Cold Email (Founder-Led Sales)

Subject: [FirstName], quick question on [specific trigger]

Hi [FirstName],

[One specific observation about their company or role — something that proves you actually looked. 1-2 sentences max. Examples:
- "Saw you just launched [thing]; impressive turnaround given [context]."
- "Noticed your team posted [job role] last week."
- "Read your blog post on [topic] — the bit about [specific point] stuck with me."]

[One open question about their world. NOT about your product. Examples:
- "How are you handling [related problem] in the new flow?"
- "What's the bottleneck right now on [their stated goal]?"
- "Are you running into [common ICP pain] yet, or is that not a problem at your scale?"]

[Signature]
[Name]
[Title]
[Brief credibility — one phrase, no link]

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## What to A/B test
- Subject line length: 3 words vs 8 words
- Observation type: specific data point vs commentary on something they published
- Question type: open ("how are you handling…") vs specific ("what tool are you using for…")
- Send time: Tuesday 7am vs Thursday 3pm (their timezone)

## What to NEVER do in a first cold email
- Pitch your product. Not once. Not even one sentence.
- "Hope you're well" — wastes a sentence, signals AI.
- "I'd love to schedule a 15-minute call to learn more about your business" — boring, generic, low-reply.
- Lengthy paragraphs about your company. They didn't ask.