Warm Intros
How to find who on your team can introduce you to a candidate, and how to make the ask.
A warm introduction consistently outperforms cold outreach because the candidate already trusts the person making it. Icebreaker helps you find who on your team is the best connector — ranked by relationship strength — so you can reach out to the right person and make the ask directly.
Finding an intro path
Every search result shows the connection path: which teammate knows this person, through which platform, and their trust score. That alone tells you who might be able to make an intro.
For a more targeted lookup, use the Chat tab to ask directly:
"Who on my team knows Jamie Chen?"
"Find someone who can introduce me to engineers at Stripe."
"Who is our best connection to this person?" (paste a profile link)
Icebreaker searches your team's combined network and returns the teammates with the strongest direct connections to that person, ranked by trust score.
Trust score reflects relationship strength — a meaningful, direct connection rather than a surface-level follow. The higher the score, the more credible the introduction.
Intro paths are available on Starter plans and above. On the Free plan, search results still show connection paths, but the ranked intro path lookup requires a Starter or higher subscription.
Using intro paths via MCP
If you use Icebreaker through Claude, Cursor, or another MCP client, the get_intro_path tool finds intro paths as part of any research workflow. Pass the target profile's identifier and it returns your team's strongest connectors to that person, sorted by trust score.
See Available Tools for full MCP documentation.
Making the ask
Icebreaker surfaces the path — the introduction itself happens off-platform. Once you've identified your best connector, reach out directly over email, Slack, or whatever channel you normally use.
Keep your request short. Include:
- Who you are and your role (if the connector doesn't know you well)
- Why you're interested in this specific person
- What you're asking for — a quick call, an email intro, or something else
- Why it's worth the candidate's time
Two or three sentences is enough. Your connector will add their own framing when they reach out.
Example:
Hey Sarah — I saw through Icebreaker that you're connected to Jamie. I'm hiring a Head of Engineering and her background looks like a strong fit for what we're building. Would you be open to a quick email intro? Happy to draft something you can forward.
Tips for connectors
Only make introductions you genuinely believe are worth the candidate's time. A poor introduction reflects on you as much as on the person who asked.
- Accept with context — let the candidate know who is asking, why, and what to expect from the conversation.
- Decline if the relationship isn't there — it's better to pass than to make an intro you can't fully stand behind.
- Suggest a better connector — if you know someone better positioned, point the requestor there instead.
Your reputation as a connector is worth protecting.
A note on etiquette
It's usually better to check with the candidate first: "Would you be open to hearing about an opportunity at X?" A surprise introduction — even a well-intentioned one — can feel intrusive. A quick heads-up makes the intro land better for everyone.
Updated 3 months ago