The Definitive Guide to Cold Outreach (with ChatGPT Prompts & Founder-Friendly Templates)
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The Definitive Guide to Cold Outreach (with ChatGPT Prompts & Founder-Friendly Templates)

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TL;DR

  • Cold outreach is the backbone of sales, fundraising, and partnerships—but most founders get it wrong.
  • Personalization, brevity, and relevance matter more than ever.
  • ChatGPT can accelerate your outreach: writing, researching, and refining messages in minutes.
  • Copy/paste our proven prompts to generate custom cold emails, DMs, and LinkedIn notes.
  • Bonus: Tools to automate and track your outreach.

Why Cold Outreach Still Matters (and Why Most Founders Struggle)

If you’re a founder, you will need to reach out cold—whether it’s to investors, potential customers, partners, or hires. No matter how “networked” you are, warm intros inevitably run dry.

But most cold outreach fails. Why? Because it’s generic, overly long, or clearly mass-blasted. Recipients can smell a template a mile away.

Here’s the good news: The bar for quality is low. With a little personalization—and the right tools—you can break through far more often.

Enter ChatGPT: your secret weapon for cold outreach that actually gets responses.

The Cold Outreach Crash Course (With Proven Prompts & Templates)

1. Nail Your Research in Minutes

Don’t open with “Hi [Name], I hope this finds you well.” Instead, reference something relevant. ChatGPT can scan a LinkedIn profile, recent tweets, or company news, and help you connect the dots.

Prompt:

Here's a LinkedIn profile summary: [paste summary].  
Generate 3 personalized icebreakers I could use for cold outreach to this person—make it specific, relevant, and not generic.

2. Draft a High-Response Cold Email in 30 Seconds

Why it works: Short, clear, and focused on them—not you.

Prompt:

Write a concise cold email to [job title/company].  
My goal: [e.g., schedule a call to discuss their hiring needs].  
Include a specific reference to their recent [project/blog post/news].  
Limit to 100 words.  
Tone: friendly, direct, not salesy.

3. Turn Rejections into Opportunities

Every “no” is a chance to keep the door open.

Prompt:

Reply to this rejection email: [paste email].  
Craft a short, gracious response that keeps the conversation open for future opportunities, and ask if they can suggest anyone else I should connect with.

4. LinkedIn DM That Doesn’t Scream “Spam”

LinkedIn messages should be even shorter and more direct.

Prompt:

Write a LinkedIn DM introducing myself as a founder at [company], referencing [something specific about their profile].  
Goal: a 15-minute call about [topic].  
Tone: human, not pushy.

5. Follow-Up Without Being Annoying

The fortune is in the follow-up—but don’t nag.

Prompt:

Draft a polite follow-up email to someone who hasn't responded to my first cold email.  
Remind them of my original ask [paste original ask], and offer a specific new time to connect.
Keep it under 60 words.

6. Warm Up a Cold Lead (with Value)

Share something useful up front—an article, insight, or intro.

Prompt:

Suggest 3 value-add ideas I can share with [lead's name/company] in my cold outreach, based on their website: [paste URL].

Bonus: Tools That Make Cold Outreach (Almost) Easy

  • Hunter.io – Find verified emails.
  • Apollo.io – Build lists, automate sequences, track results.
  • Lemlist – Personalize and scale multi-channel outreach.
  • ChatGPT – Draft, refine, and personalize all your messaging.

Pro tip: Use ChatGPT to A/B test subject lines and opening lines—ask it to generate 5 variants, then pick the most compelling.

Want More High-Impact Prompts & Playbooks?

If you found this useful, join Promptica’s email list for weekly deep dives, real case studies, and exclusive AI prompts for founders. Your next investor, customer, or hire is one cold email away—let’s help you get the reply.

Copy, paste, and start winning with your outreach.