Cold email template · by role
Cold email template for a CTO
CTOs delete anything that reads as sales. What gets an answer is one concrete technical observation from their own pages, written by someone who plainly read them.
When to use it
- A job post, engineering blog or docs page shows their stack or a change in it.
- You sell a tool or service for engineering teams.
- The company is small enough that the CTO reads their own email.
The template
Copy it, then replace the brackets with what you read on their pages.
Subject: Your move to [the technology]
Hi {{first_name}},
[The page] says you [the technical fact, in their words].
In my experience the part of that which causes trouble is [the specific problem]. We [what you do about that one part].
I can send [a technical note or a link to docs]. If you would rather not, say so.
[your first name]Outlevo adds your sender name, postal address and a one-click unsubscribe link under every email it sends, so a template ends at the sign-off.
{{first_name}},{{company_name}}and{{job_title}}are filled for each contact.- Anything in [square brackets] is yours to write, from a page you read.
Why it works
- A technical fact in their words is proof of reading.
- It talks about one part of the problem, which engineers respect.
- It offers docs, not a call.
Filled in: an example
Illustrative. Basil Logistics API (basilapi.example) is an invented company, and so is Ines at Tracelog. The pages quoted do not exist. The email goes to its CTO.
| What the email says | Quote on the page | Page (illustrative) |
|---|---|---|
| your engineering blog says you moved to event-driven services | “We moved our order flow to event-driven services last quarter.” | basilapi.example/engineering |
Subject: Event-driven order flow at Basil
Hi {{first_name}},
Your engineering blog says you moved your order flow to event-driven services last quarter.
In my experience the part of that which causes trouble is tracing one order across services. We make a tracing tool for that one part.
I can send a technical note and a link to our docs. If you would rather not, say so.
InesVariants
Open-source repo
Subject: Your [repo] project
Hi {{first_name}},
I read the [repo] README: [the technical fact]. We [what you do that relates]. Docs: [link if allowed].
[your first name]Incident postmortem
Subject: Your postmortem on [date]
Hi {{first_name}},
Your postmortem says [the cause, in their words]. We work on [that part]. If it is useful, I can send how other teams handled it.
[your first name]When not to use it
When should I not use the to a cto template?
This template and its variants pass the check Outlevo runs on its own outbound emails: only known merge tags, no number without a source, no spam wording, at most one link, no fake “Re:” or “Fwd:”, and under a hundred and twenty words.
Related
Tech stack mention
A cold email template for a prospect whose job post or docs name a tool you integrate with: quote the line, talk integration, offer a small proof.
Hiring signal
A cold email template for when a prospect posts a role that signals a need: quote the posting, connect it to the problem, offer a small first step.
To a security leader
A cold email template for a CISO or security leader: plain text, a verifiable fact from a public page, no fear, one small document offered.
Cold email to CTOs and engineering leaders
The role and industry playbook behind this template.
Let Outlevo write each one from the prospect’s own pages
It reads your website, builds the ICP, researches each company and quotes the page behind every fact.