Founder Connections Mining

The workflow

Play 10

Founder Connections Mining

1Export the founder's network

Settings, Data privacy, Download your data

Connections CSVOne-time pull

NameTitleCompanyConnected on

Warm data that sits in the founder's network and is almost never worked.

Pays off best from about 2,000 connections.

2Load into Clay, keep the date

One row per connectionDate kept

ConnectedOpener

In the last year or two→Assumes they know the founder

Years ago→Reintroduces the founder first

3Enrich, then check two things

Company

IndustryHeadcountFunding stageTech stack

With

ClayApollo

Person

Current roleSeniorityDecision-makerMobile

Email

BetterContactFindymail

Mobile

FullEnrich

Gate1

No open deal

Accounts already in the CRM are flagged, so the founder never cuts across a live deal.

× Open deal

Gate2

Still there, still relevant

Job-change check the week of outreach. Email re-verified on send day.

× Moved onFollow to new job

4Rank by fit, then route

Tier 1ICP and a decision-maker

Founder-led callNow

A one-time play, so the top tier gets real effort. The call names the connection.

Call

Nooks

Text

WhatsAppexisting contacts only

Tier 2Good fit, needs warming

Email and LinkedInAuto

Opens on the fact they are already connected.

Email

Smartlead

LinkedIn

HeyReach

Tier 3Partial fit

Light nurtureAuto

Email only, low priority.

Email

Smartlead

Warm pipeline from the founder's own network

The stackLinkedInClayHubSpotBounceBanApolloBetterContactFindymailFullEnrichNooksWhatsAppSmartleadHeyReach

Oriel · GTM plays library

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The diagram as text

1. 1

   Export the founder's network

   Settings, Data privacy, Download your data: Tool: LinkedIn.

   Connections CSV (one-time pull): Name, Title, Company and Connected on. Warm data that sits in the founder's network and is almost never worked..

   Pays off best from about 2,000 connections.

2. 2

   Load into Clay, keep the date

   One row per connection (date kept): Tool: Clay.

   Connected → Opener

   • In the last year or two → Assumes they know the founder
   • Years ago → Reintroduces the founder first
3. 3

   Enrich, then check two things

   Company: Industry, Headcount, Funding stage and Tech stack. With: Clay and Apollo.

   Person: Current role, Seniority, Decision-maker and Mobile. Email: BetterContact and Findymail. Mobile: FullEnrich.

   Gate 1: No open deal. Accounts already in the CRM are flagged, so the founder never cuts across a live deal. Rejected: Open deal. Tools: HubSpot.

   Gate 2: Still there, still relevant. Job-change check the week of outreach. Email re-verified on send day. Rejected: Moved on, Follow to new job. Tools: LinkedIn and BounceBan.

4. 4

   Rank by fit, then route

   Tier 1: ICP and a decision-maker

   Founder-led call (now): A one-time play, so the top tier gets real effort. The call names the connection. Call: Nooks. Text: WhatsApp and existing contacts only. Tool: Nooks.

   Tier 2: Good fit, needs warming

   Email and LinkedIn (auto): Opens on the fact they are already connected. Email: Smartlead. Linkedin: HeyReach. Tool: Smartlead.

   Tier 3: Partial fit

   Light nurture (auto): Email only, low priority. Email: Smartlead. Tool: Smartlead.

   Outcome: Warm pipeline from the founder's own network. Tools: HubSpot.

The stack: LinkedIn, Clay, HubSpot, BounceBan, Apollo, BetterContact, Findymail, FullEnrich, Nooks, WhatsApp, Smartlead and HeyReach.

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The play in six steps

1. 01

   Step 1: Export the founder's connections

   The warmest list a company owns is usually sitting in the founder's LinkedIn, and almost nobody works it on purpose.

   • In LinkedIn go to Settings, Data privacy, Download your data, and request the archive.
   • Take the Connections CSV: name, title, company, connected-on date.
   • It pays off best when the founder has 2,000 or more connections.
2. 02

   Step 2: Load into Clay and keep the date

   How long they have been connected decides the opener, so the date must survive the import.

   • One record per connection.
   • Keep the connected-on date on every row.
   • Recent connections can assume they know the founder. Older ones need the founder reintroduced first.
3. 03

   Step 3: Enrich the companies

   Most of a network is not a buyer. This step finds the connections sitting at companies you can actually sell to.

   • Add industry, headcount, funding stage and tech stack with Clay and Apollo.
   • Flag every company already in HubSpot, so the founder never cuts across an open deal a rep is running.
4. 04

   Step 4: Enrich the people, then check they are still there

   A connections export shows the title someone had when they last updated it. Years later, many have moved.

   • Pull current role, seniority and a decision-maker flag.
   • Find a verified email with BetterContact or Findymail, and a mobile with FullEnrich.
   • Run a job-change check on LinkedIn the week outreach starts. Someone who moved goes to their new company, not the old one.
   • Re-verify the email with BounceBan on send day.
5. 05

   Step 5: Score against the ICP

   Rank the network by fit, not by how well the founder happens to remember someone.

