We make introductions only between people we know.
We don’t introduce strangers to strangers. Every match is between two people we already know - and is signed by the person who made it.
If an introduction came from this office, this page is here to confirm what it claimed.
Most cold outreach reads as if it could have come from anywhere. Ours doesn’t, because it didn’t. Each introduction comes from this office - read, written, and signed by a person who has direct knowledge of both you and the person being introduced. This page exists in case you want to verify that.
Our standard
What it takes for an introduction to leave this office.
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We know both parties personally.
Not from a conversation last week. Not from a recommendation we trust but cannot verify. We make an introduction only when we have direct knowledge of how each side works - most often through prior collaboration, sustained observation over a year or more, or both.
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We name the fit explicitly.
The introduction email is not a referral note. It explains, specifically, why this person and this situation belong in the same room - what each side brings, what each side needs, and why the timing is right. If we cannot name the fit precisely, we do not write the email.
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We sign by hand.
Each introduction is sent in plain text from a real address and signed by the person who made the match. There is no automation between the decision to introduce and your inbox.
The other side
What we ask of the people we represent.
An introduction is only as credible as the firm making it. We recommend; we do not broker. We extend our name only on behalf of people we would recommend to our own clients, our own partners, and the people we know personally. The standard is direct, and shorter than most:
- Their work has to be excellent. Not adequate, not promising, not on its way. Excellent now.
- We have to have seen the work close enough to vouch for it without hedging.
- They have to be the kind of person we would introduce to someone we care about.
- They have to understand that an introduction is a beginning, not a closing tactic.
- They have to be content with fewer introductions, made better.
Two sides
An introduction has two sides. We owe both of them care.
For the recipient.
There is no list you are now on. We do not maintain one. If the introduction makes sense, you reply. If it does not, we send a single short note to confirm the email arrived cleanly, and the correspondence ends there.
For the service provider.
We work with a small number of established practitioners whose work we know first-hand. If you would like to be introduced to the businesses we read about in the course of our own work, we would begin with a short conversation.
About the office
About the office
Cedar is run by Joe Parker. Every introduction is read, written, and signed by a person with direct knowledge of both sides of the match - which, in most cases, means me. The booking link reaches my calendar. If you reply to a Cedar introduction, you reply to the person who wrote it.
Joe Parker
Postscript
A few questions, in case they have not been answered.
- Why did this introduction come from you and not from someone I already know?
- Because we were paying close attention to your work in the course of our own - and recognized a match for someone we represent that the people you already know are not in a position to make. The introduction email itself names what we noticed.
- How is this paid for?
- There is no fee for receiving an introduction. We are paid by the practitioner on the other side of the match, and only if an introduction leads to a working relationship. Our incentives are aligned with the introductions making sense - when a match doesn’t fit, the cost of writing it falls on us.
- Do you keep my information on a list?
- No. We follow specific businesses in the course of our own work; we do not maintain general lists. If the timing of an introduction is wrong, we make a brief note of it and stop. The note exists so that we do not write you twice when we should not.
Book a call
If you would like to make an introduction, request one, or confirm what arrived in your inbox, fifteen minutes is enough. The link below reaches the office calendar.