Subject: Is there a good way to ask a group of people a question on LinkedIn without seeming either scammy or spammy? The target audience is those who manage their own (or other people's) investments, so they are going to be skeptical.
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If your goal is to engage people who manage their own or others’ investments, you’re right to assume they’ll be skeptical — that’s baked into the job. The key is to ask in a way that signals credibility, clarity, and zero hidden agenda.
As an early lead for a FinTech startup that built tools for RIAs to deliver option overlay strategies to their clients, I found that the framing matters more than the question itself. A few principles that worked well:
State your context up front.
Not a pitch — just who you are and why you’re asking. Investors respond well to transparency.
Ask a narrow, useful question.
Broad questions feel like lead-gen traps. Specific ones feel like genuine research.
Make it clear you’re not selling anything.
Literally say it. It removes all defensive filters immediately.
Give people an “out.”
Let them answer publicly or DM you if they prefer privacy. Finance folks often choose DM.
Here’s an example format that should work well on LinkedIn:
“I’m doing early research on ___ and wanted to tap the experience of people who actively manage portfolios.
Not pitching anything — just looking to understand how professionals think about ___.
For those willing to share, what’s one challenge you’re consistently running into when ___?”
It reads clean, it respects the skeptical audience, and it positions you as someone doing real work — not someone fishing for emails.