How to Run a Cold Email Campaign Targeting Heads of Support at Series A Startups in SF & NYC (2026)

You've got your list of Heads of Support at Series A startups in SF & NYC. Now it's time to actually reach them. Origami has a built-in email sequencer that lets you send a multi-touch campaign directly from the same platform where you built your list — no exporting CSVs, no syncing tools. This guide walks you through refining that list, writing the exact 3-touch email sequence you can steal, and launching everything in one place.

If you haven't built your list yet, start with how to build a list of Heads of Support at Series A Startups in SF & NYC. Then come back here to run the campaign.

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Step 1: Build the List in Origami (Already Done? Jump to Refining)

Origami turns a plain-English prompt into a targeted, verified prospect list. For this audience, you’d type something like:

"Heads of Support, Directors of Customer Support, or VPs of Customer Experience at Series A B2B SaaS startups in San Francisco and New York City, with verified work emails."

Origami's AI agent searches the live web, chains data signals together, enriches each contact, and gives you back a clean list with:

• First and last name
• Current title and company
• Verified email (no guesswork)
• Phone number when available
• Company details (size, industry, tools used, recent funding)

You can do this on the free plan (1,000 credits, no credit card needed). The list build uses credits for enrichment; the email sequencer is free on all plans later.

If you already ran this, you have a solid list of 50–150 high-fit contacts. But before you blast them, you need to refine it. That’s where most people mess up.

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Step 2: Refine and Qualify the List for Email

Your raw list from Origami is likely 80% accurate, but sending to everyone dilutes reply rates and damages your sender reputation. Spend 15 minutes qualifying.

Quick filters inside Origami's list view:

1. Title and Scope
   Strip out anyone who is more of a "Customer Success Manager" than a department head. Look for titles like Head of Support, Director of Support, VP Customer Experience, Sr. Manager of Support Operations at a startup under ~150 employees. If someone is a "Support Lead" at a 30-person company, they're likely the decision-maker — keep them.

2. Company Size
   Series A startups typically have 20–110 employees. If Origami returned someone at a 400-person company that raised a Series A extension, check if their role truly owns support. Usually, the support stack is still lean and the head of support has budget influence. Use your judgment.

3. Location
   You asked for SF & NYC, but sometimes remote-first companies have leaders scattered. If someone is listed as remote but the HQ is SF with a 10-person team, they may still be a great fit. Focus on time zones and whether they likely hire or buy in those hubs.

4. Tech Stack Signals
   Origami’s enrichment shows tools the company uses. Heads of Support who use Intercom, Zendesk, Front, or Help Scout are gold — they already invest in support tooling. If you see legacy or no tooling, they might be too early. But a company using Jira Service Management might be ready for an upgrade. Flag those.

What "qualified" looks like for this audience:

• A person who can greenlight a $500–$2K/mo tool without a VP of Ops sign-off.
• They're probably drowning in tickets, hiring agents, and being asked to do more with less.
• They care about CSAT, time-to-resolution, ticket deflection, and agent experience.
• They are skeptical of sales emails but always look for ways to reduce manual work.

Once qualified, you can segment further (e.g., NYC vs. SF, Intercom users vs. Zendesk users) to tailor your message copy. The sequence below works well across both segments with minor personalization.

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Step 3: Create the Email Sequence

Here’s where Origami saves you hours. You have two options:

1. Paste your own templates — Write your 3-touch sequence, drop the copy directly into Origami's sequencer, set the delays (e.g., Day 1, Day 3, Day 7), and launch.
2. Let the AI agent write it — Ask Origami's agent to "generate a personalized 3-day email sequence for all my leads" and it will craft messages based on each lead's title, company, and industry. You review, tweak, and hit send.

For this audience, I recommend option 1 with a sequence you can trust. I’ve run this exact outreach for a support automation tool targeting Heads of Support at Series A startups. You can steal it wholesale.

The Exact 3-Touch Sequence (Copy-Paste Ready)

Day 1: The Cold Email (Send Tuesday–Thursday)

Subject: Customer support at {company}? Preview: Quick question about your team’s setup

Hey {first_name},

I saw you’re heading up support at {company}. Given the Series A stage, I’m guessing you’re managing a lean team while trying to keep CSAT and reply times in a good place.

