Scan their content for a genuine hook before reaching out.
SaferSkills independently audited cold-outreach-warmup-skills (Agent Skill) and scored it 100/100 (green). The audit ran 55 deterministic rules across Security, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Transparency, and Community; it found 0 high-severity and 0 lower-severity findings. The full rule-by-rule trace and per-finding evidence are below. Free, methodology-open.
Findings & checks · 0 flagged
Every scanned point with the score it earned and what moved between them.
First recorded scan — no prior version to compare against.
The primary manifest — the file an agent reads to learn what this artifact does.
Before sending that cold DM/email, scan their recent content for a genuine hook. Cold outreach feels fake because it IS fake without context.
Trigger: "Help me reach out to [person]" or before sending a cold message.
Cold outreach fails because it's:
The fix: Make it warm. Find something specific and genuine.
Scan their recent public content:
LinkedIn:
Twitter/X:
Other:
Look for:
The hook is a specific, genuine observation that proves you did your homework.
Bad hooks:
Good hooks:
Test: Would this sentence only work for THIS person? If you could send it to 10 people, it's not specific enough.
The Formula:
Example:
Your post about the messy middle of feature launches really hit home — I just shipped something similar at [Company] and the "20% done feels like 80% done" trap is real.
>
I'm exploring PM roles in fintech and noticed you've built teams at [Company]. I'd love to learn how you think about hiring for ambiguity tolerance.
>
Would you be open to a 15-minute call this week or next? I'm happy to work around your schedule.
Word count: Under 100 words. They're busy. Respect that.
Before sending, verify:
[Hook about their work/post]. I'm exploring [role type] roles and your path from [X] to [Y] is exactly what I'm trying to understand. Would you be open to a 15-minute chat about how you approached [specific thing]?
[Hook about their investment thesis/tweet]. I'm building [one-sentence pitch] and I think it aligns with your focus on [specific area]. Would you be open to a quick intro call? I know your time is limited — happy to start async if easier.
[Hook about their project/company]. I'm working on [your thing] and see a potential overlap with [their thing]. Would you be open to exploring whether there's something here? No pressure if not — just wanted to float the idea.
[Hook about their career/content]. I'm trying to learn more about [industry/role] and your perspective on [specific topic] would be really valuable. Would you be open to a 15-minute call? I'll come prepared with specific questions.
"I was recently featured in Forbes..." — They don't care. Lead with them, not you.
5 paragraphs of context — They won't read it. Keep it short.
"I love everything you've done!" — Sounds insincere because it is.
"I'd love to connect sometime." — Vague. What do you actually want?
"I know you're busy, but..." — Don't apologize for reaching out. Either it's worth their time or it isn't.
By end of session:
For drafting replies to messages, see [Draft the Hard Reply](https://github.com/mcltyl/draft-the-hard-reply-skills)
~30 seconds. Free. No account. Every finding cites a rule and a line of evidence.