Being part of the tech scene generally — and doing business development specifically — means that you meet a lot of people. You are also introduced to a lot of people, and introduce others to a lot of people. One thing I’ve noticed, though, is that some people (surprisingly) don’t respect the half-life of an introduction.

What exactly do I mean by “half-life”? Simply put, the longer you wait to act on an introduction, the cooler that introduction becomes. In the NYC tech scene, I’d estimate the half-life to be about 1.5 days. In other words, if someone introduces you to someone else over email, you’d better respond in less than 1.5 days. Otherwise, that introduction is going to become about half as useful. If you wait a full week, you’ve pretty much wasted the introduction altogether.

Further, if you don’t respect the half-life, you’re doing a disservice to the person who offered to make the introduction in the first place. That person stuck his or her neck out for you, and how you interact with his or her contact can reflect well or poorly on the introducer. Here’s a simple 2x2 matrix that reflects how I think about this:

“Got basics right” means you responded promptly, showed up on time, and used (mostly) proper grammar in your communication. “Was impressive” means exactly what it sounds like. Since you may not impress every single person you meet, and you may not always be on your game, the only proven way to avoid leaving a negative impression of yourself (and reflecting poorly on the introducer) is to get the basics right.

So, when someone makes an introduction, do yourself a favor and get something scheduled as quickly as possible.