Cold Emailing a Billionaire...

Hi Guys,

Welcome to the inaugural edition of my new series: 'Kabir Cold Emails Millionaires'.

Today, we're focusing on Mohnish Pabrai.

If you're unfamiliar with the name, let me fill you in. Pabrai is an Indian-American billionaire investor, who regularly mingles with the likes of Warren Buffet, and used to with Charlie Munger.

Pabrai is the founder of the Dakshina Foundation, a organization based in India. The foundation's mission? To assist underprivileged children in cracking the notoriously difficult IIT entrance exams.

Like many of you, I admire Pabrai for his investing acumen and philanthropic efforts. So, I decided to take a shot and reach out to him through a cold email with the aim of getting on his radar.

The Email

Breaking down the anatomy of a cold email, starting with the subject line. In this case, "Shaan Puri & Stig".

Why this subject line? Well, these were two recent interviews given by Monish that had just been published within a span of 5 to 10 days.

This was all fresh, new content. The idea here was to strike while the iron was hot, banking on the recent buzz from these interviews.

Now, something you won't see in this email is the strategic timing.

I wrote this email to Monish immediately after he engaged with one of my comments on a LinkedIn post he had made. I was counting on the fact that my name would still be fresh in his mind when he stumbled upon my email in his inbox.

"My brain cells were doing the cha-cha, tango and the bhangra."

Let's dissect this opening line, shall we?

Firstly, notice the absence of a formal salutation like "Hello Monish". That's because the prime real estate of an email's opening shouldn't be gobbled up by mundane formalities that everyone uses.

Interestingly, Monish's name doesn't appear in the entire email.

The goal is to make the email stand out from the rest in an inbox, and the key to that lies in the first 5-7 words of your email, visible as preview text. So, instead of a dull "Hi Monish", I opted for "My brain cells were doing the cha-cha, tango and the bhangra.", hoping to inject a bit of humor and intrigue.

The "bhangra" was a deliberate nod to Monish's Indian roots.

So, right from the get-go, I've established an engaging, humorous tone and directly tied it to the subject line, setting the stage for the rest of the email. And I'm telling him that I went into a rabbit hole about him.

In continuation to that is the second line which says “I spoke to Stig, and he told me that he only had eight questions for you. Everything else was off the cuff”.

Now, Stig, he's a creator par excellence and someone I'm always eager to collaborate with. Maybe I'll let you in on how that cold email to Stig went down and his response in an upcoming newsletter.

This isn't some random email landing in Mohnish's inbox. It's a connection. A common thread. It's not about me asking for something out of the blue, but about establishing trust. That I've had a real conversation with Stig about his interview. It's like a little insider tip, a subtle name-drop if you will.

But I'm not here to take from Monish. Not yet. I'm here to add value, to make deposits, before I even think about making a withdrawal. That's the game plan.

Noticed how I put in a P.S. line?

P.S. lines are underrated. I can't stress enough how powerful they can be. It's like a hidden gem at the end of your communication, a chance for you to inject a little extra personality, humor or even another layer of conversation.

So this was my email.

It was fairly recent. It was on 22nd May. I emailed him on five or six of his email addresses.

If you're intrigued about how I managed to dig up those email addresses, let me know in the comments section. I'd be more than happy to create a piece of content detailing the process.

Of course, after hitting send, a couple of delivery failures popped on my screen. It's no surprise, considering some of these email addresses are probably obsolete now.

Here’s the reply I got…

Just as the sun was coming up the next day, my inbox pinged with a new email. It was from someone named Anuradha Kedia, administrative consultant to Mohnish. Her email was a response to mine.

Here we go. I've planted the seed.

Now, I get it, some of you might assume that this isn't the real Monish, or that Monish didn't even read my email.

But hey, that's not my belief. I refuse to entertain that thought. I see this as a seed well-planted.

From here on out, it's my mission to consistently bring more value to the table for Anuradha and Monish. I am committed to finding a way to collaborate with them, learn from them, and accelerate my own growth.

Message From Kabir…

Hey reader!

I'm Kabir Krishn, the founder of upTalkk. I believe that Cold email provides the most asymmetric edge one can have.

Every week, I pen countless cold emails, each a stepping stone towards connection, growth and success.

This newsletter is a weekly digest of cold emails, unveiling the thoughts, strategies, triumphs and setbacks behind each one.

See you soon in your inbox.