Hughes: Founders should test outbound messaging using manual, personalized LinkedIn outreach first
Mark Hughes · He hit $1M ARR by sending 500,000 cold emails—then raised a $25M Series A in 6 days. | Mark Hughe... · PMF Show · Jun 1, 2026 · at 22:54
Mark Hughes, co-founder of SolidRoad, outlines his playbook for founders looking to bootstrap their first million in ARR through outbound sales.
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“I think you have to do the manual stuff at the start to kind of, to tinker the messaging. So, like, what I would be telling founders to do is, like, start with social selling on LinkedIn and, like, be as personalized as you possibly can from, like, voice notes to video messages.”
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“For, like, that first millionaire order, we sent 500,000 emails. We got 5000 replies and 250 meetings booked, and then, like, a 20% conversion of those meeting booked, which was 40 customers and an ACV of 25 K to get to a million dollars air order.”
Hughes: Cold outbound emails must aim for a reply, not closing a sale
“If you actually take the mindset of like, this message is to close this customer because I need my first customer. It's like, it's never going to work. So I felt like it was almost like putting too much detail and like why we're amazing. Whereas like the goal …”