   • Tier 1: a strong ICP match and a decision-maker.
   • Tier 2: a good fit that needs a warm-up touch.
   • Tier 3: a partial fit, low priority.
6. 06

   Step 6: Route by tier

   This runs once per network, so the top tier deserves real effort and the founder's own voice.

   • Tier 1: a call through Nooks that names the existing connection.
   • Tier 1, phone: a WhatsApp from the founder only to people already in the founder's own phone. Never to a number found by enrichment alone.
   • Tier 2: email through Smartlead plus LinkedIn through HeyReach, opening on the fact they are already connected.
   • Tier 3: a light email nurture only.
   • Log every reply in HubSpot against the account.

Tools used

The twelve tools this play names. Each links to the other plays that use it.

LinkedInClayHubSpotBounceBanApolloBetterContactFindymailFullEnrichNooksWhatsAppSmartleadHeyReach

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Play 11

Closed-Lost Revival

1Pull closed-lost deals

Closed-lost dealsWhy they said no

Loss reasonClose dateChampionBlocker

Accounts that became customers since, or have another open deal, are left out.

From

HubSpotSalesforce

2Wait a window set by the loss reason

Lost becauseCheck again

Timing→Next quarter

Budget→Next budget cycle

Went with a competitor→Ahead of their renewal

Missing feature→When it ships

3Check what changed, and who is still there

What changed?

New decision makerFundingTech stack changeLoss reason resolved

Find

ClayExplorium

Why now

Claude

Still there?Freshness check

Every contact from the old deal. A champion who left goes to champion tracking at the new company.

Check

LinkedIn

New

ProspeoFindymail

Verify

BounceBanon send day

4Re-score the account

Gate1

Something real changed

More changes and a resolved loss reason score highest. Nothing new means no outreach.

× No changeBack to the window

5Re-engage on what changed

“What changed since we spoke”

Old championDay 0

First touch, from the rep who ran the deal, naming the change.

DM

HeyReach

Call

Nooks

Text

WhatsAppTwilioif they texted before

New peopleDay 2

The new buying committee hears the same angle by email.

Send

Smartlead

2-day delay

Deal reopened, linked to the old one

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Play 12

Contact Data Refresh Before Every Send

1Pull everyone about to be contacted

Contacts queued for next week's sendsLists and sequences

What can have gone stale

JobCompanyWork emailMobileLinkedIn URLTitle

2Check each field against a live source

Still at the company?Job change

Compare the current LinkedIn role with the CRM record.

Check

LinkedInApify

Email still delivers?Verify

Re-verify on send week, not on the day it was found.

Verify

BounceBanZeroBounce

Number still live?Line type

Look up carrier and line type, drop disconnected numbers.

Check

Twilio

3Decide what each record needs

FindingAction

Left the company→Find the replacement, follow the person

Email risky or invalid→Find a new email, else LinkedIn only

Title changed→Re-score, maybe a new angle

Number dead→Remove it from call lists

All still true→Send as planned

4Fill the gaps

Replacement at the account

The new person in the same seat inherits the account context.

Find

ApolloClay

Email

FindymailProspeo

The mover at the new company

A past champion who moved is often the warmest lead you have.

Track

LinkedIn

Mobile

FullEnrich

Gate1

Only verified records go out

Anything still unverified is held for the next cycle.

× Unverifiedheld, rechecked next week

Every send goes to a real person in the right seat

The stackHubSpotLinkedInApifyBounceBanZeroBounceTwilioClayApolloFindymailProspeoFullEnrichSmartlead

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Play 07

Target-Account Exec Posts

1Build the watch list

Leaders at your top accountsThe roster

NameLinkedIn URLAccountTierOwner

Every column travels with each post. A row with no profile URL is skipped and counted.

2Catch every new post, daily

Morning post sweepLast 24 hours

Runs across the whole roster every morning, plus a one-off 7-day backfill at go-live.

Scrape

ApifyTrigify

Dedupe

Post id, seen store on disk

Push

Clay

3Tag originals, quote posts and reshares

Post typeTreat it as

Original→Their own view: engage, then reach out

Quote post→Engage on their comment

Reshare→Context only, never counted

4Keep only posts on your themes

Gate1

On a theme you sell into

The post itself must carry the theme. Congrats, hiring and award posts are dropped. Fails closed and retries next run.

× Off theme

5Engage first, then reach out on the topic

Post card to the account ownerLeader, account, type, theme

Engage firstDay 0

The owner comments on the post the same day, written by a human.

On

LinkedIn

Reach outDay 2

Picks up the point they made in the post.

DM

HeyReach

Team

Smartlead

2-day gap

A conversation that starts on their topic

The stackHubSpotApifyTrigifyClayClaudeSlackLinkedInHeyReachSmartlead

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