Thread by @samdblond

1/ How to do outbound at your startup:

I talk to startups every day about using outbound to generate new opportunities. Almost 100% of them are doing it wrong.

2/ They purchase systems for contact information and email sequencing, write what they believe is a clever message about their company, and blast everyone in their target market. They’re surprised when reply rates are near 0%.

3/ Here’s what we did at @brexHQ and what you should do if you want outbound to work:

I joined Brex when we were in stealth - no website, no publicly available information on the business. Our only outbound while we were in stealth was to @ycombinator companies.

@brexHQ @ycombinator 4/ We started with Brex’s batch mates, then went back to prior batches. Almost every company in Brex’s batch signed up and dozens of companies from prior batches signed up due to outbound while we were in stealth.

@brexHQ @ycombinator 5/ Our first outbound campaign after we launched was the champagne campaign. We sent bottles of champagne and handwritten notes congratulating founders in our target market on their recent fundraise. 75% outbound to demo conversion, 75% demo to close.

https://twitter.com/samdblond/status/1612518983726424080

@brexHQ @ycombinator 6/ When we launched, we did a lot of brand campaigns. PR, billboards all over SF, events, podcasts and more. We focused our outbound efforts on companies who had likely heard of us through one of these channels.

https://twitter.com/samdblond/status/1620123634353451008

@brexHQ @ycombinator 7/ Only after Brex became a household name in our target market (tech startups) did we allow SDR’s and AE’s to reach out to anyone they wanted.

@brexHQ @ycombinator 8/ One more quick story - at EchoSign I closed Aetna. We did a joint press release on how much paper they were saving by using e-signature. I sent the press release to all the other major carriers and closed United, Cigna, several Blue’s and more.

@brexHQ @ycombinator 9/ Ok so now the takeaways:

1. Leverage your network when you first start doing outbound. Investors, former colleagues, friends - ask all of them for help. “Outbound” to your 1st and 2nd degree connections - not random people in your target market.

@brexHQ @ycombinator 10/ 2. Try things that don’t scale. Brex shouldn’t send a bottle of Veuve to every person we ever outbound to, but we can in the early days when each incremental customer makes a difference.

@brexHQ @ycombinator 11/ 3. Invest in brand and marketing and focus all outbound efforts where you have brand tailwinds. Brex bought every billboard in downtown SF, and we were deliberate about outbounding to companies headquartered in downtown SF.

@brexHQ @ycombinator 12/ 4. Leverage your existing customers, hopefully “raving fans,” to generate new ones.

@brexHQ @ycombinator 13/ 5. Lastly - do not blast people that have likely never heard of you or your company. The first thing they do is look at your web presence, and if you’re a random small startup the probability of them replying is near 0. This changes over time as you become a known brand.