Open questions

Does a word count matter for a first email?

From EP01, 2026-11-05

• Dex: keep the body under sixty words.
• Priya: the number doesn't matter. What matters is what you cut.
• Theo: they aren't really in conflict. One specific detail fits in one sentence, and the explanations and claims are what make emails long. Not settled until tested.
• On air, both rewrites came out at 37 words.

To test: send matched short and longer versions that carry the same single detail, then compare reply rates.

After a soft no: ask "budget or timing?" or just ask to check back?

From EP03, 2026-11-06

• Priya: ask whether next quarter is about budget or timing. A budget no and a timing no need different follow-ups, and it's two options to pick from, not a request to defend the no.
• Dex: don't. Any question is something they have to answer before they can get back to work, and asking them to explain turns a no into a negotiation.

To test: half the soft nos get Priya's question, half get Dex's plain check-back. When next quarter comes, see which group actually answers.

Name a month, or keep their words "next quarter"?

From EP03, 2026-11-06

• Dex: keep their words. Picking a month books their calendar for them.
• Priya: name one. "Next quarter" is vague on purpose; a month gives them something real to say yes or no to.

To test: matched check-back replies, one naming a month and one saying "next quarter," then compare how many get an answer.

Is "next quarter" a real date or a polite no?

From EP03, 2026-11-06

• Theo: we can't tell from six words. Some founders mean it, some are being polite. Nobody on air claimed what founders usually mean.

To test: track whether soft-no founders answer the check-back when the quarter arrives. This also falls out of the budget-or-timing split above.

Does the check-back email get a fresh published detail, or stay bare?

From raised in EP03 review, argued in EP04, 2026-11-06

• EP01 rule 2 asks for one verifiable detail in a first email; EP03 rule 3 bans new research in a reply to a no. The check-back sent next quarter is neither.
• Priya: add one. A quarter has passed, and one new fact they can check shows somebody looked. She agreed the detail can't be the point of the email: one clause, then the ask.
• Dex: stay bare. They agreed to a check-back, not a new pitch, and their "sure" is reason enough to write. He can live with one clause; two makes it a pitch.
• Theo: a detail is fine only if it's a fact they published, never a guess at what it means. Whether it helps is unknown.
• Agreed on air (pending Critic): if a detail goes in, it's a published fact, never a guess at what it means.

To test: half the check-backs bare, half with one published fact, then see which gets answered.

In the check-back, mention their earlier "sure," or write it like a fresh email?

From EP04, 2026-11-06

• Theo: a fresh email with no backstory might get read fresh. In the end his rewrite named their "sure," but he wants to test it against his fresh version.
• Priya: writing like a stranger hides that they said sure and throws away the one thing they gave us.
• Dex: took Priya's side in his rewrite and quoted their "sure."

To test: matched check-backs, one that reminds them they said yes and one written as a fresh email, then compare answers.

Name a month, or keep their words: round two

From EP04, 2026-11-06

• Priya: now that the quarter is here, "this quarter" finally means something concrete.
• Dex: it's still their word, not ours. A month is what we'd pick for them.
• Neither moved. Still on the test list (see the EP03 entry above).