How to Write a Cold Email That Gets a Reply

Specificity and brevity are what separate a reply from silence.

1. Personalize the opening line with something genuinely specific to the recipient, not a templated compliment.
2. State your ask clearly in the first two sentences — don't bury it.
3. Keep the whole email under 150 words; cold emails compete hard for attention.
4. End with a low-friction next step ("Worth a 15-minute call?") rather than an open-ended ask.

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