300+ cold emails later… we got our first sponsor ($150)
I didn’t expect this to happen this early.
After sending 300+ cold emails, getting ignored, ghosted, and honestly questioning if this idea even made sense…
Apives just got its first sponsor. $150.
It’s not a huge amount. But that’s not the point.
The point is someone believed enough to pay.
No investors.
No network.
Just persistence, late nights, and a lot of “seen but no reply”.
There were moments I thought:
“Is this just another directory idea that won’t work?”
But then one yes changed everything.
Now it feels real.
Apives is still small. Still rough. Still figuring things out.
But this was the first signal that it’s not just in my head anymore.
If you’re building something and it feels like nothing is working, keep going a little longer.
Sometimes it’s just one yes away.
Hey, thanks for sharing this. Congrats on that first sponsor!
I’m currently considering trying cold emails to promote my project, but honestly I’m not sure where to start.
Would you mind sharing a bit more about your process?
Appreciate it 🙏. Took ~4–5 days to send those 300 (spread out).
Mostly found contacts via LinkedIn + company sites.
Used a base template but personalized first line + context for each that made the difference.
First is the hardest, but it's also hard to keep up the grinding mentality when the first money comes in. Big respect, keep it up!
Yeah, that’s real.
Trying to stay in “build mode” and not get comfortable too early. Appreciate it 🙏
That first yes hits different.
Doesn’t matter if it’s $150 or $1500 — it just makes everything feel real after all the ignored emails.
Respect for pushing through 300+ to get there.
Exactly! it’s less about the amount, more about “this actually works.”
That first yes changes everything.
300 emails to $150 means the conversion rate isn't the problem, the targeting is.
Most first-run cold campaigns have 2-3 buried wins that look like noise until you pattern-match the subject lines and company type. The signal is always in the reply rate by segment, not the overall rate.
What was different about the one that said yes?
That’s a great point 👀
The one that converted was super aligned smaller dev tool company, clear API use case, and the email was very direct. Definitely more about fit than volume.
That first paid yes after 300 cold ignores is a different kind of validation than any user signup or waitlist number. The act of someone pulling out a credit card or writing a check collapses a lot of self-doubt really fast.
Curious what your email approach evolved to by email 250 vs email 50. We did a similar cold outreach push early on at Coop (txtcoop.com, shared iMessage for small teams, full disclosure) and the biggest unlock was narrowing the problem statement in the subject line from broad to almost uncomfortably specific. Did you see a pattern in which 1 out of 300 actually replied?
Yeah, noticed a shift.
Earlier emails were broader later ones got way more specific (problem + use case).
Replies mostly came when it felt super relevant, not generic.
$150 after 300 cold emails. that's not the money, that's the oh this is real switch flipping in your head. congrats man.
the 300 ghosts part is what people don't talk about. network folks don't cold email 300 times, they drop 3 slack dms and get their first $150 same day. you did the harder version.
putting together unsponsored.io for builders going the harder route. rooting for apives either way.
Haha yeah, this was definitely the long route 😅
But learned a lot from it. Appreciate you rooting for Apives 🙌
Great Achievement buddy, keep it up 💯
Thanks man 🙏 means a lot
300 emails for $150 sounds brutal on paper but this is the right way to read it: you proved someone will pay. That's the actual milestone. Most people quit before getting there.
What did the email that converted look like vs. the ones that got ignored? Subject line, personalization, the ask — curious if you spotted a pattern in what finally worked.
Congratulations Keep Building.
Sending 300+ cold emails and getting $150 back can feel brutal, but there’s another way to look at it.
You didn’t just test an offer, you tested reality. You now know how strangers react when they have no reason to be polite, no obligation to reply, and dozens of other things competing for attention. That kind of feedback is raw, but it’s incredibly valuable.
A lot of people spend months theorising, tweaking logos, rebuilding websites, and telling themselves they’re “working.” You actually put something in front of the market. That’s a different level of progress IMO.
Even silence teaches something: maybe the problem doesn’t feel urgent enough, maybe the message is too vague, maybe the audience is wrong, maybe the timing is off, maybe the ask is too big for a first touch. Those lessons are hard to get any other way.
I’m in a similar place trying to speak with founders, so I genuinely relate. It’s frustrating when effort doesn’t convert quickly. But the person who keeps learning from each attempt is in a much better position than the person who never tested anything at all.
Now the question becomes how can you get the second third forth and so. Is the experiment you ran just now going to work and help you get more or you'll have to figure more ways out.
Its genuinely hard to break that first win. Im still yet to hit that first one, so i know the pain. Good luck on your adventure !