Road to $1M ARR day 28/60: 4 parallel plays running

NY meetings, new competitor catch playbook, and an incoming thing you'll love

Day 28 of the $1M ARR sprint.

Three NYC meetings locked for next week, 2 for this week. And i figured out how to reach founders without being just another salesy person in their inbox.

The angle is indirect selling at its finest. No pitch decks. No service pages. Just this:

“I’m in NYC for a month, scaling to $1M ARR and planning $10M in 2026. Want to challenge my vision with smart founders in {{their industry}}. Coffee’s on me, next to {{where their office is located}}.”

It’s not salesy. It’s specific. It’s authentic. And it’s exactly what’s going to happen.

Some of these people are actually ICP. But instead of selling them services, i want them to buy into the vision.

Because right now, with the state of the market, these founders are drowning in outreach. So much noise. Zero signal.

A clear vision cuts through that noise. When someone buys into your vision, they’re not just agreeing, they’ve reached the same conclusion you have. You just put it into words first.

That’s the spot i want to be in. These people could become clients in December, next week, or 2026.

Doesn’t matter. The vision comes first.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We’ve been building a system for a month that’s finally ready.

We can identify ICP people who just started conversations with our competitors’ sales teams.

Think about that signal. Someone’s actively shopping. They’re comparing options. They’re in buying mode right now.

So the message becomes: “Hey, i think you’re currently talking to [competitor]. Happy to do a horse race. Let practical results decide which provider you choose.”

Direct. Confident. And yeah, you can do a free pilot because the buying intent is already proven.

This approach assumes 70% accuracy on the signal. But when you know someone’s already evaluating solutions, a free pilot is worth the energy. It’s smart risk management.

You’re not pitching cold prospects hoping they’ll care. You’re intercepting active buyers mid-decision.

The risk of doing a pilot for nothing drops dramatically when you know they’re already shopping.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

4 plays running in parallel now:

1. Vision-alignment meetings in NYC (relationship building and selling options)

2. Upsell conversations with high-trust clients ready for bigger moves

3. Filtering my CRM and checking who’s gonna convert in the next 30 days.

4. Competitor intercepts with proof-of-concept offers to active shoppers

Each targets different buying readiness levels.

Together they create multiple paths to $1M.

NYC will tell me if vision selling works at scale.

This is what systematic growth looks like. Not random acts of sales.

Orchestrated plays based on buying signals, trust levels and specific knowledge.

On a side note i am currently writing (started this afternoon and already 5 pages deep) my 2.0 thesis about the market direction (startups, ai, sales).

I did this exercise 2 years ago when i quit my job to build Earleads.

Many of the things i wrote at the time turned out to be true when they were just assumptions/convictions on my side (if you want me to share it with you answer this email).

Regarding the new one, once it’s finished i’ll link it here :).

ARR: $681K → Target: $1M | Days remaining: 32

See you tomorrow 👊

O.

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accidentally built a million ARR GTM agency by refusing to spray & pray. now racing to $1M just to prove cold emails gurus wrong.

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