Using handwritten notes for deal sourcing?

April 16, 2026

by a searcher from The University of Chicago - Booth School of Business in Seattle, WA, USA

Hi everyone, As inboxes get more crowded, email outreach is increasingly trashed or spammed without ever being read. I’m curious if handwritten mail is a more effective way (though costlier, of course) to source deals and actually get a founder's attention. Would love to learn about your thoughts or experience!

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Reply by an investor
from Pennsylvania State University in Charlotte, NC, USA

We've tried handwritten custom notes, and it can work but seems random. The amount of time and research is too great unless it's the exact business you want and don't have a contact in your network to make a warm intro. Persistence, does work but haven't found this to be efficient on a large scale. I bet there's a formula, but don't know it. Like everything else, the costs have gone up but the problem is at a disproportionate rate. You don't want to be lumped in with ValPak or other mailers that are tossed immediately. We tried printed letters with a hand written notes. And tried postcards with a hand written note with limited success. It's difficult to confirm what's actually delivered to the decision maker as well.

Reply by a searcher
from The University of Chicago in Nashville, TN, USA

Now that I'm sitting in the owner's seat I see how many inbound attempts are made to buy businesses. I probably get 5-10 approaches per week, all with the same AI slop writing style that clumsily fits in a "personalized" fact about our business. I don't know if people think they are actually tricking anyone or they don't care as long as the e-mail arrives. A hand written note would at least get to me, although I would definitely check to see if it was actually hand written or if it was printed to look like it was! I think it is worth a try with businesses you are serious about.

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