After my founder profile was scraped by the main business databases, I started looking at outreach from the other side.
Every day I get 5–7 new inbound connection requests on LinkedIn and 2–3 new messages in my inbox. Email is even worse. Dozens of messages land across all my accounts every single day.
And usually, I can understand from the first line whether the person is relevant or not.
In 95% of cases, the conversation looks like this:
“Hi, happy to connect.”
“Hi Anton, I built / help businesses with this thing. What do you think?”
And this is exactly why many of your recipients do not even open your message.
The market has changed a lot.
Two or three years ago, cold outreach still felt like a blue ocean. Today, unfortunately, it is no longer the most effective way to grow a client base, at least not in the same direct-sales format.
At the same time, I still actively use LinkedIn and email as communication channels. In fact, I would say they are my main channels right now.
But not for completely cold audiences.
I use them for warmer contacts, where there is already interest, context, or some kind of previous agreement.
My top primary communication channels today are:
1. Offline Events
Events, especially offline ones, are now one of my strongest channels.
During networking sessions, I show people my LinkedIn QR code. They add me. I accept the connection.
Then, right after the conversation, I record a short voice note together with the person: what we discussed, the agenda, and the next steps.
This has massively improved my follow-up efficiency.
A few days later, I go through the agreements and continue the conversation. In these cases, I get a reply almost 100% of the time.
Why?
Because the message is no longer cold.
There is context. There is a real conversation behind it. There is a clear next step.
2. Warm Introductions
Warm intros, especially in the VC ecosystem, became a real discovery for me.
When you reach out completely cold, many people simply do not open up. Of course, there are exceptions, but the conversion is much harder.
But when there is already some initial interest and someone introduces you by email, it feels completely different.
A warm intro is still one of the most powerful business development tools.
Look for portfolio companies, shared clients, mutual connections, and people who can represent you inside their network.
Your network should not just be a list of contacts.
It should become your distribution layer.
3. Advertising With a Human Face
And finally, advertising.
Ads still bring me new connections, and quite a lot of them.
But I moved away from faceless ads.
For my niche — AI automation and business adaptation through AI — the only format that really works for me is a human format: short Reels, personal monologues, direct thoughts, and real explanations.
People do not want another abstract banner.
They want to understand who is behind the offer.
They want to hear your thinking.
They want to feel trust before the first message.
That is why personal content and paid distribution work so well together.
So, Is Outreach Still Useful?
Yes.
But not in the old way.
Cold outreach is no longer a magic sales channel where you can send thousands of messages and expect easy growth.
People are overloaded.
Founders, investors, executives, and marketers receive dozens of generic messages every week. Most of them sound the same. Most of them are ignored.
But LinkedIn and email are still extremely powerful when they are used as continuation channels.
Not as the first touch.
As the second, third, or fourth touch.
After an event.
After a warm intro.
After someone saw your content.
After there is already some context.
There are still several areas where outreach works actively, but in my opinion, it is no longer mainly about direct sales.
It is about partnerships, recruiting, investor relations, research, expert interviews, content distribution, and keeping warm relationships alive.
The channel is not dead.
The lazy version of the channel is dead.
And the companies that understand this shift will continue to win.
Anton Saburov
CEO and founder kone.vc
