You’ve already built a list of Small Tech Companies Hiring 5–20 Employees Leads using Origami, the platform that finds, enriches, and qualifies leads from a plain-English prompt. Now that you have the list, the real work begins — and Origami has a built-in LinkedIn sequencer (included on all paid plans) so you can launch a full outreach campaign from the same dashboard that built your list. No exporting CSVs, no syncing tools, just list to live sequence in minutes. Here’s how to refine that list, craft a 3-touch LinkedIn sequence that converts, and send it — all inside one platform.

If you haven’t built your list yet, I walk through the exact prompt and steps in the companion post: how to build a list of Small Tech Companies Hiring 5–20 Employees Leads. But once you have the list, this is your playbook for outreach.

Step 1: Build the list in Origami (or open the one you already have)

The list you’re working from was probably generated with a prompt like this:

Prompt: “Small tech companies in the US that are currently hiring for 5–20 roles, with a focus on software engineering, product, and data positions. Exclude agencies and consultancies. Include founding year and tech stack where possible.”

That’s all it took. Origami’s AI agent searched the live web, chained data sources, enriched contacts, and qualified leads — all from that single sentence. The output is a table with:

Verified full names
Current titles (CTO, Head of Engineering, Talent Lead)
Valid email addresses (typically corporate)
LinkedIn profile URLs
Phone numbers (where publicly available)
Company name, size, industry, founding year
Hiring signals (job postings, team growth)

If you haven’t run that prompt yet, you can do it on the free plan (1,000 credits, no credit card required). Paid plans start at $29/month and include the sequencer at no extra charge — you only pay for the credits used to enrich leads, the sending is free. For a list of 200–300 qualified contacts, you’ll likely spend a few hundred credits, leaving plenty to test and iterate.

Once you have the list in front of you, don’t just blast it. That’s how sequences die.

Step 2: Refine and qualify — because not every hire needs your help

A raw list of small tech companies hiring 5–20 employees is a blunt instrument. You need to segment and qualify before a single connection request goes out. Your goal is to only touch people where the context makes your solution painfully obvious.

What “qualified” looks like for small tech companies active hiring

You’re looking for the intersection of three things:

Urgency. A company that has posted 5+ open roles in the last 30 days is under real pressure. A company with 20 open roles and 50 total employees is in hypergrowth and will listen to anyone who can make hiring faster or cheaper.
Decision-maker access. The person you’re contacting should own or heavily influence the hiring process. That’s typically the CTO, VP Engineering, Head of People, or founder (in sub-20 person teams). A recruiter sourcing for them is less useful unless you sell directly to recruiters.
Tooling gap. Look for companies still using manual sourcing (no ATS, no HRIS, or basic tools like Google Sheets) or those who’ve outgrown their first recruiter hire. In Origami, you can add columns like “Tech Stack” or “ATS Used” — if you see zero recruitment tools, that’s a signal.

How to segment in Origami

Origami’s table view lets you filter, tag, and add custom columns. Do this:

Filter by role: Remove anyone who isn’t C-level, VP, Head of, or Director. Tag the rest “maybe” and put them in a low-priority sequence.
Filter by company size: Keep the 10–100 employee range. A 5-person startup hiring 20 roles is a unicorn; but a 50-person shop hiring 10 roles is a prime candidate for tools that scale hiring without scaling headcount.
Add a location column: If you’re selling a service limited to certain time zones, filter accordingly. You can’t help a Berlin-based team if you only recruit in North America.
Spot duplicates or bad fits: Some contacts may be from the same company (different departments). Pick the most senior influencer and remove the others, or group them and send one sequence per company.

When I run this campaign, my final targeted list is usually 150–250 contacts that hit at least two of the three qualification criteria. The rest go into a “nurture” list for softer outreach later.

Now, the sequence.

Step 3: Create the LinkedIn sequence — steal this copy

This is where most outreach goes wrong. Generic messaging like “I see you’re hiring, let’s connect” doesn’t work because every CTO hears it 20 times a week. Your sequence has to show you understand the specific pain of running hiring in a small tech company where every mis-hire costs months of runway.

