the attempt.
By Jerry Feng, Growth at Happenstance. Updated August 28, 2026.
The short version
Most firms publish a way in and then wait to see whether you read it. The routes are the submission form, a scout or fellow program, the associate who covers your category, office hours, and at a few firms a written no-intro-needed policy. Use the one the firm publishes, and keep working on an introduction while you wait.
What a firm's front door is for
A published route works both ways. It gives a founder with no network a way in, and it gives the firm a first filter, because whether you followed the instructions tells them something. Firms are usually clear about the odds too: the accelerator programs that publish an acceptance rate put it under one percent, and say applications are read on a rolling basis.
A few firms say outright that an introduction is not required. Y Combinator says it considers applications equally and does not rely on introductions the way many investors do, and First Round says its team reviews every opportunity it receives while valuing referrals from people it knows. Both describe the same situation: the door is open and the queue is ordered.
Use the door and keep working on the referral at the same time. A submitted form and a warm introduction can both be true about the same company on the same day, and the introduction is what moves you up the queue you just joined.
Doing this with Happenstance
Every published route gets shorter if somebody inside the firm's orbit already knows you. Happenstance searches the people you know, built from the accounts you connect: Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram. Ask “who do I know at companies Northgate has funded?” and the answer comes back as people rather than logos, which is how a portfolio founder, a scout, or a former associate surfaces out of a network you could not hold in your head.
It searches beyond your own connections too, so a partner you have never met can turn out to be two people away through a group you already belong to. Groups pool everyone's networks and are free and unlimited. Happenstance is free. The free plan is the whole product, with usage limits on chat and web searches beyond your network. Pro raises the limits: unlimited web searches and results, higher chat limits, and CSV export. The rest of the raise is on Happenstance for fundraising, and the partner-level version is how to get a meeting with a VC.
Firm policies from the Y Combinator and First Round public pages.
The template for a firm's published route
This is for the case where a firm gives you an address rather than a structured form. If there is a form, the form wins. Bracketed fields are the only parts you change, and the whole thing should fit in a preview pane.
Subject: [Datacheck], [$3m seed], data quality for platform teams
One firm, one message, no attachment. If you wouldn't be able to explain why you wrote to this firm specifically, the paragraph naming the partner is doing no work and the reader will notice.
Send it once. If a firm publishes a response window, wait it out before following up, and when you do follow up, put news in the message rather than a reminder that you sent one. Firms that publish a route are dealing with the volume that comes with publishing it, and a second copy of the same email doesn't move you up the pile.
What Happenstance can see
Email is read as headers only. Message content and attachments never reach our servers. Yes. Your connections are searchable only by you, the friends you accept, and the groups you join, and sharing is always mutual. Your public profile shows a constellation of named people you know by default, which you can turn off anytime. We never share, sell, or use your data to train AI models. Happenstance is SOC 2 certified and DTI Trust Level 2; the full list of what is stored and for how long is on the security page.
Frequently asked questions
Can you contact a VC firm without an introduction?
Yes, and some firms say so explicitly. Y Combinator's FAQ answers the question directly: "Do we need to know someone at YC to get in? No." First Round states on its site that its investment team reviews every investment opportunity it receives. A published route is a real route, and using it isn't a lesser move.
Do VC firms read website submissions?
The firms that publish a commitment do. YC says it responds to everyone who applies, and a16z speedrun says its team reviews applications on a rolling basis, usually within four to six weeks. Where no such statement exists, treat the form as a low-cost lottery ticket rather than a plan.
Who should I contact at a VC firm?
The partner who invests in your category, if you have a route to them. Otherwise the associate or analyst who covers it, who's paid to find companies and will move an interesting one upward quickly. Going around an associate to their partner is a common instinct and it usually costs you the associate.
What's a VC scout, and how do I find one?
A scout is an operator or founder given a small pool of a firm's money to invest on its behalf, which comes with a direct line into the firm. Some programs publish their scouts and some do not. Scouts are often people you can reach through your own network rather than through the firm, which is what makes the route worth checking.
How long should I wait for a VC firm to respond?
Where a firm publishes a window, use it: a16z speedrun says four to six weeks. Where none is published, assume three weeks and send one short follow-up carrying something new. Silence from a submission form is the normal outcome and it isn't a verdict on the company.
Should I contact more than one partner at the same firm?
Not at the same time. Partners talk, and two parallel approaches read as either disorganized or as shopping the deal internally. Pick the one whose recent investments look most like your round, and if they pass you to a colleague, let them do it.
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