How do you land customers with zero network

Question

I'm an electrical engineer by day starting a company to help EEs find a company they love working at. Starting this company involves interviewing hardware companies, however I don't have a huge network of founders or influential people I know in the hardware community. Unfortunately, cold emails seem like a dead end and cold calls seem too invasive. Does anyone have advice on the most effective way to reach out to hiring managers, engineering managers, or founders?

smacktoward · Accepted Answer

One idea: develop some useful information product (a report, an ebook, a newsletter, etc.) that would be relevant and useful to the folks you're interested in, then give that product away for free online in exchange for an email address. Then treat the incoming email addresses as leads -- follow up with them individually, don't just dump them into a mailing list and blast spam out to them.

PaulHoule · Answer

I am a super-introvert but I love making cold calls.
However, when I make a "cold" call I have done some research on who I am talking to, that I know that they will care, and that I have something to say that they've never heard before.
Same with email. If you look at somebody's LinkedIn profile or at the information they post about the company, show a real interest in what they do, and ask relevant questions, then you can get a 50% or so response rate for emails.