Find founders at the right stage
- Just launched: Product Hunt shows new launches daily.
- Growing with revenue: TrustMRR shows verified MRR and growth.
Both give you founder names, emails and social handles in Prospect Cheap.
Match the offer to the stage
| Stage | They need |
|---|---|
| Pre-revenue / launch | users, feedback, landing-page help |
| $1K–$10K MRR | time back: support, content, design |
| $10K–$100K MRR | growth channels, first hires, tooling |
| For sale | buyers, brokers, due-diligence help |
What makes founders reply
- Specifics: mention their product, a feature, a number.
- Low effort to answer: a yes/no question.
- Proof: one result for a similar company.
- No fluff: founders delete long intros.
Channels
Email first; X is often where founders are most responsive. LinkedIn for B2B services and hiring.
Don't
- pretend you used the product if you didn't
- send attachments or calendar links in the first message
- follow up more than two or three times
Example subject lines
- "Notely after launch"
- "Quick idea for Formly at $8K MRR"
- "Comparison pages for Taskbird?"
Short, specific and lowercase-friendly — they look like a note from a person, not a campaign.
Proof that works with founders
- a before/after metric for a similar product
- a short teardown of their onboarding or landing page
- a free, useful asset (a checklist, a template) with no strings
Keep a founder CRM
Founders move fast: a "not now" today can be a "yes" in three months after a funding round or a growth spurt. Note the stage and revisit; TrustMRR growth data tells you when.