The "Spear"
Cold Email.
The Executive Summary
"If you are sending 500-word essays, you are spam. If you are sending 50-word questions, you are a peer. The Spear targets a 15-30% Reply Rate by respecting the executive's time (Mobile-First)."
- Mobile First: No scrolling allowed.
- 3-Sentences: Strict brevity constraint.
- Soft CTA: Ask for interest, not time.
2. The Economic Reality (Math)
Most founders aim for quantity. The Spear aims for conversion.
| Metric | Standard (Spam) | Spear Protocol |
|---|---|---|
| Open Rate | 20% (Reputation Burn) | 60% (Burner Inboxes) |
| Reply Rate | 1% (Annoyance) | 15% (Engagement) |
| Result (1k sent) | 2 Replies (0 Meetings) | 90 Replies (21 Meetings) |
3. The Infrastructure (Prerequisites)
If your email lands in Spam, the copy doesn't matter. Build the rails first.
Step 1: Burner Domains
Never send from your main domain. Buy secondary domains (e.g. @getexeluma.com). Protect your primary SEO and invoices.
Step 2: DNS Trinity
SPF: "I am allowed."
DKIM: "I am unhacked."
DMARC: "Quarantine fakes."
Google blocks you without these.
Step 3: Warm Up
Do not blast Day 1. Use automated warm-up tools (Instantly.ai).
W1: 10/day. W2: 20/day.
Max: 50/day per inbox.
4. The Algorithm (Writing The Spear)
Component A: The Subject (Gatekeeper)
Mimic an internal memo. Lowercase. Boring.
Component B: The Hook (Icebreaker)
First sentence must be about THEM.
"Saw you just hired a new VP of Sales—congrats on the Series A." (Specific).
Component D: The CTA (Soft Ask)
Never ask for a meeting (Marriage). Ask for interest (Date).
5. The Templates (Copy/Paste)
Hi [Name],
Noticed you're using [Competitor] for your analytics.
Most users we talk to love their UI but hate that it crashes with over 50k rows. We built [My Tool] to handle heavy data loads without lag.
Worth a chat if you're hitting those limits?
Best,
[Name]
Hi [Name],
I ran a search and found 50 e-commerce CEOs in [City] that match your ICP perfectly.
I put them in a spreadsheet. Happy to send it over so your team can hit them this week.
Want me to send the file?
Best,
[Name]
6. The "Spam" Physics
How to land in Junk
- HTML Heavy: Images/Logos > Text = "Newsletter" (Promo Tab). Fix: Plain Text Only.
- Links First: Links in first email trigger filters. Fix: Ask permission to send link.
- Trigger Words: "Free", "Guarantee", "$", "Click here".
8. The Connection
Generate Your Spear.
The Exeluma "Spear Generator" uses AI to scrape your prospect's LinkedIn and write the personalized hook for you.