Thread · 10 min read

How to get your first 10 customers with cold email

William Paul · Indie Hackers Free Beginner

A bootstrapped founder's step by step account of building a short list of exactly-fit prospects and personally emailing each one, with the reasoning for why he avoided blasting a big bought list. It's a grounded, unglamorous walkthrough that matches the scale most first-time founders are actually working at.

  • A personalized cold email to 20 well-chosen people outperforms a generic blast to thousands
  • Sourcing names from communities and forums where your prospect already hangs out beats a purchased database
  • Track replies, not just opens, to know if you're targeting the right people
Open on indiehackers.com ↗

It answers 3 questions

  1. Is cold outreach even worth it, or is it just spam that hurts my brand?
  2. How do I build a targeted list of the right people to cold email?
  3. What tools should I use to send and track cold outreach without spamming?

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