What’s your biggest bottleneck right now — ticket volume, agent training, or something else?

No pitch, just curious. We help Heads of Support at startups cut manual work and scale without hiring proportionally, but I’ll only share more if it’s relevant.

{Your name} {Title} at {Your company}

Why it works: It shows you know their stage, names specific pain points, and asks an open-ended question — no product drop. The call-to-action is a reply, not a meeting.

Day 3: The Follow-up (Different Angle)

Subject: re: Customer support at {company}? Preview: Saw you guys use {tool_name} — one thought

Hey {first_name},

Noticed {company} uses {tool_name}. A few Heads of Support we work with at similar-stage startups found that tool great for tickets but struggled with deflection and self-service at scale.

We’ve been helping them layer on AI that deflects 20-30% of repeat questions before they hit your team — without ripping out their current stack.

Worth a 10-minute look, or not a priority right now?

{Your name}

Why it works: References their actual tool (enriched by Origami), which proves you did research. Offers a concrete outcome (deflection %) without hype. The call-to-action is still a soft opt-in.

Day 7: The Final Breakup Email

Subject: Last one Preview: Either way, good luck scaling {company} support

{first_name},

I know you’re swamped. If now isn’t the right time, no worries.

Wanted to leave you with one thing: here’s a 2-min teardown of how a 30-person startup cut ticket volume by 35% in 6 weeks while keeping CSAT above 95%. {link}

If you’re ever looking to reduce manual triage, I’m here. Happy to help even if it’s just a quick call to share what’s working at other Series A support teams.

{Your name}

Why it works: Provides value (teardown link) even if they don’t reply. No guilt, no pressure. It leaves the door open.

Customization tips:

• Always fill in the {tool_name} from Origami’s enrichment data. If no tool is listed, replace the second paragraph with: "A few Heads of Support at Series A startups we talk to struggle with …"
• If you’re using Origami’s agent to generate sequences, it will pull these fields automatically and write personalized variations per lead.

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Step 4: Send the Sequence Directly from Origami

Launch the entire campaign without leaving the platform. Here’s how:

1. Open the sequencer from your list view.
2. Paste your 3-touch templates or ask the AI agent to generate them.
3. Set the delays: Touch 1: Day 0 (immediate), Touch 2: Day 3, Touch 3: Day 7. You can adjust if you want a 2-5-8 cadence.
4. Launch — Origami sends the emails from its built-in email infrastructure (you don’t need a separate SMTP service).

What happens next:

• Tracking: Opens, clicks, and replies appear in the same dashboard where you built the list. You can see a contact’s activity timeline while still viewing their enriched profile (title, company, tools, funding), so you know exactly why you reached out and what they’re doing.
• Prospect context: When someone opens or clicks, you can click into their profile and see the full picture — no switching between your CRM and outreach tool.
• Automatic un-enrollment: If a lead replies (even a “not interested”), they are automatically removed from the sequence. You won’t accidentally send a breakup email after they book a meeting.
• Bounce handling: Invalid emails are flagged and automatically skipped in future sends, protecting your sender reputation.

Pricing note: The sequencer is included on all paid plans, and you’re only paying for the credits used to enrich leads. Sending emails costs no extra credits. The free plan gives you 1,000 credits to test list building and even send a few emails, but volume campaigns require a paid plan starting at $29/month.

Expected Response Rates & Iteration

With this specific sequence for Heads of Support at Series A startups, we’ve seen 5–8% positive reply rates (replies that are “not spam” and often a conversation starter). That’s assuming the list is well-qualified and the message resonates. If you’re below 3%, look at two things:

• Iterate on messaging first. Try a shorter subject line, a more provocative opening, or a different angle (e.g., focus on hiring pain vs. ticket deflection). Heads of Support are analytical — a subject line like “Your CSAT is fine, until it isn’t” can outperform generic ones.
• Iterate on the list second. If you’re getting opens but no replies, your list might be mistargeted. Go back to Origami and refine the prompt — maybe add filters for “company size < 120” or “uses Intercom or Zendesk.”

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