Memorandum

Most business does not start with a pitch. It starts with a change. A company opens a new location. A contract comes up for renewal. A supplier lets them down. A new manager arrives with a budget and a deadline. For a short time, that company is actively looking. Then it chooses someone, and the window closes.

Providers know this, which is why they spend so much trying to be there at the right moment: sales teams, cold calls, trade shows, ads, lists of thousands of names. Most of that effort lands on companies that aren’t looking. The few that are get buried in the same noise, and often end up choosing whoever reached them first rather than whoever fits best.

ConnStride exists to close that gap. I look for the moment a company needs something. I ask them directly and get the need in their own words. Then I find a provider that genuinely fits, and I introduce them, while the window is still open.

Three things decide whether an introduction is worth anything.

Timing. The same introduction can be worthless in March and worth a contract in May. I only make introductions when a need is current and confirmed.

Trust. Both sides should know exactly why they’re talking, and exactly how I’m paid. I’m independent. The provider pays for the introduction, the buyer pays nothing, and I say so to both, every time.

Access. A forwarded email is not an introduction. The provider should reach the person who decides, with the context already in hand, so the first conversation starts in the middle instead of at the beginning.

What I don’t do matters as much. I don’t sell lists. I don’t book meetings with people who never asked for one. I don’t take a cut of anyone’s deal. And I don’t promise outcomes I can’t control. I promise a real, confirmed opportunity, a proper introduction within 24 to 48 hours of payment, and a replacement or a refund if the opportunity isn’t what I described.

I run ConnStride alone, on purpose. Every opportunity is researched, confirmed and written up by the same person who signs the introduction. That keeps the work careful and the promises small enough to keep.

If you sell something and you’d rather spend your time talking to companies that are ready, write to me. If you need something and you’d rather not vet ten providers yourself, write to me too.