A warm introduction between business contacts can backfire if you don't clarify who owns the relationship and what each party is responsible for. Without formal terms, good intentions aren't enough to protect you from losses.
Owners get burned when an introduction goes out before the commercial structure is written down. In plain English, a warm introduction can still leave a cold commercial question behind. The people may be aligned. The intent may be good. The language may sound completely reasonable. But a social agreement is not the same thing as commercial infrastructure. The introduction may feel small, but the owner is asking it to carry real commercial weight. The moment an owner routes a relationship, the owner has spent access, context, and reputation. The first question is simple: Who owns the relationship after the intro? If the answer is unclear, the introduction creates motion without creating ownership. The second question is what each party is responsible for.
