
- The subject line references something (1) specific that is (2) relevant to the recipient (Jason). This subject line uses the name of another startup (Remotehour) that had recently been accepted into demo day and would thus be recognizable to Jason Calacanis. Crucially, the subject line is actually relevant to what Stan writes in the first sentence of the email. This same subject line would fall flat if the email had nothing to do with Remotehour.
- The intent of the email is communicated in the first sentence. You generally don’t want to bury the lede in your cold emails. Letting the recipient know why you’re emailing, right off the bat, sets up helpful framing for the rest of the email.
- Stan’s description of his product is one simple, clean, understandable sentence. It’s easy to get bogged down by describing every little nuance of your product—which is a quick way to kill your cold email. Say what your product is in the simplest way possible. The recipient should know exactly what your product does right away. No extra friction. A heuristic: if you have to use more than one sentence, you are probably saying too much.
- The email uses specific numbers for credibility. Writing “0-$55k in 3 months” is much better than writing “our ARR has grown fast”. It’s also helpful that Stan included a piece of credibility (the Pioneer.app tournament win) that Jason could, if he wanted to, independently verify. If you were selling a B2B SaaS product, for example, it would be better to say, “Company A added $10k to their MRR in their first week” than to say “many companies, like Company A, have seen value”.
- Personal, relevant, specific opener that states your intent.
- One-liner explaining who you are/what you do/what your product is.
- Context and credibility explaining why you’re worth responding to.
- [Optional] CTA or next steps.