In today's episode, I chat with David Tasev, GTM Engineer at Instantly, about what it actually looks like to run cold email campaigns from inside one of the biggest sending platforms in the world—taking clients from offer creation all the way through campaign optimization, and building playbooks that outlast any single trend. 

We explore his investment fund campaign that generated 600 opportunities in two months: targeting wealthy founders and CEOs with investing power, leading with big-name social proof, keeping copy razor short, and instead of asking for a call, asking if they'd like a one-pager—because people with that level of wealth protect their time, and a low-friction next step is what gets the reply. He also shares his meta-learning approach: when he gets outreached effectively himself, he reverse-engineers the tactic and adds it to his playbook—including the ego massage play that got him on a call by calling him an expert and asking for his thoughts. His prediction: GTM engineering is still in its early innings, results have actually gotten better each year since he started in 2021-22, and the people who document their winning campaigns into proper playbooks will have a compounding advantage over those who keep everything in their heads. David shares his path from waiter in a small Macedonian town to Upwork, to a startup where he learned lead gen fundamentals, to head of influencer marketing, to an email marketing agency in Skopje, to three months of traveling and studying psychology to decompress—then joining Instantly. His advice: document every winning campaign into a playbook, be unorthodox (pineapple on pizza in the follow-up, offering to stop by the office for coffee), and never be afraid to try something that sounds weird—because templates get recognized, but unique always gets noticed. 

Enjoy 🙂

(00:00) Introduction to Outbound Wizards 
(00:20) What a GTM Engineer at Instantly Does: Strategy, Offer, Campaign, Optimize 
(02:01) Offer Over Personalization: Why Knowing Too Much Can Feel Creepy 
(03:44) Investment Fund Campaign: 600 Opportunities in Two Months With a One-Line Ask 
(07:09) The Ego Massage Play: How Getting Outreached Well Became a Playbook 
(09:00) Overturning a Broken Campaign: The Inside Success That Matters Most 
(11:23) David's Journey: Waiter at 16 to Upwork to Instantly Via Influencer Marketing and Email Agencies 
(15:01) Three Months Traveling to Decompress and Study Psychology Before Joining Instantly 
(17:16) Future Predictions: Results Are Actually Getting Better Each Year Since 2021 
(19:24) Obstacles Are Opportunities: Spam Filters Are Just the Next Thing to Solve 
(19:28) Advice: Document Everything Into Playbooks, Be Unorthodox, Try Anything Once

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