Cold outreach often feels like a numbers game, but for me, it’s all about quality. By automating my process with a simple workflow, I turned scrolling through Instagram into a personalized leads system, crafting intentional emails for people I genuinely admire. The result? Higher engagement, better connections, and work that feels truly enjoyable.

As a pre-seed, pre-revenue startup, we had to be resourceful, operating within a tight budget and relying on free tools whenever possible.

During fundraising season  researching and personalizing emails for each VC managing director took 15 minutes per person—adding up to a staggering 5 hours per day or 50 hours per week to hit the target of 200 cold emails. As I offer fractional services, this superseded my allotted hours for the month, which was unsustainable.

Managing my client’s schedule during a high-stakes fundraising period revealed two major challenges. Scheduling was chaotic, with endless back-and-forth emails, and decision-making often stalled because priorities weren’t addressed promptly. It became clear that we needed a better system to bring order to the chaos and keep projects moving forward.