#172 · How to Charge $18,350/install for AI Infrastructure
Cold calling isn't effective because it's asynchronous, requires you to be available when the prospect is, and you have to get past gatekeepers. A better approach is to send Loom videos that prospects can watch on their own time, letting you follow up repeatedly without scheduling conflicts.
Cold calling is a very direct way to reach people, but it's inefficient—you might spend only about 15 minutes of an hour on actual calls, with pickup rates around 3-6%. This means you often waste time on dialing, voicemails, and unanswered calls. I've made over 10,000 cold calls in my career and realized I could achieve the same outreach using Loom videos: record a video, send it, and it lands at the top of their inbox with no dial time, plus you can automate follow-ups. Loom saves time, lets you show visuals, and avoids the spam fatigue of phone calls. So instead of cold calling, just send Loom videos.
Cold calling is inefficient: you spend only about 40% of your time on actual talking (10% dialing, 10% waiting for connection, 20% dealing with gatekeepers) and often never reach the decision maker. Cold email guarantees you’re speaking to the decision maker and lets you automate follow‑ups to stay top of inbox. I equate the effort of cold calling to sending cold Loom videos—Looms add video but the core effort is similar; you can skip the call time and send Looms directly via email for better pound‑for‑pound results. Cold calling does build a killer mindset, but for pure productivity cold email wins.
I don't cold call anymore because of three main issues. First, you often don't get a pickup—if you call 100 people, maybe only 30‑50 actually answer, wasting a lot of time. Second, even when you get past the voicemail, you frequently reach a gatekeeper or front desk instead of the decision maker, and gatekeepers tend to discard your message. Third, after finally reaching the decision maker, they're often busy or give excuses, so you don't get meaningful time with them. Overall, I'd estimate that 80% or more of cold calls are wasted, making it negative leverage—you'd need to make five calls just to get one worthwhile conversation. I much prefer sending Loom videos, which let you convey your message asynchronously and avoid those gatekeeper and pickup problems.
Your cold‑call‑interview method works for early clients, but in 2025 Loom videos are better: they’re asynchronous, avoid gatekeepers, let you send the video directly via DM, and remove live‑call pressure. Use Loom unless you’re in a hyperspecific vertical where phone contact is unavoidable.