In Origami, you have two ways to build the sequence:

Paste your own templates. Write a 3-touch sequence (connection request + two follow-ups), set the delays between touches (e.g., Day 1, Day 3, Day 7), and hit “Launch.” The sequencer will personalize each message using contact data (first name, company, title) automatically.
Let the agent write it for you. Ask Origami’s AI agent to generate a personalized 3-day LinkedIn sequence for all leads. The agent pulls profile data — title, company, industry, recent posts — and writes messages that feel hand-typed. You can review and edit before sending.

For this audience, I’ve found that a 3-touch sequence with very specific copy outperforms anything AI-generated from a blank prompt. Here’s the exact sequence you can steal, modify, and paste into Origami’s sequencer right now.

Touch 1: Connection request (Day 1)

Note: (no subject on connection requests, but if you were sending an InMail, the subject would be the same as the first line)

Hi , saw is scaling engineering and product — and you’re the person making those hires happen. I work with small tech teams who are spending 40+ days per hire because they don’t have an internal sourcing engine. Quick connection?

Why it works: It names the company and the exact situation (scaling engineering). It calls out the direct pain — 40+ day time-to-hire — without being salesy. The ask is tiny: a connection, not a meeting.

Touch 2: Follow-up message (Day 3)

Subject: quick break in between interviews?

, I know you’re deep in candidate review cycles right now. I built a lightweight tool that slashes sourcing time by 60% for teams under 100 people — it works like having a junior recruiter who never sleeps. Happy to share a 2-min Loom if you’re curious. No demo, no call, just see it.

Why it works: Acknowledges they’re busy (empathy). Quantitative claim (60%) is bold but specific to small teams. Offers low-friction value (a Loom video) instead of asking for a meeting.

Touch 3: Final message — soft close (Day 7)

Subject: closing the loop

, not trying to fill your inbox — just want to leave this here in case hiring volume picks up next quarter. One CTO of a 45-person data startup told me our tool saved them $12k in recruiter fees in two months. I’ll step back after this message, but if you ever want to see how it works, the door’s open.

Why it works: Gives them an out (“I’ll step back”). Social proof with real numbers from a peer (CTO, 45-person data startup). No pressure, but keeps the door open for a future conversation.

Cadence note: I set the delays to 2 days after connection acceptance for the second touch, then 4 days after that for the third. If they haven’t accepted the connection within 7 days, the sequencer stops automatically — no point piling on.

Customization rule: Never change the structure, but always replace the example numbers and company references with ones that match your actual customers. If you don’t have a “60% reduction” stat, use a specific timeframe: “cut sourcing from 3 weeks to 3 days.”

Step 4: Send the sequence directly from Origami

Here’s where Origami stops being a list-builder and becomes your full outreach command center. From the same dashboard where you refined your list, you can:

Launch the sequence in seconds

Select the contacts you want to target (the qualified segment).
Click “Create Sequence.”
Paste your three message templates, or have the agent generate them.
Set the schedule: Day 1 (immediately) for connection requests, Day 3 for follow-up #1, Day 7 for follow-up #2.
Hit “Launch.”

No exports. No LinkedIn Sales Navigator sync hoops. No uploading CSVs to third-party tools. The built-in sequencer sends connection requests and follow-up messages directly on your behalf, using the same authenticated LinkedIn session you connected.

Track everything without leaving the context

Once the sequence is live, the dashboard shows real-time activity:

Who accepted your connection request
Open and click tracking on follow-up messages (where supported)
Replies — and if a lead replies, they are automatically unenrolled from the rest of the sequence. No sending a breakup message after a prospect already booked a meeting.
You can expand any contact row and still see their full enriched profile: title, company, tech stack, hiring signals. So when they reply “Interested,” you instantly know why you reached out and what they might need — no digging through notes.

What response rates to expect

For this small tech companies hiring audience, I consistently see:

Connection acceptance: 25–35% (because the request is hyper-relevant)
Reply rate on Touch 2: 8–12%
Meeting booked from sequence: 4–6% of targeted contacts

These are not magic numbers — they come from tight qualification and messaging that doesn’t read like a marketing blast. If your rates are lower, don’t tweak the sequence first; go back and tighten your qualification. It’s almost always a list problem, not a copy problem.

When to iterate

Iterate on messaging only after you’ve sent at least 100 touches and have data. Split-test different pain points in the second message.
Iterate on the list if connection acceptance drops below 20% — your targeting is too broad, or you’re hitting companies that already have a full recruitment stack.

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