How to pitch Founders Fund
Pick one partner instead of the firm, and arrive by way of someone that partner already trusts. The pitch is quick to write, and most of the effort goes into finding the person who'll carry it.
By Jerry Feng, Growth at Happenstance. Updated August 31, 2026.
The short version
Write to a single partner at Founders Fund, and get there by way of somebody that partner already trusts. Venture firms fund the companies that come through people they know, and the person they know best is a founder they've backed, so the strongest first email is a forward from that founder with a sentence of their own on top. What comes before the pitch is a search: which founder in your network has taken money from Founders Fund, who else is connected to the firm, and which of your friends can introduce you. Happenstance runs that search over the accounts you've already connected, in one question.
Write to a partner, not to the firm
Founders Fund invests from seed through growth and is best known for backing hard technology, from aerospace to biology. Like nearly every venture shop, it makes decisions partner by partner, so a pitch mailed to the organization as a whole drops into a queue with no owner, while the same pitch sent to the individual whose portfolio resembles your startup lands with somebody holding the power to say yes. It does its job best when an entrepreneur that investor has backed is the one hitting send.
Ask a partner whose word they weigh most and the answer is a founder they've funded. Alumni of the firm rank next, along with co-investors who've split a deal and the acquaintances of anybody in those circles. Several of these people are almost certainly a step or two from you already, and the useful question is which ones you can reach in the coming week.
Finding your path to Founders Fund
Founders backed by Founders Fund. A former teammate who went on to raise from Founders Fund, an engineer you know from a conference, or a customer whose company has the firm on its cap table. Their forward carries a reputation with it, and that outweighs the cleverest cold subject line you could compose.
People at or around the firm. Investment team members, staff who've moved on, and the operators it stays close to all qualify, as do the friends of yours who know one of them.
Happenstance. Happenstance searches every account you connect, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, along with the networks of the friends you've added, and answers in plain English. Ask who you know who has raised from Founders Fund, or who you know at the firm, and you get back the names, the strength of each tie, the source it came from, and for anyone reached through a friend, the mutual who can introduce you. 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 fundraising version of the whole process, opening search through to signed term sheet, is on Happenstance for fundraising.
The ask
The founder comes first and the investor later. Request one forward to the partner you name, and include the paragraph you'd like them to send so that saying yes takes about thirty seconds.
Subject: Intro to [partner] at Founders Fund
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
Should I email Founders Fund directly or go through a partner?
Go through a partner, and get there through someone who can vouch for you if you can. An email to the firm's general inbox lands in a pile nobody is responsible for, while a forward from a founder the partner has funded shows up with a reason to open it. Choose the investor whose portfolio resembles yours, then work out the shortest way to them.
What if I don't know anyone connected to Founders Fund?
You almost certainly know someone who does. A founder in your circle who's raised from Founders Fund is one introduction away, and so are people who've worked at the firm and the friends of either. Happenstance searches your accounts and your friends' networks, so asking "who do I know who has raised from Founders Fund" brings back those people with the mutual who can introduce you.
What should the first email to a Founders Fund partner contain?
A single paragraph a founder could forward without touching it: the company in one sentence, the number that proves it's working, the amount you're raising and who's in already, and why this investor is the one who should read it. Keep it under a hundred and fifty words with nothing attached, and send the deck once they ask.
How does Happenstance help me reach Founders Fund?
Connect the accounts you use every day, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and ask who you know who has raised from Founders Fund, or who you know at the firm. Results show how well you know each person and which account the tie came from, and for people a friend knows, the friend who can introduce you. Happenstance is free, and Pro raises the limits.
Make your own luck
Join 500,000+ professionals already searching their whole network.
Continue with Google