How to pitch General Catalyst
Write to one partner rather than the firm as a whole, and get to them through a person that partner already trusts. The pitch is the smaller piece of the work, and finding that person is the larger one.
By Jerry Feng, Growth at Happenstance. Updated August 31, 2026.
The short version
Send your note to one partner at General Catalyst, and send it by way of somebody that partner already trusts. Venture firms invest in companies that reach them through people they know, most often a founder they've backed, so the opening email that works best is the one that founder forwards with a line of their own above it. The task ahead of the pitch is a search: which founder you know has raised from General Catalyst, who else has a tie to the firm, and which friend can introduce you to them. Happenstance runs that search over the accounts you already have, in a single question.
Write to a partner, not to the firm
General Catalyst backs companies from seed through growth, across software and healthcare among other sectors, and like most of its peers it decides partner by partner. An email addressed to the firm goes into a queue with nobody responsible for it, while an email addressed to the investor whose portfolio looks most like your company reaches somebody able to say yes. It's read most carefully when a founder that investor has already funded is the one who forwards it.
The voice a partner trusts above all others is a founder they've invested in. Then come former employees of the firm, investors who've shared a deal with them, and the friends of any of these. Chances are that several are within a step or two of you today, and what you need to learn is which ones you can get to this week.
Finding your path to General Catalyst
Founders General Catalyst has backed. A former manager who went on to raise from General Catalyst, an operator you know from a meetup, or a customer whose company took the firm's money. A forward from any of them carries far more than a cold subject line, however carefully you've written it.
People at or around the firm. The investment team, the people who've left it, and the operators the firm keeps nearby all count, and so do your friends who happen to know one of them.
Happenstance. Happenstance goes through every account you connect, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and through the networks of the friends you've added, and replies in plain English. Ask who you know who has raised from General Catalyst, or who you know at the firm, and you'll see the people, how well you know each of them, which account produced the tie, and for anyone a friend knows, the friend who can make the introduction. 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 complete fundraising version, from first search to term sheet, is on Happenstance for fundraising.
The ask
Write to the founder before the investor. Ask for a single forward to a partner you name, and attach the paragraph you want passed on so that a yes costs them about thirty seconds.
Subject: Intro to [partner] at General Catalyst
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 General Catalyst directly or go through a partner?
Through a partner, and where possible through a person who can put your name in front of them. A note to the firm's general inbox sits in a queue that nobody owns, whereas a forward from a founder the partner has backed turns up with a reason to be read. Find the investor whose portfolio looks like your company, then the shortest route to them.
What if I don't know anyone connected to General Catalyst?
Odds are you know someone who does. Founders near you who've raised from General Catalyst are one introduction away, and the same goes for 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 General Catalyst" returns those people together with the mutual who can introduce you.
What should the first email to a General Catalyst partner contain?
One paragraph a founder could forward unedited: the company described in a sentence, the figure that shows it's working, the amount you're raising and who's invested before, and why this investor specifically is the right reader. Under a hundred and fifty words, with no attachment; the deck comes when they ask.
How does Happenstance help me reach General Catalyst?
Connect the accounts you already have, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and ask who you know who has raised from General Catalyst, or who you know at the firm. Every result shows how well you know the person and which account the tie surfaced from, and results through friends show who can introduce you. Happenstance is free, and Pro raises the limits.
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