Founder/CEO @ Gateway X: Bootstrapping a venture studio to $1B. Previously, Founder/CEO of Ampush (exited).
I just deleted 147 cold emails without reading them. Here’s what they all got wrong: Every morning, my inbox looks the same. A flood of pitches from people trying to sell me something. Most days, I just mass delete them. But this morning, I decided to actually read through them first. Within 5 minutes, I spotted a pattern. Everyone was making the exact same mistake. They were all trying to close the deal. ALL IN THE FIRST MESSAGE 🥵 Let me show you what I mean (with two small examples): APPROACH A: "The Wall of Text" Send 100 cold emails with full pitch, calendar link, and case studies. • 3 people open • 0 responses • 0 intros This looks exactly like the 147 emails I just deleted "Hi [Name], I noticed your company is scaling fast! We help companies like yours optimize their marketing stack through our proprietary AI technology. Our clients see 300% ROI within 90 days. Here's my Calendly link to book a 15-min chat: [LINK]. Looking forward to connecting! Best, [Name]" BORING!!! APPROACH B: "Micro Conversations" Same 100 prospects, broken down into micro-convo's. Email 1: "Do you know [mutual connection]?" • Send 100 • ~40 open • ~20 respond Email 2: "They mentioned you're scaling your marketing team. I'd love to connect about [specific thing]." • Send to 20 who responded • ~15 continue engaging Email 3: "Would you mind if they made an intro?" • Ask 15 engaged prospects • ~10 intros Final score: • Approach A: No intros • Approach B: 10 intros How to Apply These Lessons (Tactical Summary): 1. Focus on Micro-Conversations: Break your cold outreach into smaller, manageable steps. Build rapport before making any asks. 2. Personalize Everything: Reference mutual connections, specific company milestones, or shared interests in every message. 3. Play the Long Game: Aim for replies in the first message.. not conversions. If you’ve been struggling with cold outreach, you might just need a new approach. Give this one a try and lmk how it goes.
I think “sales culture” is to blame for this. I started a role with a company that had 2,000 people cold calling the same funnel of leads once or twice a month. Instead of an account manager who might try to grow or develop a relationship based on the needs of the potential customer, they opted for a series of strangers sticking to the same script that they could not deviate from. “We’ve tested everything and found THE pitch. It works. Don’t change it.” One person asked, “But what if they interrupt us?” “Just ignore them and keep talking.” “What if they jump to another part of the script.” “Stay on track and don’t deviate.” This actually happened. Don’t treat your “leads” like leads. Treat them like people. If this is how you treat your customer how do you treat your employees? They tried to cover it up with after work socials at the bar and foosball tables, but it was easy to see through. This is not sales. This is toxic sales culture. Focus on quality over quantity. Don’t just dial 5 more times, have 1 meaningful conversation. I’m tired of the sales blitz’s or praising the person with the most dials. How about the person who’s had the sales with the longest retention? That’s a metric I like!
I would recommend this: Stop the spam mentality. Don't even go on "conversations" in cold DMs because it is even more annoying for the other person to politely respond just to then get pitch-slapped. Stop burning bridges. Start building awareness and trust and liking instead. Broadly, and without asking for anything. Be the brand in peoples mind when they are going to shop and accept the concept of patience. Then mix a few "make it easy to buy" actions into your brand building. Give it time and reap rewards. Only go outbound if you have very specific things to tell or ask of a very specific person.
Haha, I love this Jesse Pujji. Unfortunately, most companies think "The Wall of Text" is how to harness AI for business growth. I am a big supporter of "Automate as much as you can", but it has to be done thoughtfully. Automation should enhance the human connection, not replace it. "Micro conversations" are on top of my list for social selling, because they leverage curiosity, build trust, and foster a genuine connection. Personalization is the key differentiator here. AI can be a great tool to gather insights, tailor messages, and streamline follow-ups, but only when combined with a strategic, human-first approach.
As always, doing things my--our--way, The Way of the Unicorn. The way that is true to us, the planet and all its people. Join Lotus & Michael and be part of the fashion future!
9moTo me, problem is that, out of 147 emails (or LI messages), something like 144 are full of s**t, exaggerating their achievements or their ability to help without an in-depth look at your business (which, if they looked and were honest, they might say something like "not sure"). Killer line for them, as you suggested is either "jump on a call" or "quick chat." Those that I have answered are told that research needs to be done, proposal made and delivered before any talking business is done. This suggestion either portends disappearance or, in a few cases, an irrelevant attempt. Worst is the 2 or 3 that have something to offer are buried with the rubble. The only beneficiary of this is LI because there are literally millions of chumps who will pay LI to send messages to people without qualifying themselves truthfully. In 2005 when I joined LI it was a sincere community with value to exchange-not anymore.. Worst is someone masquerading as young women and faking their position and connections with the obvious suggestive message. I have reported this to LI many times, but I guess they also are paying customers. As much as I love cute dogs, what the hell does that have to do with business?