LinkedIn messages asking a mutual connection to introduce you to a CEO

When a LinkedIn introduction request is the right move

Use one when you know someone close to a company's owner or CEO, such as a board member, the company's outside banker, a former colleague or a peer-group chair, but you do not know the CEO yourself. The message goes to the mutual connection, never cold to the CEO, and it asks the connector to check with the CEO before any introduction happens. Permission comes first; the introduction second.

For a SourceX introduction, the company also has to be worth spending the connector's goodwill on: a US business with 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), several years of documented operations and records spread across many systems. Check the who qualifies baseline before you ask for the favor.

If you already know the CEO, write to them directly instead. If you met recently at a deal conference, the follow-up messages after a networking event fit better.

Which route to use

Template 1: the ask to a close mutual connection

Template 2: the forwardable blurb

This is the paragraph the connector pastes into a message to the CEO, written in the connector's voice so it can go unchanged.

Template 3: the lighter ask for a looser connection

When you know the connector less well, ask for advice rather than a favor. It is easier to say yes to, and easier to say no to without awkwardness.

Template 4: the nudge and the thank-you notes

When the conversation moves to email, the introduction email builder drafts a longer version.

How to personalize the ask

The specific reason does most of the work. Tie it to something the connector can verify and the CEO would recognize.

Use only public or clearly shareable information in the reason. If you learned something about the company's systems in confidence, for example through client work, leave it out.

What happens after the CEO says yes

1. Reply within a day, thank the connector, and move to email or a short call with the CEO.
2. Explain the program in plain terms; the portfolio CEO talk track adapts well to owner-led companies.
3. Send your referral link so the company can apply at sourcex.si/apply with your code attached, or submit it through the referral form with the CEO's agreement.
4. Move promptly: credit goes to the first valid referrer whose introduction leads to a verified company application within the attribution window.
5. Then step back. SourceX qualifies the company on size, history, data breadth and rights, and works with it directly on the inventory, price and terms, buyer review and delivery.

If the CEO raises concerns on that first call, the data licensing objection scripts cover the common ones.

What never to include

• Confidential details about the company, its clients or its systems.
• Requests for exports, screenshots or sample records. Partners make the introduction and share basic fit information, nothing more.
• Promises about price, buyer interest, timing or whether the company qualifies.
• Reward amounts. If someone asks how it works: 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, paid only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee. Rewards are not guaranteed.
• Names of AI developers presented as buyers.

Disclosure is more than courtesy. If you recommend SourceX publicly, for example in a LinkedIn post, FTC staff guidance in the Endorsement Guides FAQ says a connection that would affect how people weigh the recommendation, such as being paid for referrals, should be disclosed clearly and close to the recommendation itself. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Licensed professionals should also check their own rules on referral fees and disclosure.

Next step

Pick one company where you know someone close to the CEO and send Template 1 this week. So the introduction counts, register as a partner first and have your referral link ready before the CEO says yes.