You don't need a $300 email list to start cold outreach. You need 50 companies that look like your best customers — and they're findable for free in a single afternoon.
The #1 excuse we hear from founders who "tried cold email": "I don't know who to email." The #2 excuse: "I don't have a list." Both are solvable in a few focused hours. Here's the exact process we use.
Step 1: Define the "lookalike" in one sentence
Before you search, you need a filter. Not a vague ICP ("SaaS companies") — a sentence that lets you say yes/no in five seconds:
B2B SaaS companies with 10-200 employees, founder-led sales, selling a tool to other businesses, headquartered in the US or Europe.
Write down 5 companies you already know fit this. They're your seed list and your compass for finding the other 45.
Step 2: Mine your own backyard (free)
- Your competitors' customers: Go to your 5 competitors' sites. Find their "customers" or "case studies" pages. Every logo there is a warm lead — they already pay for a tool like yours.
- Job boards: Search "hiring [role] at [company]" — a company posting for a Sales or Growth role is actively spending on growth tools.
- Recent funding / launch announcements: Companies that just raised or shipped something new have budget and a reason to buy.
Step 3: Use directories that are actually free
- BuiltWith / SimilarWeb (free tiers): Pick a competitor's domain, see what tools they use and who else uses them.
- Crunchbase (free tier): Filter by industry, location, funding round, employee count. Export a shortlist.
- G2 / Capterra (free): Browse the "alternatives" pages of your category. Every alternative listing is a company actively evaluating tools like yours — right now.
Step 4: Find the right person at each company
You don't email info@. You email a human. For each of your 50 companies:
- Who decides? For a $29-99/mo tool: the founder (most likely), or the head of sales/marketing if the company is bigger.
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Find their email with a free verifier or a quick search (
firstname@company.compatterns, or a free tier of a lookup tool). - Verify it before sending. Never send blind. A bounce rate above ~2% poisons your domain reputation.
Step 5: Score your list, send the top 20 first
Rank the 50 by "how obviously they'd say yes":
- They already use a tool like yours (10 pts)
- They're actively hiring for growth (5 pts)
- They just launched / raised (5 pts)
- You can reference something specific (10 pts)
Send the top 20 first — not the whole list. Quality of targeting, not volume, is what determines reply rate.
The free-stack checklist
- [x] 5 seed companies you already know
- [x] Competitors' customer logos mined (free)
- [x] 20-30 names from free directory tiers
- [x] Decision-maker identified per company
- [x] Emails verified, bounce risk < 2%
- [x] Score sorted, top 20 queued first
We build ColdCrow, an AI cold email writer that turns any prospect's profile into a personalized email with a deliverability score — free for the first three tries.
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