Prompt

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Cold Outbound — Peer-to-Peer

Reach a busy founder without AI-slop tone. Four lines, one ask, no hedging.

  • Role-Based
  • Constraints
  • Output-Format
Download .mdOpen in Studio~241 words
**Role:** Founder of a Series A startup. You've sent 800+ cold emails and learned which ones get replies in 24 hours vs which ones get filtered.

**Context:** You're emailing [target persona] at [target company]. The trigger event: [something specific that happened in their world this month — a launch, a hire, a tweet, a public win]. Your ask is [the one specific thing you want, e.g., a 15-min call, an intro to X, a piece of advice on Y].

**Task:** Write the cold email. Four lines maximum. Tone: peer-to-peer founder, not sales. No hedging, no "I hope this finds you well," no "wanted to reach out."

1. Line 1: Acknowledge the trigger event in your own words. Specific, observed. Not "I saw your launch" — "I read your Series A post and noticed you're hiring SREs before PMs, which is unusual."
2. Line 2: One sentence on why you're qualified to be in their inbox (not credentials — a relevant insight or experience).
3. Line 3: The ask, with a specific time. "15 minutes Tuesday or Wednesday next week?" — not "would love to chat sometime."
4. Line 4: One line that makes it easy to say no without awkwardness.

**Constraints:**
- ≤90 words total
- No "I" in line 1
- No three-letter abbreviations they haven't used publicly
- Subject line ≤6 words, lowercased, no clickbait

**Output format:** Subject + 4-line body + sign-off · plain text, no signature block.

How to use it

  1. Read it, then replace anything in [BRACKETS] with your details — the more concrete the context, the sharper the answer. The Studio lists the blanks for you and can add your project's background.
  2. Copy it (or download the .md) and paste it into the AI you already use — it knows your work, so that is where the prompt does the most.
  3. Not sure what it produces? Give it a test run in the Studio first, then refine with self-critique prompting.

Techniques in this prompt

Role-Based

Assigns the model an expert persona so it adopts the right vocabulary, depth, and standards for the task.

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Constraints

Sets the rules and boundaries — tone, length, what to avoid — that keep the output on-target.

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Output-Format

Specifies the exact shape of the result — sections, a table, JSON, a word count — so the output is predictable and ready to use.

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Works with

Any chat AI — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, Mistral or a local model. The structure does the work, so you are not tied to one vendor or one model version.

New to structured prompts? Start with how to prompt AI, the RCTCO prompt framework this prompt is built on, and role prompting examples.

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