The unspoken rules of making introductions in Silicon Valley

“The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed” – William Gibson

Silicon Valley Culture

A lot has been written about how Silicon Valley, the global capital of startups and technology, differs from the rest of the world. In this post we’ll use Silicon Valley, the Bay Area and San Francisco interchangeably. There’s more venture capital activity in Silicon Valley than anywhere else in the world, and both the name and place are synonymous with innovation.

A magnet for the young and ambitious, it has its own business culture that, along with the technology it produces, gets exported and disseminated around the world. The use of email in business is an example of both a technical and cultural innovation that began in Silicon Valley before spreading elsewhere.

 The only way to connect with a lot of the best investors is by getting a strong intro from someone they trust.

In the introduction of Andy Grove’s classic, High Output Management, Grove discusses the impact that email had on Intel’s fight against Japanese competitors in the 1980s. According to the author, using email was central to Intel’s success in transitioning to a better and stronger business model for the company. That might not sound too remarkable, until you consider that the first sitting US President to send an email was Bill Clinton in 1998.

One of the most powerful workplace innovations was in full flight in Silicon Valley in the 1980s, a full decade before the world’s most powerful man had even used it.

Introductions are one of the most powerful and frequently traded currencies in Silicon Valley. The only way to connect with a lot of the best investors is by getting a strong intro from someone they trust. There are several unwritten and unspoken rules that guide the etiquette for requesting, making and accepting intros. This usually trips up newcomers to the Bay Area.

Observing these guidelines will serve you well wherever you are in the world, and these practices are likely to become common place as the world transitions to a gig economy where introductions and networking will only increase in importance.

Allow me to introduce… the introduction

Email is a relatively new innovation in human history, whereas making introductions is one of the oldest business practices we have. Wherever there is commerce in the world, we have introductions. In every culture, access to the halls of money, power and influence has been contingent on networking, reputation and making introductions.

Like all business practices, the way an intro has been performed has shifted and changed over time, alongside the development of new technology and mediums of communication.

Introductions in Silicon Valley

What you need to know before making an introduction

The unspoken rules of making introductions in Silicon Valley

Common intro types

Good intros are a virtue