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Summary
Type
Agency
My Role
Founder / Head of Sales
Business Model
Agency
Location
Remote
Engagement
2 years
Core Brief
Build a new venture
ColdFire agency was born out of a frustration that I experienced as a client of another agency. I wasn't satisfied with the results of the LeadGen agency I was with and decided it could be done better. With a focus on 'polite cold email' I decided to only go after clients that had found some level of Product Market Fit and firmly believed in their product or service. Second, we only offered 'black hat' (legal) outreach methods that didn't include spamming large email lists or endless unwanted follow-ups. Soon after launch I expanded the cold email outreach service to also managing client CRM setup, CRM integrations and advised clients on their overall Funnel Architecture. During a ~2 year period ColdFire served 14 clients in Europe and the US.
Go-to-market
Our go-to-market approach focused on tightly scoped outbound campaigns that targeted design studios, SaaS tools, and service businesses. Rather than scraping generic lists, we handpicked leads based on niche fit, built personalized messages, and emphasized the client’s unique edge. We also positioned ColdFire itself as a productized agency — recurring, transparent, and results-driven. A combination of Notion playbooks, CRM automations, and lightweight landing pages helped us scale campaigns without sacrificing quality.
Product & Design
While ColdFire wasn’t a product company per se, I treated our internal ops like a product — constantly iterating on systems to improve speed and consistency. I designed client onboarding flows, wrote the outreach playbooks, and built the infrastructure to manage hundreds of cold email threads at scale. I also introduced reporting dashboards to give clients weekly visibility on results, and managed feedback loops between our writing team and technical CRM setup.
Lessons & Resources
One of the most important lessons was the power — and fragility — of outbound sales. Campaigns could break down quickly without rigorous targeting and message testing. I also saw how strategic alignment mattered more than just volume: our best results came when clients had a clear ICP, a real value prop, and were willing to let us challenge their positioning. The agency model worked best when framed as a growth partner, not just a vendor.
