Most coffee chat requests fail for the same reason: they ask for too much, too vaguely. "Can I pick your brain about your career?" puts all the work on the other person. A good request is short, specific, and easy to say yes to.
Here is a simple structure.
Open with one honest line about why you’re reaching out to them specifically — a project they led, a path they took, a company they’re at. One sentence. Skip the flattery.
Say who you are in a line. Your program or current role, and what you’re exploring. Keep it factual.
Make a small, clear ask. Fifteen minutes, a video call, in the next couple of weeks. Naming the length signals you respect their time, and a smaller ask gets more yeses than "an hour to learn everything."
Make it effortless to accept. Offer two or three time windows, or better, share a booking link so they can pick a slot in one click without the back-and-forth.
A version that works:
Hi Sam — I saw you moved from banking into corporate strategy at Acme, which is exactly the move I’m trying to understand. I’m a first-year MBA exploring strategy roles. Would you be open to a 15-minute call in the next two weeks? Here’s my calendar if it’s easier: [link]. Either way, thanks for the work you shared on X.
A few things that quietly raise your hit rate: send it from a real, complete profile; follow up once (politely) after a week if you hear nothing; and never open with "I know you’re busy, but…" — it plants the objection for them.
The goal of the message isn’t to impress. It’s to make saying yes the path of least resistance.