Stebbings Turns Cold Emails Into Access
The 29-year-old founder of 20VC accomplished the goal in 2023. Since then, he has said he spends 30 minutes a week on "hustle time" and has booked many guests through cold emails.
"It is absolutely nuts to me that you can find anyone’s email on the internet and just cold email them," Stebbings said on an episode of "The Biography Podcast" in November 2025. "I’m pretty sure if you’re a good enough stalker, because you have to be a stalker, by the way—everyone should learn to be a really efficient SDR, but essentially stalker."
An SDR, or sales development representative, is someone who finds and qualifies potential customers. Stebbings used the term to argue that relationship-building is a learnable skill, not magic reserved for insiders.
Personalized Outreach Finally Wins Benioff Over
