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800+ Cold Emails Later: Here's What Actually Moves the Needle

Indie Hackers Free Intermediate

A solo founder's first-hand accounting of what actually moved the needle after hundreds of real sends, useful because it separates what worked from what wasted their time, not just what should theoretically work. Good for calibrating expectations before you judge your own results against a small sample.

• Referencing something specific about the recipient's company drove far higher replies than generic praise.
• A second follow-up rarely converts anyone who ignored the first email and the first follow-up.
• High open rates do not automatically translate into high reply rates, track both separately.