Which cold call request do you think has a better chance?
A: “Hi John, I’m a founder starting a new venture in (a field that John doesn’t have interest in). I’d love to pick your brain and get some advice. Do you have any time available this week?”
B: “Hi John, I was chatting with Sue (John’s MBA classmate), and she suggested I reach out to you! We’re starting a new company in (an area John is indeed interested in). By the way I found your recent thesis blog post very helpful in shaping our GTM focus. I’d love to chat sometime in (ample heads up, e.g. in the next several weeks)”
A doesn’t consider John’s benefit at all (why does he have to do this? what does he gain from this interaction?), it’s only about you – therefore very selfish, disrespectful, and rude.
B is hard, because you have to put in the work. You need to do research and navigate your way in (common connections and interests). But this is considerate, and has much higher chance of leading to somewhere.
Problem is, way too many people still take the approach A..