Responding to a rude investor e-mail

A while back, I asked folks how they handle rude e-mails from investors, which - not surprisingly - sparked a healthy debate on LinkedIn (For those of you who participated in this online discussion, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and point of view - turned out to be one of the best webinars/seminars I've attended/been to in years!).

As I have reflected* on that discussion, a couple of things come to mind. First and foremost, let me make clear that I don't believe "respond" equals "debate" - rather it simply means "acknowledge." For that matter, "respond" does not have to involve an ongoing e-mail chain. In fact, it shouldn't. I agree with the majority of folks who felt strongly that the best way to address was to invite the sender to discuss the issue on the phone. Among other things, it prevents you from having your e-mails become fodder for various social media channels. Finally, if nothing else, a response puts the human element back into the equation. For example, see this redacted response to the IRO who received the e-mail that sparked the debate:

"Thanks for the news….I like what you said….just having you there to correspond is so uplifting no matter what happens…I can tell you are a really warm and considerate person- rare in this dog eat dog world…"

Of course... there is a risk of getting voicemails like this that was received by an IRO at a different company:

"(name), you are in charge of investor relations.  Well, for someone in charge of investor relations, you definitely have no clue about how to handle investors.  Listen, I have the big d#ck here, so you're here to suck my d#ck, not the other way around. I’m not here to prove to this (slur) motherf#cker guy who I am. Okay? So, next time you put someone like this on the phone, I’ll cut his f#cking balls off and I hope you (inaudable) this sh#t." [NOTE: the aforementioned "(slur) motherf#cker guy" was the company's CEO]

So... let me revisit the question - what's the rudest e-mail you ever got from an investor and how did you respond?

* I know - kind of pompous sounding but I couldn't think of anything that worked better.

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