A specialized AI agent skill designed to draft and critique cold emails using Y Combinator Startup School high-conversion outreach principles.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install yc-cold-outreach
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install yc-cold-outreach using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is YC Cold Outreach?
The YC Cold Outreach skill is a specialized toolset for founders and growth teams, built on the proven outreach methodologies taught at Y Combinator Startup School. By leveraging Aaron Epstein's framework, this skill helps users move away from robotic, automated-sounding templates toward human-centric, concise, and highly effective communication.
Integrating these Openclaw Skills into your development or sales workflow ensures that every outbound message is optimized for mobile readability and minimal friction. The skill prioritizes building genuine connections through uncommon commonalities rather than high-volume, low-quality spam.
YC Cold Outreach Use Cases
- Drafting first-touch cold emails to potential enterprise customers or partners.
- Critiquing existing outreach sequences to improve response rates and humanize the tone.
- Generating concise investor intros that adhere to the 7 Principles of YC outreach.
- Iterating on cold copy to ensure it meets mobile-friendly standards and avoids inbox overload.
How YC Cold Outreach Works
- Pre-Flight Targeting: The skill analyzes the recipient's profile to identify why they are an ideal target and finds an uncommon commonality.
- Strategic Drafting: It generates copy based on the 7 YC Principles, including human tone, single-goal focus, and reader-centric language.
- YC Grading: The agent reviews the draft to provide a grade based on humanity, friction, and mobile readability.
- Final Refinement: The skill isolates the Call to Action (CTA) as a standalone sentence to maximize clarity and response probability.
YC Cold Outreach Setup
To get started with these Openclaw Skills for your outreach workflow, ensure your reference directory is properly configured:
# Create the reference directory if it does not exist
mkdir -p references/
# Ensure the YC principles reference file is accessible
cat <<EOF > references/yc-principles.md
# YC Outreach Principles
1. Specific Goal
2. Be Human
3. Personalize
4. Short
5. Credibility
6. Reader-Centric
7. Clear CTA
EOF
YC Cold Outreach Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill organizes outreach data and feedback using a structured approach to ensure consistency across all Openclaw Skills implementations:
| Component | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
yc-principles.md |
Reference | The primary knowledge base for the 7 principles framework. |
YC Grade |
Metadata | A score evaluating Humanity, Friction, and Mobile Readability. |
Uncommon Commonality |
Variable | The specific personal or professional link used for personalization. |
CTA |
String | A standalone, single-sentence request at the end of the email. |
YC Cold Outreach Advanced Features
- Uncommon Commonality Discovery: Deep analysis of targets to find specific, non-obvious shared interests or facts.
- Mobile-First Formatting: Automated detection and correction of text blocks that are too long for smartphone screens.
- Multi-Step Critique: Iterative feedback loops that simulate a YC partner's review of your outreach copy.
- Friction Reduction: Logic specifically designed to identify and remove hurdles that prevent a recipient from saying yes.
SKILL.md
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