--- name: bd-email description: Craft Business Development emails for RYLLC fractional CTO consultancy. Handles warm reconnects, job posting outreach, rejection follow-ups, VC intros, and custom BD scenarios. Uses established templates and project voice. --- # BD Email Skill **Purpose:** Draft professional, conversational Business Development emails for RYLLC fractional CTO consultancy outreach. ## Core Principles 1. **Tight and conversational** - Target ~130-150 words for initial outreach 2. **Complete sentences** - No sentence fragments, use subjects and verbs 3. **Single version only** - Don't draft multiple alternatives 4. **Natural voice** - Professional but warm, not overly formal 5. **Get to the point** - Lead with value, avoid long introductions 6. **No bragging** - Focus on experience, not metrics or accomplishments 7. **Service orientation** - What can you do for them 8. **Title Case for subject lines** - Always use Title Case for email subjects ## Email Flavors ### 1. Colleague Reconnect **Use for:** Former colleagues, VCs, advisors, warm contacts **Template:** templates/06-colleague-reconnect.md **Key elements:** - Personal reference to last interaction - Brief "barbell CTO" positioning - Ask for perspective/insights (low pressure) - Scheduling link ### 2. Job Posting Cold Outreach **Use for:** Found strong technical fit role, want to pitch fractional alternative **Template:** templates/07-job-posting-cold-outreach.md **Key elements:** - Reference job posting with hyperlink - Forward request to right person - Brief credentials showing technical fit - Specific interest in their tech/mission - Fractional alternative pitch - "Rather than (or alongside) a full-time hire" framing ### 3. Rejection Follow-Up **Use for:** Received job rejection, want to turn into network connection **Template:** templates/05-rejection-follow-up.md **Key elements:** - Thank them for consideration - Express continued interest in company/mission - Pivot from role to relationship - Position fractional CTO services as alternative ### 4. Direct Introduction Request **Use for:** Asking warm contact to intro you to specific company **Key elements:** - Acknowledge their offer/suggestion - Brief positioning relevant to target company - Specific ways you could add value - Clear ask (make the intro) - Offer to provide additional context ### 5. Custom BD Outreach **Use for:** Unique situations not covered by templates **Approach:** Follow core principles, adapt tone to relationship warmth ## The "Barbell CTO" Positioning Standard explanation (adjust as needed): > "I'm focused on fractional CTO work and reliability staff augmentation. On the CTO side, I'm doing the deep technical work like architecture and system design on one end, and high-level strategy like roadmap and team building on the other." **Note:** Keep framing positive. Avoid negative language like "skipping all the middle management nonsense" or similar. Focus on what you DO provide, not what you avoid. ## Technical Credentials (Use Sparingly) Standard positioning: > "I spent six years as CTO and co-founder of Gremlin, pioneering chaos engineering." For energy/climate context: > "At Gremlin, we constantly wrestled with quantifying the impact of failures that didn't happen—exactly the kind of reliability challenge that's critical in [energy systems/climate infrastructure]." ## What to Avoid - Sentence fragments or choppy writing - Multiple alternative versions - Bragging about metrics ($10M+ ARR, 100+ customers) - Redundant paragraphs - Multiple bullet lists in email body - Alternative contact strategy sections - Long explanations when brevity works ## Standard Components **Scheduling link:** https://app.reclaim.ai/m/forni/chat - Preferred phrasing: "You can grab some time here [link] if you like." - Alternative: "You can find some time here: [link]" - Always embed in conversational text, not standalone **Signature:** ``` Matthew Fornaciari ``` **Warm closing (for reconnect emails):** "Either way, cheers and hope things are going well." - Use when you want to give warmth without pressure - Shows genuine interest beyond just the business ask **Forward request (for cold outreach):** "If I'm reaching out to the wrong person, I'd appreciate you forwarding this along to whoever's leading this hire." ## Process 1. **Identify email flavor** - Which template/approach fits? 2. **Gather context** - Relationship history, company details, technical fit - **Email history analysis:** Use Gmail MCP to search and read past email threads with the contact - Look for: Last contact date, nature of relationship, how things ended, any commitments made, warm/cold signals - Key insights: Did they offer to stay in touch? Was there a previous engagement discussion? Any specific topics discussed? 3. **Enrich from LinkedIn** - Current role, company stage, recent activity, mutual connections 4. **Draft email** - Follow template structure, customize personal elements with specific details from email history 5. **Check length** - Target ~130-150 words 6. **Review tone** - Natural? Warm but professional? Service-oriented? 7. **Single version** - Don't create alternatives ## Example Usage **Warm reconnect to former colleague:** - Use template 06 - Add specific personal reference - Brief barbell CTO explanation - Low-pressure ask for perspective **Cold outreach to job posting:** - Use template 07 - Hyperlink to job posting - Show technical fit understanding - Pitch fractional alternative - Include forward request **Introduction request to warm contact:** - Direct, conversational tone - Brief positioning relevant to target - Specific value-add examples - Clear ask to make intro ## Resources All templates available in: - `/Users/forni/Craft/vocation/templates/` Contact database: - `/Users/forni/Craft/vocation/network/contacts.md` Project guidelines: - `/Users/forni/Craft/vocation/CLAUDE.md` ## Gmail Integration For details on using Gmail MCP server to draft emails directly in Gmail, see `gmail-integration.md`. **Quick start:** After Claude Code restart, use `draft_email` tool to create drafts directly in Gmail instead of copy/paste.