cold-email

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Draft high-response-rate cold emails to influential people using the 4-principle framework (competency, ask, transparency, effort). Use when the user wants to write a cold email, outreach email, pitch email, networking email, or reach out to someone important — investors, CEOs, founders, hiring managers, podcast hosts, potential collaborators, or anyone they don't know personally. Also use when the user mentions "cold email," "outreach," "reach out to," "pitch someone," "email a founder," "email an investor," or wants help contacting someone they admire or want to work with, even if they don't use the phrase "cold email.

Changelog: Source: GitHub https://github.com/leandroz/claude-plugins

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📄 SKILL.md 6.5 KB

SKILL.md

---
name: cold-email
description: Draft high-response-rate cold emails to influential people using the 4-principle framework (competency, ask, transparency, effort). Use when the user wants to write a cold email, outreach email, pitch email, networking email, or reach out to someone important — investors, CEOs, founders, hiring managers, podcast hosts, potential collaborators, or anyone they don't know personally. Also use when the user mentions "cold email," "outreach," "reach out to," "pitch someone," "email a founder," "email an investor," or wants help contacting someone they admire or want to work with, even if they don't use the phrase "cold email."
---

# Cold Email Drafting

You are helping the user draft a cold email that gets a response from someone important. This skill is based on a proven framework used to get responses from billionaires and influential people (CEOs of Uber, Groupon, Coursera, etc.).

## Core Philosophy

A cold email is a written invitation to explore a potential win-win — like trading Pokemon cards. If the recipient is excited by the trade, they'll respond. If not, they won't. No subject line trick, email length optimization, or warm intro can save a bad trade. Conversely, a great trade gets responses even with imperfect writing.

This means the trade itself is everything. Before touching the keyboard, spend 90% of your energy helping the user think through the trade.

## The Brevity Rule

The final email body (everything between "Hi [Name]," and the sign-off) must be **under 150 words**. This is not a soft suggestion — it is the single most important constraint on the output.

Why 150 words? Influential people scan emails in 15-30 seconds. Every word past the point where they "get it" reduces the chance of a reply. A tight email signals respect for their time and confidence in your trade. If you need more than 150 words to explain the trade, the trade isn't clear enough yet — go back and sharpen it.

In practice this means each of the 4 principles gets roughly 1-2 sentences, not its own paragraph. The principles should be woven together, not stacked as separate blocks.

## The Process

### Step 1: Understand the Trade

Ask the user (if they haven't already answered):

1. **Who are you emailing?** (Name, role, what they're known for)
2. **What do you want from them?** (Investment, job, collaboration, advice, etc.)
3. **What can you offer that would make it worthwhile for them to say yes?**

The third question is where most people get stuck — help them figure it out. The goal is to identify a genuine mutual win-win before writing a single word.

### Step 2: Research the Recipient

Help the user build intuition for what the recipient actually values:

- What projects are they currently working on?
- What causes/problems do they care about?
- Have they publicly stated what they need help with? (Many influential people post this on their websites, Twitter, blogs)

If the user doesn't have good answers, suggest they research before drafting. The email is not about persuasion — it's a test of whether you understand what the other person truly values.

### Step 3: Validate the Win-Win

Before drafting, state the trade clearly:

> **For you:** [what the user gets]
> **For them:** [what the recipient gets]

Ask: "Does this feel like a trade both sides would be excited about?" If shaky, strengthen the trade before proceeding.

### Step 4: Draft the Email

Draft using the 4 principles below. For every sentence ask: "Does this person need to know this to evaluate the trade?" If not, cut it.

The target structure is roughly:

```
[1-2 sentences: who you are + compressed credibility]
[2-3 sentences: the trade — what you want + what they get + why them specifically]
[1 sentence: transparent self-interest — why this matters to you personally]
[1 sentence: extra effort signal — reference something concrete you already did]
[1 sentence: low-friction ask — specific next step]
```

That's 6-8 sentences total. Resist the urge to expand any section.

#### Principle 1: Establish Competency (1-2 sentences)

Open by signaling credibility in as few words as possible. This is a compressed proof, not a resume.

Signals: well-known networks ("YC founder, formerly ML engineer at Uber"), hard achievements ("built X that serves 100K users"), influential connections ("[Person] suggested I reach out").

**Weak:** "Hi, I'm Joe."
**Strong:** "Hi, I'm Andy (YC founder, formerly ML engineer at Uber ATG)."

#### Principle 2: Make the Ask (2-3 sentences)

Clearly state what you want and why it's valuable to them. Connect your ask to something they're actively working on. Be concrete: "20 minutes to walk you through our prototype data" not "I'd love to chat sometime."

#### Principle 3: Be Transparent with Self-Interest (1 sentence)

In a single sentence, state honestly why you want this and how it fits your trajectory. This signals trustworthiness and motivation. Don't hide your intentions — and don't pretend it's purely altruistic.

**Example:** "To be direct: having [them] as a partner would give me [specific thing] and accelerate [specific ambition]."

#### Principle 4: Show Extra Effort (1 sentence)

In one line, reference something concrete you already created — a technical brief, a blog post, a prototype, a detailed proposal. Say you have it ready and offer to share it. This must be work already done, not a hypothetical offer.

**Example:** "I put together a technical brief comparing our approach to [competitors] — happy to send it over."

### Step 5: Review and Cut

After drafting, do a word count. If over 150 words, cut ruthlessly:

1. **Merge sentences** that cover similar ground
2. **Delete qualifiers** ("I believe", "I think", "roughly", "significantly")
3. **Kill pleasantries** ("I hope this finds you well", "I know you're busy", "Thanks for your time")
4. **Compress lists** — if you listed 4 episode ideas, cut to 2 with a note "I have a full outline"
5. **Remove meta-commentary** about the email itself

Check tone: confident but not arrogant. Write like an equal proposing a collaboration, not a fan asking for a favor. No flattery, no sycophancy.

Present the draft with a word count. Iterate until the user is happy.

## What NOT to Do

- Don't give each principle its own paragraph — weave them into a tight email
- Don't list more than 2-3 items — reference a document with the full list
- Don't open with flattery about the recipient or their work
- Don't close with "Thanks for considering this" or similar filler
- Don't hide your intentions — transparency builds trust
- Don't send when you can't articulate the win-win — go back to Step 1

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