How a sponsor should introduce a portfolio company CEO to an outside vendor or program

The short answer: optional, disclosed, CEO decides

A sponsor introduction carries weight a vendor's cold email never will, and that is exactly why it needs care. Ask the CEO first, make the introduction in writing, state plainly whether you receive anything if they proceed, then step back. The CEO owns the decision and the vendor relationship; the sponsor owns only the fairness of the introduction.

The same rules hold whether the outside party sells software, runs a purchasing program or, as with SourceX, helps a company license its operational records to AI developers.

Before you introduce anyone

Work through these before the first email.

• You have vetted the vendor or program. The checklist for vetting an outside program covers money flows, data handling and contract terms.
• You know your firm's policy on outside compensation, gifts and conflicts involving portfolio companies.
• You know whether you, or the firm, would receive anything if the company proceeds, and you are ready to say so in writing.
• The company plausibly fits. For data licensing, look for a US business that peaked at 50+ full-time employees (contractors excluded), has kept records across many systems for several years, owns what it would license and has an executive willing to lead; who qualifies has the detail.
• The timing is fair. A CEO closing a quarter, mid-integration or in a sale process may prefer the introduction later, and the deal team should know before anything starts.
• You can describe the offer in two sentences without exaggerating it.

Step by step: making the introduction

1. Ask permission in conversation. Raise it at the end of a regular check-in: there is a program worth five minutes of your time; would you like an introduction? Accept a no without follow-up.
2. Send a double opt-in email. Write to the CEO alone first, or send a note they can forward. Cover what the program is, why you thought of them and what you would receive.
3. Disclose any reward in that same email. Not in a later call, and not only verbally.
4. Use the vendor's own channel for the handoff. For SourceX that means your referral link to sourcex.si/apply or the referral form; the company then deals with SourceX directly.
5. Send no records. No exports, financials, customer lists or screenshots. The vendor asks the company for what it needs, under the company's own agreements.
6. Step out of the process. Do not join calls unless the CEO invites you, and never negotiate on the company's behalf.
7. Check in once. A single question at the next regular meeting, such as whether the conversation was useful, is enough.

The two-sentence script

For a longer note tailored to the company, the introduction email builder drafts one you can edit before sending.

How to disclose a referral reward

Disclose early, in writing and in words a CEO cannot misread. Calling yourself a partner is not enough: say that you would be paid if a deal closes, who pays you and whether it changes the company's price.

The FTC's endorsement guidance FAQ is written for public recommendations to consumers, but its principle is a sound standard here: a connection the audience would not expect, and that could affect how they weigh the recommendation, should be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, close to the recommendation itself. A private introduction between a sponsor and its own CEO is a different setting and firms set their own policies, so treat this as good practice rather than a rule that governs you.

For SourceX, the facts to disclose are short. Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company, payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee. Because the reward is paid from SourceX's own fee, the company's price and proceeds stay the same. The rewards page states the current rules.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Check your firm's compliance policy and, where relevant, your fund documents before accepting any compensation connected to a portfolio company.

Common mistakes

Illustrative example

Illustrative, fictional scenario. An operating partner at a fictional lower-middle-market sponsor, Sponsor A, works with Company B, a 220-person IT services firm the fund bought four years ago. During a quarterly check-in, the CFO mentions that a helpdesk tool holding eight years of tickets is about to be retired.

The operating partner asks whether the CEO would like an introduction to SourceX before the old tool is switched off. The CEO says yes. That afternoon the operating partner sends the two-sentence note, with the disclosure and the referral link. Company B applies, works through qualification and its data inventory directly with SourceX, and decides on its own whether to proceed. The operating partner learns the outcome at a later board meeting, along with everyone else.

Introducing more than one portfolio company

Pace it. After the first company has been through the process, you will know how the vendor behaves, how much management time it took and which questions the CEO asked. Share that experience, without any of the first company's confidential details, when you raise it with the next CEO.

Keep a simple log of who was introduced, when, what you disclosed and what they decided, so the firm can show later that every introduction was optional and disclosed. A CEO summit or portfolio forum is a reasonable place to describe a vetted program in general terms, but make each actual introduction one to one.

When the CEO says no

Take the no and move on. Note the date so nobody else at the firm raises the same program the following week, and do not revisit it unless circumstances change, such as a systems migration or new ownership plans. A clean decline keeps your next introduction credible.

Next step

Pick one portfolio company where the timing is right and register as a partner first, so your referral link is ready when you send the note. For the program from a sponsor's angle, read referral opportunities for private equity operating partners, and use the AI disruption risk assessment to choose which company to start with.