Why This Matters
85% of jobs are filled through networking. People do business with people they know, like, and trust. That number has not changed much in decades because the underlying reason has not changed: a warm introduction compresses trust. It takes the unknown out of the equation before anyone has to commit to anything.
I have benefited from people making their networks available to me. That is not a small thing. When someone picks up the phone or writes a message on your behalf, they are lending you their reputation. That act has opened doors for me that I could not have opened alone, and I take it seriously when I get the chance to do the same.
What I've Seen
WashU is a top-tier school. The sticker price over four years is close to a quarter million dollars. One thing I noticed there was that the business school had no Friday classes. That was not an accident. Those students were doing calls on Fridays, religiously. During the week they were emailing people at the companies they wanted to work at and calling family-friends to schedule these calls. Friday was the execution window.
What I understood from watching that is those students grew up in environments with very successful parents who already knew the value of a warm introduction. That knowledge was inherited, not taught in a classroom. At 19 or 20 years old, they were spending a significant portion of their week networking, not studying or doing assignments. They had already internalized that relationships were the actual asset.
From my own experience, the people who have helped me when I was in a pinch tend to help again. They become go-to resources. My philosophy when making any ask is to be resourceful, respectful, and transparent about what my goals are, and to minimize the size of the ask as much as possible. I am not shy if there is an angle. But I try to make it as easy as possible for the person on the other end to say yes.
And if people do not want to help, stop asking them. Get the message quickly. Quit going back to the people who never come through and double down on the ones who always do. That sounds obvious but it took me a second to internalize. Some people are just not wired to help, and that is fine. The ones who are will keep showing up for you if you show up for them.
Life is long and your reputation travels further than you think. The principles above matter especially with people you do not speak to regularly. When you do reach out after a gap, lead with value, be transparent about what you need, and make it clear you are willing to reciprocate. People remember how you made them feel when you asked, not just whether you asked.
When You Are in a Pinch
If you are genuinely stuck and need help fast, here is the most underused move available to you: open your contacts and call every single person on your phone. Not text. Call. Explain your situation clearly, and ask one question: do you know anyone who could help?
Calling signals urgency in a way that a text does not. It is harder to ignore and it communicates that this matters to you. If someone prefers text, honor that and follow up in writing, but start with a call or a even a FaceTime. A surprise FaceTime is generally received with curiosity and enthusiasm; just don't abuse it.
Beyond your phone, go where people actually spend time. LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, WhatsApp. Reach people on the platform where you most connect with them, not just the one that feels most professional to you. A DM that lands where someone is already active gets read. The same message sent to an inbox they check once a week does not.
Be Resourceful With the Data Available to You
LinkedIn is free and it is extraordinarily useful if you use it with intention. You can search by role, location, company, and most importantly, by who is in a specific person's network. If you pay for LinkedIn Premium you can send more direct messages without getting rate-limited, which matters when you are running a real outreach campaign.
The platform gives you a map of professional relationships. Most people use it like a job board. Use it like an intelligence tool.
How to Ask Me for an Introduction
People often ask me to introduce them to someone, whether for a job search, a sales conversation, or a potential investment. I am glad to help, and I take these asks seriously because I have benefited tremendously in my life when people have introduced me to others.
That said, do not be offended when you read this, but I will not send a vague message on your behalf. I hold the people in my network in high regard and I am not going to waste their time with a message that reads as generic or unresearched. If your ask seems unclear to me, it is probably why I sent you this page.
Here is what I need in order to make an introduction that is worth receiving:
Use the LinkedIn "connections of" feature. Go to LinkedIn, search for the role or industry you are targeting, then filter by "Connections of" and type in my name. This surfaces the specific people in my network who match your search. These are your targets. Do not send me a general request. Send me a list of specific people you want to reach and why.
Find the job posting before you reach out. If you are job hunting, go to that person's company page on LinkedIn and find an open role that was posted within the last week. Jobs posted this week are actively being filled. If the posting is older than that, assume they are close to done and move on to a fresher listing.
Track your targets in a spreadsheet. For each person, record: their name, their company, and the job ID from the posting. If the listing does not have a job ID, use the exact title of the position instead. That specificity is what makes the ask forwardable. For other use cases — sales intros, investor sourcing, any ask that is not a job referral — use common sense about what detail the person on the other end needs to take action. The standard is the same: make it so specific that the recipient can say yes or no without asking a follow-up question.
Send me batches of five. Do not send me a list of fifteen people at once. Keep it to max five per batch. Send me an email at michael@michaelpichardo.com with a short, specific ask for each person that I can forward directly, or use the same format over iMessage or wherever we usually communicate. The standard is the same: I need to be able to take your message and send it as-is, with minimal editing. Write it that way.
If they are not on LinkedIn, that is okay, but do the check first. Most professionals are findable. Start there.
When I do make the introduction, I almost always go with a double opt-in: I reach out to the person on the other end first, let them know someone will be contacting them, and make sure they are open to the conversation before I connect anyone. It is one extra step and it is slower than introducing on the spot, I know! But, it is how I stay respectful of the people in my network and how I make sure the introduction actually lands rather than landing in someone's ignored folder.
How to Use LinkedIn to Source Introductions
The walkthrough below shows the full process in real time. Watch it before sending me any requests.
Three things to understand from the video:
The three variables. When you search on LinkedIn you are working with three toggles: the search term (the role or keyword), the location, and the "connections of" filter. Swap out any one of these and you get a different set of results. If you are looking for an investor in my network versus a lawyer versus a sales rep at a specific company, the playbook is identical. Only the variables change.
The referral incentive. When you find someone in my network who works at a company you want to get into and there is an open role, reaching out is not just asking a favor. Most companies pay referral bonuses. The person you are asking to refer you has a financial incentive to say yes. Knowing that changes how you frame the ask: you are not asking someone to put themselves out, you are potentially putting money in their pocket.
The ask format. The message that works looks like this: "Hey, I saw this position at [Company], job ID [number]. Can you refer my friend?" That is it. Specific. Actionable. Respectful of time. No ambiguity about what you are asking for.
If I do not have a strong relationship with the person, I will still send a DM. If I have their number, I will call and text at a reasonable time. I take these asks seriously, and I expect the same level of seriousness in the ask you bring to me.
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If you were sent this page after making a request, now you have the full picture. Come back with a specific ask and we will move fast.