Founder & Partner @ Kanvas | Foster Innovation, Develop Business Strategy, Drive Growth

Katie Nowak

Getting ghosted by partners and investors?? 🤯 
Here’s how to upgrade your outreach -

…but first, some context.

We’ve been working with several first-time business owners.

Each has an amazing product, impressive early traction with customers, but couldn't seem to convert as many investor/partner leads as they’d hoped.

After auditing their pitch deck, financial model, and every other data room item we could think of, I finally made a new request….

…I asked to see their emails! (gasp)

And voila, the problem was identified.

It was the emails!!! The whole time!! 

After 1 week of helping these business owners re-write their emails/LinkedIn requests/Instagram messages, they got immediate responses from potential investors and partners.

Here's the outreach framework we used -

✨ Anchor in their world.

When you’re writing outreach, remember... there’s a real person on the other side!

That person has their own goals, motivations, and context.

So start your message with something specific to them.

It could be a recent win, a piece of content they shared, a portfolio move, or a shared context (event, intro, community).

✨  Make one clear, business-specific ask.

We forbid things like “just reaching out” and “let's connect."

Instead, spell out the concrete outcome you want them to consider.

Complete this sentence to find your target ask:

“If this outreach works, the next concrete business step is ______.”

Then ask for that outcome in one crisp sentence.

✨ Share a credibility snapshot.

This is my favorite secret.

For email - show you’re the real deal with a few concise bullets around your users, revenue, notable customers, or outcomes. Tailor these based on who you're reaching out to.

For LinkedIn - weave one key metric you’re proud of into a connection request. (Let’s be honest, almost no one is reading full InMails.)

You’re not sending the deck in paragraph form…

...you’re simply proving that a reply is worth their time.

✨  Set expectations for a follow-up.

I love offering to follow up at a later date so I don’t feel like I’m hounding anyone.

Plus, it’s a built-in chance to demonstrate follow-through.

Just make sure it doesn’t sound stiff... keep it human and specific (“I’ll bump this in a couple weeks once X is live - we'd love to give you a demo.”).

-

Ta-da! With this framework, your outreach is ready to go.

If you’re looking for a full example email, check out the comments. I drafted a fictional one for you. 😉

What secret tricks do you have for outreach?

If you’re feeling generous, share one in the comments - I'd love to learn from you, too.

See you there 😎

—
I'm Katie Nowak, an investor, innovation leader, and new venture designer sharing examples & lessons weekly. Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

Innovation Leader, New Venture Designer, Speaker @ Kanvas || Investor @ Altra Venture Partners

"Entrepreneurship is the most honest mirror you’ll ever look into." 🤯 
Here are 3 places that mirror shows up most clearly -

✨ Your numbers.

Terrified of opening your financial forecast?
...maybe money has always felt stressful and confusing.

Discounting heavily with clients?
…maybe you’re questioning the value you bring to the table.

Numbers don’t just describe your business; they often show where decisions are coming from (fear, habit, or conviction).

Something you can do this week -
+ Notice one place your spending/pricing feels misaligned.
+ Ask - what belief might be driving this decision? 
+ What is one step you could take to challenge that belief?

✨ Your business relationships.

Saying yes to projects you've outgrown?
...maybe you're in scarcity mindset.

Not delegating because it feels easier to do yourself?
...maybe, once upon a time, you had to shoulder a lot of life solo.

These decisions are signals about what safety, value, and control look like to you today… and they directly shape the deals you make and the culture you build.

Something you can do this week -
+ Think of one recent interaction that didn’t feel great.
+ Ask yourself “What might the braver, more grounded version of me done?”
+ Write down one small way you can move closer to that next time.

✨ Your self-care.

Resting only when you're exhasuted?
...maybe you secretly think rest = laziness.

Stressed about investing in coaching or learning?
...maybe you think the money is best spent elsewhere.

When you start seeing your nervous system as a core business asset (not a side project!) it's easier to set a growth pace that is sustainable for all.

That shift alone can change the trajectory of both you and the company.

Something you can do this week - 
+ Scan your calendar.
+ Block one hour for a nap, run, or to rewatch Bad Bunny’s halftime show 5 times. (Just making sure you’re still with me!)

-

If this hits home, pick one of these three areas this week - numbers, relationships, or self-care - and ask:

“What is my business mirroring back to me right now?”

Then, decide one small behavior you’re willing to upgrade.

If you’re brave, share in the comments for accountability. :)

—
I'm Katie Nowak, an investor, innovation leader, and new venture designer sharing examples & lessons weekly. Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

Hrish Lotlikar

My career has spanned experience on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley and Hollywood with many years spent living and working internationally.

