How to make a warm introduction by email
You're the one in the middle. Here is how to write the email so both sides say yes, neither has to send a second message, and you get to keep your credibility for the next one.
By Jerry Feng, Growth at Happenstance. Updated August 28, 2026.
The short version
Ask both sides privately first, then send one short email that gives each person a reason to care about the other. Put the person being asked for something at the top, give each side one line of credential, say in a sentence what you hope happens, and drop to bcc the moment they reply.
Why the introducer's version is the one that lands
An introduction moves somebody out of a pile and into a queue of one. Hiring data shows the size of the effect. CareerPlug's recruiting metrics report, drawn from more than ten million applications to small businesses in 2024, found that employee referrals accounted for only 2% of applicants but 11% of hires (2025). The resumes and the jobs were the same. The difference was that somebody inside the building put their name on one of them.
That is what you hand over when you introduce somebody, which is why a bad intro email costs more than it looks like it should. The person receiving it is judging your judgment as much as the stranger, and they remember. After two or three introductions that went nowhere, your name stops carrying weight.
The email has one job. Give the busy side enough to decide in ten seconds, and give the other side a thread they can carry on without you. The etiquette for the person asking you to make the introduction is on how to ask for a warm introduction.
The email, line by line
1. Check with both sides privately first. Forward two lines about one person to the other and ask whether they are open to it. Nobody is put on the spot, and the introduction lands as something both of them already agreed to.
2. Put both names and the reason in the subject line. “Priya Rao, meet Alex Chen, data quality.” It reads in a notification preview and it is findable in a search a year later.
3. Open with the person whose time is being asked for. They are the one deciding whether to reply, so the first sentence tells them who is being introduced and why it is worth twenty minutes.
4. One line of credential per side. Something you know first-hand about each of them, which is worth more than a job title because it is what a title cannot say.
5. Say in one sentence what you hope happens. A first call in the next two weeks, a look at a deck, twenty minutes on a specific question. The two of them should not have to guess what you had in mind.
6. Hand off, and drop to bcc.Name who replies first and write “moving me to bcc” in the email itself. Ask one of them how it went a couple of weeks later.
Doing this with Happenstance
The hard part of a good introduction is usually knowing that you're the right person to make it, or knowing who is. Happenstance searches the people you already know, built from the accounts you connect: Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Ask it “who do I know at Meridian?” and you get ranked people with how well you know each one, so you can tell the difference between someone you worked with for years and someone who accepted a connection request in 2019.
It works in the other direction too. When somebody asks you for an introduction you cannot make, the useful reply is a name rather than an apology, and finding that name is a search rather than an hour of scrolling. 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. Founders on the other side of this problem should start at Happenstance for founders or the warm introductions page.
Three templates, by who's on each end
Each of these is the intro email itself, sent after both sides have said yes. Fields in brackets are the only parts you change. All three are under 150 words, which is the length that gets read on a phone.
Subject: [Ana Ruiz], meet [Alex Chen], [data quality] at [Datacheck]
Candidate to hiring manager
Subject: [Dev Shah], meet [Maya Oyelaran], [platform engineering]
Seller to buyer
Subject: [Tom Reilly], meet [Sana Iqbal], [warehouse spend]
The seller template carries the disclosure line on purpose. If you have any financial interest in the introduction, say so in the email rather than letting the buyer find out later. The introduction is worth less if it turns out to have been paid for, and the relationship is worth less than that.
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
What's a double opt-in introduction?
You check with both people before you connect them, usually by forwarding a short blurb about one and asking the other whether they're open to it. Nobody is put on the spot, and the introduction lands as something both sides already agreed to. It costs you two messages and saves you the reputation you'd spend on an intro that neither party wanted.
Who should be named first in an introduction email?
Address the person whose time is being asked for. They're the one deciding whether to reply, so the first sentence should tell them who's being introduced and why it's worth twenty minutes. The person who asked for the introduction already knows why they are there.
What should the subject line of an introduction email be?
Both names and the reason, in that order: "Priya Rao, meet Alex Chen, data quality." It reads correctly in a notification preview, it's searchable later, and it tells the recipient what the thread is before they open it. Avoid "Quick intro" on its own, which says nothing and ages badly in a search.
How long should a warm introduction email be?
Under 150 words. One line of context for each person, one sentence on why you think they should talk, and a handoff. If you need more than that, the two people aren't a good match, or you haven't decided what you are asking for.
Should I move myself to bcc after making an introduction?
The person who replies first should do it, and you can prompt it by writing "moving me to bcc" in the intro itself. You don't need to read the scheduling. Ask one of them how it went a couple of weeks later instead, which is the part that tells you whether to make the next introduction.
How do I say no to someone asking me for an introduction?
Say no in one line and offer the next best thing. "I do not know Priya well enough for that to help you, but I can send you what I know about how her team buys" is honest and still useful. Naming someone better placed to make the introduction is the strongest version of a no.
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