4. Find companies worth contacting

Cold lists go stale the day they are built. The alternative is to describe the kind of company you sell to, then watch for the ones showing they need you right now. That is what this part sets up.

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Decide who you are looking for

Before you build anything, write down what separates a company worth selling to from one that is not — industry, size, location, the technology they run, the roles they employ. You will use it as the filter on everything below, so it is worth being specific.

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Understand signals

A signal is evidence that a company’s situation has changed in a way that matters to you. Leadey’s signal engine watches job boards: a company posting roles is telling you publicly what it is building, what it is short of, and where it is spending. A company that fits your criteria is worth contacting eventually. A company that fits and has just posted three roles you solve for is worth contacting this week — and the posting is your opening line. See Signals.

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Find the companies

Go to Search and switch to Companies. Describe the business you sell to — industry, headcount, revenue, the technologies they run, where they are. Then open Hiring signal, which is the part that makes this timely rather than a list: Open any company to see its technology stack, its buying intent, and the roles it currently has open — the newest of those is usually your opening line.

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Then the people at them

Select the companies you want and choose Find people at selected. Search takes their domains, switches to the People tab and filters to exactly those companies. Narrow by Seniority, Department or job title until you have the right roles. You can also start from the People side: the Hiring for filter finds people at companies advertising a given role in one step, without visiting Companies at all.

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Save it, and watch it

Save a search you will want again — saved searches are shared with your team, so a definition of “good fit” one person works out is one everybody gets. Turn on the watch on a saved search and Leadey re-runs it on a schedule and flags what is new since you last looked. That is the difference between a list you built once and a list that keeps arriving.

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One-off searches

Not every search needs watching. Run one, take what is useful, move on — the watch is there for the searches you want to keep hearing about.

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What you should have now

A saved search that matches the companies you want, and the people at them on screen.