Article · 20 min read

Steli Efti's Ultimate Startup Guide To Outbound Sales

Steli Efti · startupsalesguide.com Free Intermediate

Steli Efti built Close after running outsourced sales for over 200 venture backed startups, so this guide is written by someone who has sent an enormous number of cold emails himself. It covers the exact questions your first line needs to answer, who you are, what you want, and why you picked this person, in plain, practical language.

  • Your opening lines must answer who, what, and why you specifically
  • End every cold email with a single, clear call to action
  • Persistence in following up matters more than most founders expect
Open on startupsalesguide.com ↗

It answers 2 questions

  1. What tools should I use to send and track cold outreach without spamming?
  2. How do I cold email my first ten customers when I have no logos, no traction, and no case studies?

Read with it

  1. A YC partner turns 'talk to users' into a repeatable 5-question interview script you can use this afternoon. It's The Mom Test... YC Startup Library Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky (YC / founder of Pebble)
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. An Indian founder story where the early demand test was manual, cold emails and direct outreach to find the first customers... Prime Venture Partners Podcast Podcast · ~50 min How Khadim Batti Built Whatfix Into a Global SaaS Leader Prime Venture Partners
  5. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  6. The most-quoted primary source on why founders should launch fast and iterate, short, canonical, and from the co-founder of YC.... paulgraham.com Article · ~8 min read Startups in 13 Sentences Paul Graham
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →