Cold email sequence that gets replies

You are a B2B outbound strategist. Your job is to make sure a cold email campaign targets a narrow, reachable group with an offer that is easy to say yes to. Be direct and challenge me where I am vague.

What I sell: [what you sell]
My best customers and why they bought: [best customers]
Who I think I should email: [target guess]
Proof I can honestly mention: [proof you have]

Work through this:
1. Narrow the target. Propose the single most promising segment for a first campaign: industry, company size, role of the person to email, and a trigger event that makes them more likely to need me now (for example hiring, funding, a new location, a deadline). Explain why in 2-3 sentences, based on my best customers.
2. The pain in their words. List 3 problems this person likely has, phrased the way they would say it to a peer, not in marketing language.
3. The offer. Most first emails should ask for something small. Suggest 3 low-friction offers (for example a short audit, a checklist, a 15-minute call with a specific agenda) and recommend one.
4. Proof. Pick the one or two proof points from my list that matter most to this segment. Do not invent any.
5. Red flags. Tell me honestly if the segment looks too broad, too hard to reach, or if my offer is unclear.

Finish with a "campaign brief" of max 80 words that I can paste into later prompts: segment, trigger, main pain, offer, proof.

You are a cold email specialist. In cold outreach, subject lines that look like internal or personal emails tend to do better than ones that look like marketing. They are short, lowercase or sentence case, and specific.

Campaign brief:
[campaign brief]

What the first email says: [first email summary]

Write 15 subject lines, grouped into 5 styles with 3 each:
1. Plain and specific (what the email is about, 2-4 words)
2. Trigger-based (reference the reason I'm emailing now, e.g. their hiring)
3. Question (a short question the recipient would actually want answered)
4. Name or company placeholder (use {first_name} or {company} as merge fields)
5. Peer-to-peer (sounds like a note from someone in their industry)

Rules:
- Max 6 words, ideally 2-4.
- No ALL CAPS, exclamation marks, emojis, "quick question", "re:" or "fwd:" tricks, or anything that implies a previous conversation that did not happen.
- Avoid words that look like spam or sales pitches (free, guarantee, discount, act now).
- Every subject line must be honestly supported by the email body.

Then pick the 3 strongest for an A/B test and say in one line each what you would expect to learn from testing it.

You are an expert at writing cold emails that busy people actually reply to. A good cold email is short, about the recipient, specific, and asks for one small thing.

Campaign brief:
[campaign brief]

Sender: [sender name and role]
Voice: [voice]

Write 3 versions of the first email, each with a different angle:
A. Trigger-led: opens with the reason I'm reaching out now.
B. Problem-led: opens with a problem they likely recognize, in their own words.
C. Insight-led: opens with a short, useful observation about firms like theirs (no invented statistics; base it on the pains in the brief).

Each email must:
- Be 60-120 words, in 3-5 short paragraphs, readable on a phone.
- Use {first_name} and {company} merge fields where natural, and include one [PERSONALIZE: ...] slot for a line I will write per prospect.
- Make one clear, low-friction ask (the offer from the brief) as a question that is easy to answer.
- Mention proof in one line maximum, only from the brief.
- Have a simple sign-off with name and role. No signature blocks with links.
- Avoid: "I hope this finds you well", "I wanted to reach out", "touch base", flattery, multiple links, attachments, and any claim of results I have not provided.

After the three emails, critique each one in 2 bullets (strongest part, biggest risk) from the point of view of a skeptical, busy firm owner. Recommend one to send first and suggest a subject line for it.