As Co-Founder & CEO of SuperWorld, I would like to connect with our user community, brands and influencers that would like to create, discover, monetize and own their virtual world.

As Co-Founder of The Rogue Initiative, I would like to connect with others who are in or interested in Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Feature Film, TV, Gaming content creation, publishing, distribution and investment.

In general, I am also interested in connecting with early stage venture investors globally and also to find new disruptive web and mobile startups to invest in. 

In my role as a Board Member/Advisor at TalentToday, I am interested in helping companies find top tech talent globally.  Please contact me if you are in need of world class technology talent for your company.

Co-Founder & Board Member

OMA3 is a collaboration of Web3 metaverse platform creators. Our goal is to ensure virtual land, digital assets, ideas, and services are highly interoperable between platforms and transparent to all communities. OMA3 is open to all Web3 metaverse builders.

Hrish Lotlikar️

My life was never one location. 

I didn’t grow up believing the world had borders.

I learned that places shape you — quietly, permanently — and that every place leaves a different imprint on who you become.

I’ve lived inside many cultures.
Not as a tourist.
As a listener. A student. A participant.

I learned new languages not from textbooks, but from kitchens, streets, schools, friendships.
From mispronounced jokes.
From conversations where I didn’t have the right words yet — but stayed anyway.

Each country rewired me a little.

One taught me slowness.
Another taught me ambition.
Another taught me resilience, community, humility, joy.

I met people whose lives were nothing like mine —
and people who felt like mirrors I didn’t expect to find so far from home.

What surprised me most wasn’t how different we were.
It was how deeply connected everything felt once you stayed long enough.

But there was a quiet problem I didn’t notice at first.

Every time I moved, something faded.

Not photos.
Not memories.

Context.

Why that café mattered.
Why that lake felt sacred.
Why that street changed me.

The meaning stayed inside me — but it wasn’t anchored anywhere.

My life started to feel like a beautiful collection of moments… scattered across the globe.

And one day I realized:
I wasn’t living in one place.
I was living inside a personal map of the world.

That’s when the idea clicked.

What if places didn’t just exist on maps as coordinates —
but as containers for stories, culture, experience, value?

What if you could:
	•	mark the places that shaped you
	•	attach your stories, recommendations, memories
	•	show others how to experience a place — not just where it is
	•	and even own a digital layer of real-world locations you believe in

Not abstract.
Not fictional.
Real places. Real meaning.

That’s how SuperWorld was born.

Not as a product idea —
but as a way to hold a life that spans cultures, languages, and people without losing its soul.

SuperWorld is a place where:
	•	your world can exist all at once
	•	your experiences stay connected to the places that formed them
	•	and your personal map becomes something others can explore, learn from, and build on

Because the world isn’t just something you travel through.

It’s something you integrate.

And everyone already has a world like this.
Most people just haven’t mapped it yet.

👉 Create your personal map of the world
👉 Share your story through places
👉 Or own virtual real estate tied to real locations

🌍 superworldapp.com

Hrish Lotlikar🌎❤️

Co-Founder & CEO, SuperWorld, The Virtual World in Augmented Reality; Co-Founder, Rogue Initiative Studios, Hollywood Film, TV, VR & Gaming Studio; Founding MP, Eastlabs VC. Entrepreneur|VC | XR | AI |Crypto | Davos

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Tourism Is Becoming Passive. Ownership Is Active.

Tourism used to feel like exploration. Now, if we’re honest, it often feels like consumption.

We fly somewhere ✈️
We take photos 📸
We post them
We leave.

Cities become backdrops. Experiences become content. Memories become metrics.
But something is shifting.

Instead of just visiting Paris, you could own virtual real estate in Paris. Instead of taking photos in Tokyo, you could participate in the value created there. Instead of being a consumer of cities, you could become a stakeholder in them.

That’s the real shift.

From passive tourism to active participation. From audience to stakeholder. From observer to owner.

Through SuperWorld, anyone can own virtual real estate tied to real-world locations. When people interact digitally with that location or physically check in to businesses there, activity is created — and stakeholders can benefit from that activity across everyone’s map.

Cities stop being just destinations. They become living ecosystems you can actually participate in 🌐

The future traveler won’t only ask, “Where should I go?” They’ll ask, “Where do I want to participate?”

And that changes everything.

✨ If you believe the places you love deserve more than a photo, it might be time to move from visiting cities to building value in them. 

Explore how you can participate — not just observe: www.superworldapp.com 🌎❤️

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The Battle

Katie Nowak

Hrish Lotlikar️

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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