The lead gen problem isn’t copy. It’s starting from the wrong audience.
I kept optimizing cold outreach.
Better copy
Better subject lines
Better personalization
Replies barely moved.
What changed things wasn’t the message.
It was the starting pool.
Most outreach starts from:
scraped ICP lists
Apollo filters
job titles
company size
But those people might not even care yet.
When I started reaching out to people already engaging with similar tools, the dynamic changed:
less explanation needed
faster replies
shorter sales cycles
Same message.
Different audience temperature.
Feels like most outbound problems are really audience problems.
Curious how are people here deciding who goes into the first list?
Yeah, it really is a challenge to find those specific pockets of engaged users instead of just relying on broad lists. I happen to know a couple of founders who've figured out systematic ways to do this, happy to put you in touch for a quick free chat if that's helpful.
This comment was deleted 4 months ago
This comment was deleted 4 months ago
You nailed it—audience temperature is everything. Scraped lists are cold, but reaching out to people already talking about their problems is a game-changer.
Since you've mastered the 'right audience' strategy, you should test it in the Validation Arena (tokyolore.com).
It’s a 30-day sprint where founders compete to see who can get the most real traction. The prize pool just opened at $0 right now, so it's the perfect time to start.
The winner wins a trip to Tokyo! 🏆
yeah exactly when people are already talking about the problem, the conversation starts at a completely different level. it feels less like convincing and more like continuing something they’re already thinking about. the tricky part is systematically finding those pockets instead of relying on manual discovery.
Exactly — once someone is already problem-aware, it’s just about continuing the thread, not convincing.
Systematically finding those pockets is the real challenge. We’re actually working on something around this — identifying high-intent ideas and signals early — happy to share if that’s useful!