Rui Bom - The Unicorn Playbook

The Unicorn Playbook

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Rui Bom

Building startups before 'startup' was a word. 5-star mentor with top accelerator in the World. Firm believer the right emoji is worth 💯 words.

Way forward

Story time. Berlin, 2013. Cold November afternoon. Just passed the 200 investor meeting mark, countless hours building my pitch deck and refining financials, excel spreadsheets, not to mention the excessive number of mind-numbing cold emails. But still nothing. Sons of bitches. We've all heard founder stories like this. One too

Wrong all along

Wrong all along

I know that already. Problem and solution, traction, market opportunity, team, sales and marketing strategy, financials, fundraising targets. Those are the only seven slides I need. I hear that all the time. I know you know the drill. Everybody does. But still no results. You mastered the what, you're just

{Email | Post #9}: Urgent Tools

{Email | Post #9}: Urgent Tools

Content? Check. Format? Check. Fast track. Knowing what to write and how to write it are the two primary skills you need to master if you want to succeed in Email Land (the 8 previous posts took care of that, I hope). But despite there being no shortcuts for email

{Email | Post #8}: (Nice) break up.

{Email | Post #8}: (Nice) break up.

🏆 In the emailing world, success means you need to be ready to follow up at least 4 times. But since 70% of people give up after just one un-replied email, that shows most of us aren’t really getting much out of our emails. Read last week's post to know

{Email | Post #7}: Folloooooow up.

{Email | Post #7}: Folloooooow up.

🕰️If you want your email to be read (maybe 'scanned' is a better word after all), make sure it sits at the top of the pile. By pressing 'send' at the right time you will increase your chances. As much as content is king, do not forget style. Everything you

{Email | Post #6}: Time is money.

{Email | Post #6}: Time is money.

😅34% of people will decide to open your emails (or not) based on its subject line, so you'd better up your copywriting skills. For some 8-word tips and tricks, don't be lazy and take a look at last week's post. I could hear the clock ticking. Literally. I had just

{Email | Post #5}: 8-word magic.

{Email | Post #5}: 8-word magic.

👑{Relevance, Reward & Request} is the GOAT of emailing frameworks. Cut to the chase by crafting an opening sentence that shows you have done your homework, always give before you get, and don't be afraid to ask (slowly). Use it at your own risk because it may change your life. Small

{Email | Post #4} 3R = Email Royale.

{Email | Post #4} 3R = Email Royale.

👎🏼Most of your emails have irrelevant, unexciting subject lines, waste prime real estate and ask for a call too early. Maybe this Intro & Call approach worked for you back in the day but I am betting it will soon go extinct. In case you missed last week's post, it is

{Email | Post #3}: Your emails look like this?

{Email | Post #3}: Your emails look like this?

Most emails are read on a mobile device so please do both of us a favor and be intentional about your subject line and first paragraph. Try to convey the juicy stuff within the first 8 seconds as that will help getting the convo going. Ahh, and before I forget:

{Email | Post #2} The 3 Golden Rules.

{Email | Post #2} The 3 Golden Rules.

Don't take the previous post personally - it's ok if your emails suck. They suck for 99% of us and it's perfectly normal if 80%+ of people aren't even opening them. That's why you're here. I believe in being intentional, approaching things strategically. I'm that guy who puts together excel

{Email | Post #1} The reason you're being ghosted.

{Email | Post #1} The reason you're being ghosted.

I just couldn’t believe it when I read it. 333 billion emails sent and received daily in 2022? Each person sends an average of 121 work emails per day and spends 20 weeks a year on email - that’s about the same amount of time we spend sleeping.