YC's best advice for writing cold emails
1. Make it short - 60 seconds or less to read
2. Use three sentences - what you do, why it's exciting, what you want
3. Say what you do first - plain words, zero jargon
4. Lead with your best proof - launch, growth, market, technical team
5. Make the ask explicit - advice, investment, or an intro
6. Don't ask for a meeting - let them escalate
7. Skip the backstory - no resume, awards, or origin story
8. Don't flatter - skip the compliments and get to the point
9. Send from your company email - with your name in it
10. Write like you talk to a friend - read it out loud first
11. Find an uncommon commonality - a real reason it's them
12. Make it all about them - their problem, in their words
13. Give every email one goal - cut any word that doesn't serve it
14. Borrow credibility - YC, past employers, customer names
15. Keep the subject line casual - short and relevant, like a friend wrote it
16. Put the ask on it's own line - right before you sign off
17. Target better, not wider - 100 good-fit emails beat 1,000 random
18. Send them yourself - founders write by hand, no automation at first
19. Follow up 2-4 times - a few days apart
20. Don't get mad if ignored - check back in a few months