I'm not a founder, but I am a builder and in the growth domain. So I can provide a different view for this.

1. Outbound in general is a hard space in 2026. Folks generally have a predisposition to auto-delete or be sensitive to 'wasting time' with cold outreach with the idea that they will most likely be sold to at some point.

2. Your best case scenario here is to offer free access to beta and then talk to every user you possibly can after that. Because at this point you have 1) ensured the person you are going to talk to has a use for your product and 2) offered them value before asking for something.

TL;DR

Offering value before asking for something is the key. This is true in almost every area.

The shift that worked for me: stop thinking of it as "outreach" and start thinking of it as "giving something useful before asking anything." I was stuck in the same loop — felt like every cold email was a disguised pitch. What changed was leading with a free, specific analysis of the person's situation. Not a generic "I'd love to chat about your challenges" but "I looked at [specific thing about their business] and here's what I found." No ask attached. Two things happened: response rates went way up (people respond when you've clearly done homework), and the conversations stopped feeling transactional — because they weren't. Even if they never became customers, they gave me data and perspective I couldn't get any other way. The signal I use to know I'm doing it right: if the person gets value from the interaction even if they never buy anything, it's not intrusive.