Outbound Strength > Outbound Tactics

I keep getting asked: how can I stand out in outbound? 

The answer most people want is a copy-paste tactic, a trending GTM hack they can deploy immediately. Right now, people are going cookoo for Clawdbot (buyer beware of the vulnerability risks).

The answer that actually works is leaning into your unique strengths.

This week, Amol Avasere, lead growth PM at Anthropic, went viral for his “personalized” note (likely written using Claude CoWork) requesting feedback on Claude Cowork. This isn’t a knock of Amol - it worked because it was authentic to him and his unique expertise using the tool. PMs will copy this “standout tactic” and very quickly it will turn into noise.

My response: stop copying the herd, do some self-reflection, and lean into what you’re uniquely good at (like Amol leaning into his Day 0 expertise of Claude Cowork).  Other than that, max out the slightly less saturated channels.  

Below I’m sharing 6 stories that exemplify this approach.  Do NOT copy these (except #6).  Instead, understand why they worked when they worked and use them as inspiration to spark your own ideas.  

Last week I shared how Mastra hacked developer mindshare through distributing 1,000,000 physical books.  This strategy aligned with the founder’s strengths.  Sam Bhagwat, CEO & Co-Founder, loves writing (he wrote for the Stanford Daily in college) and knows a lot about publishing.  

Why it Worked: Strategically, this mirrors what Clay did - turning the market into the distribution engine, but through a different medium. In a time of AI slop, Sam & the Mastra team went physical. Their target ICP genuinely loves the book and regularly repost to their networks (see image below - there are 1000s of these posts).   

The interview with Sam triggered a memory from my first year in tech sales at Branch (2020).  I knew nothing about outbound, SaaS, or GTM, yet quickly emerged as the top outbound rep.  

I did, however, know finance from working at JPMorgan previously. So, I spent hours digging through data, building financial models, and sending executives custom ROI analyses.  This wasn’t, “I saw your earnings…blah blah,” but rather “here’s how our technology impacts your margin” backed by hard numbers.

The bigger breakthrough came when I leaned into another strength: interviewing people.  I convinced our co-founder to let me take over the company podcast and interview executives directly.  This opened executive relationships, pipeline, and President’s Club.  

Why it Worked: I leaned into two personal strengths with a beginner’s mindset. In 2020, podcasts and custom ROI modeling weren’t yet overplayed.

Last week, Factory partnered with Sequoia to create (e.g., make up for outbounding purposes) the “Agent Native 40” list, published it, and tagged their key target prospects.  

Why it Worked: I don’t work at Factory, but my hunch the tactic taps into something many emerging AI leaders care about - social status. The post generated reposts from leaders who were honored. Factory mitigated downside risk by co-marketing with a credible partner. 

I genuinely enjoy being a detective - finding disparate pieces of information and connecting the dots.  Enterprise sales is about timing and internal priorities.  

At Windsurf, I’d create a minimum viable org chart (MVOC) and speak with mid-level engineering leaders asking questions like: in {Executive Name’s} last town hall, how did leadership talk about X?” 

Here’s an example of using that information to get the President to introduce us to the CTO and kick off an evaluation:  

Why it Worked: Timing - we knew exactly what was top of mind for this executive, demonstrated we had done our homework, and brought in a founder’s voice to counter existing bias toward competitive solutions.   

At a single conference in 2025, I booked 25+ meetings by DM’ing attendees through the conference app, rather than bombarding the speakers listed on the public website.  The message was short, direct, and human.  Several meetings turned into deals; others produced intel I reused in future outbounds.  

Why it Worked: Conference speakers are publicly listed and get bombarded. Attendees are in the “meet people” mindset and are more open to discovering tools that can advance them in their careers. The in-app DM also reduces the gut “who’s this random person” emotional reaction.

Hate it or love it, sometimes it really is that simple.  Harry Stebbings took 53 tries over a year to get Marc Benioff on his 20VC podcast.  Things change and for Benioff, the impetus was a speaking tour to push AI and Agentforce

At Windsurf, one account’s CTO dismissed us in December saying “we already have a strong relationship with GitHub Copilot.”  Three months later, when I took over the account, I learned they bought Cursor licenses for all their devs and it was a deal we would’ve been well positioned to win.  Missed opportunity.  

Why it Worked: Things change faster than ever with AI and Harry remained top of mind.

Too many people (myself included) try to copy GTM blogs. By the time something is published, the play is often already overused (or close to it). It’s like trading stocks based on news in the New York Times.  

Reminder, do not copy & paste these ideas.   Let them inspire you to reflect on your strengths and bring that creativity to your outbounding.

Cheers,

Julian @ GTMBA

Note: Opinions and commentary in this article are solely mine and do not represent the views of Cognition in any way.