Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Winning in Small TAM Markets ft. Zachary Dell'Acqua
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Winning in Small TAM Markets ft. Zachary Dell'Acqua
In today's episode, I chat with Zach, GTM engineer at Instruqt (cloud sandboxes for developer learning), about shifting from quantity to quality with small TAM targeting hard-to-reach developers—doing as little as possible making offer as best as possible (less is more depends on market/business model).
We explore his branded materials campaign for conference promotional items targeting CMOs with subject line "do you want more LinkedIn ads?" offering discount to save money and buy more ads—getting 20% response rate (5% closed) because CMOs prove job security through MQLs and more budget means looking more successful. Zach shares his journey at Labster during pandemic selling ed tech video games for homework, building scraping bot amassing 20K teacher emails from public domain, sending 35K emails from main server without realizing ("ask forgiveness not permission"), getting RevOps leader call four hours later ("you sent 35K emails to California"—Home Alone 2 Kevin's father moment), and realizing this could work. He predicts ISPs/ESPs tightening restrictions (spam definition from 1/50K to 1/1K making bar ever-decreasing), collective consciousness against sales tactics (Wolf of Wall Street cold calling to now not picking up unknown numbers—cold email reaching tipping point), and successful companies giving tempting offers putting money where mouth is. Zach's advice: immerse in culture (Reddit r/coldEmail daily, YouTube influencers), spend money you don't have on solutions to learn (sailing book principle: read 10%, watch 30-40%, do yourself 50%), get started with coffee and be ready for mistakes.
Enjoy 🙂
(00:00) Introduction to Outbound Wizards
(00:30) What Instruqt Does: Cloud Sandboxes for Developer Learning
(01:00) Day-to-Day: Shifting from Quantity to Quality (Small TAM)
(03:21) Creative Campaign: "Do You Want More LinkedIn Ads?" (20% Response Rate)
(06:57) Asking Deeper Why About Person's Drivers (CMO Metrics/Job Security)
(08:42) Journey: Labster During Pandemic (Ed Tech Video Games for Homework)
(10:19) Building Scraping Bot (20K Teacher Emails from Public Domain)
(12:15) Sending 35K Emails from Main Server (RevOps Leader Call)
(14:02) Future Prediction: ISPs/ESPs Tightening Restrictions (1/50K to 1/1K)
(16:16) Collective Consciousness Against Sales Tactics (Wolf of Wall Street to Now)
(19:15) Advice: Immerse in Culture, Spend Money to Learn, Do Yourself 50%
(22:05) Closing and Contact Information
🔗 CONNECT WITH ZACH
👥 LinkedIn
💻 Website
🔗 CONNECT WITH SAURAV
🎥 YouTube Channel
🐦 X (Twitter)
💻 Website
👥 LinkedIn
📧 Email - [email protected]
🙏 LEAVE A REVIEW If you enjoyed listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts to help others discover the show :)
👋🏼 GET IN TOUCH You can also reach out with any feedback, ideas or thoughts about the lessons you've learned from the episodes.
View all episodes
By Saurav GuptaIn today's episode, I chat with Zach, GTM engineer at Instruqt (cloud sandboxes for developer learning), about shifting from quantity to quality with small TAM targeting hard-to-reach developers—doing as little as possible making offer as best as possible (less is more depends on market/business model).
We explore his branded materials campaign for conference promotional items targeting CMOs with subject line "do you want more LinkedIn ads?" offering discount to save money and buy more ads—getting 20% response rate (5% closed) because CMOs prove job security through MQLs and more budget means looking more successful. Zach shares his journey at Labster during pandemic selling ed tech video games for homework, building scraping bot amassing 20K teacher emails from public domain, sending 35K emails from main server without realizing ("ask forgiveness not permission"), getting RevOps leader call four hours later ("you sent 35K emails to California"—Home Alone 2 Kevin's father moment), and realizing this could work. He predicts ISPs/ESPs tightening restrictions (spam definition from 1/50K to 1/1K making bar ever-decreasing), collective consciousness against sales tactics (Wolf of Wall Street cold calling to now not picking up unknown numbers—cold email reaching tipping point), and successful companies giving tempting offers putting money where mouth is. Zach's advice: immerse in culture (Reddit r/coldEmail daily, YouTube influencers), spend money you don't have on solutions to learn (sailing book principle: read 10%, watch 30-40%, do yourself 50%), get started with coffee and be ready for mistakes.
Enjoy 🙂
(00:00) Introduction to Outbound Wizards
(00:30) What Instruqt Does: Cloud Sandboxes for Developer Learning
(01:00) Day-to-Day: Shifting from Quantity to Quality (Small TAM)
(03:21) Creative Campaign: "Do You Want More LinkedIn Ads?" (20% Response Rate)
(06:57) Asking Deeper Why About Person's Drivers (CMO Metrics/Job Security)
(08:42) Journey: Labster During Pandemic (Ed Tech Video Games for Homework)
(10:19) Building Scraping Bot (20K Teacher Emails from Public Domain)
(12:15) Sending 35K Emails from Main Server (RevOps Leader Call)
(14:02) Future Prediction: ISPs/ESPs Tightening Restrictions (1/50K to 1/1K)
(16:16) Collective Consciousness Against Sales Tactics (Wolf of Wall Street to Now)
(19:15) Advice: Immerse in Culture, Spend Money to Learn, Do Yourself 50%
(22:05) Closing and Contact Information
🔗 CONNECT WITH ZACH
👥 LinkedIn
💻 Website
🔗 CONNECT WITH SAURAV
🎥 YouTube Channel
🐦 X (Twitter)
💻 Website
👥 LinkedIn
📧 Email - [email protected]
🙏 LEAVE A REVIEW If you enjoyed listening to the podcast, we'd love for you to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts to help others discover the show :)
👋🏼 GET IN TOUCH You can also reach out with any feedback, ideas or thoughts about the lessons you've learned from the episodes.