Essay · 10 min read

How to Get Replies from Your Dream Customers

Justin Welsh Free Beginner

Welsh shows the exact two-step process he used to build a million-dollar pipeline from cold DMs: find people already talking about your problem, then send a short message that offers something before it asks for anything. It is a working template, not a theory of outreach, and it maps directly onto our answer's point about a tiny ask.

  • Find prospects who are already discussing your problem instead of guessing who might care
  • Lead with value or a genuine compliment before you ever mention what you sell
  • Give the reader an easy, low-effort way to respond, not a big commitment

The question it answers

  1. How do I write cold emails and LinkedIn messages that founders actually get replies to?

Read with it

  1. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  2. A tactical follow-on covering the channels and motions top B2B startups scale after the first ten. Grounds distribution... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~15 min read How to win your first 10 B2B customers Lenny Rachitsky
  3. The authoritative handbook on founder-led sales, written for technical/first-time sellers building B2B SaaS. Readable free... foundingsales.com Book · book (~400 pages) Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook Peter Kazanjy
  4. Video · About 25 minutes How to Get Your First Customers (Startup School) Gustaf Alstromer
  5. Jen Abel has coached over 300 early-stage founders through their first sales, so this is grounded in what actually happens when... Lenny's Podcast Podcast · About 1 hour 16 minutes The ultimate guide to founder-led sales | Jen Abel (JJELLYFISH) Lenny Rachitsky with Jen Abel
  6. This is the canonical structure for the investor cold email, written by a YC partner who reads them from the other side. It is... Y Combinator Startup Library Essay · 5 min read How to Cold Email Investors Aaron Harris
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