--- title: "Founder Connections Mining: GTM Play in 6 Steps | Frontal" description: "Founder Connections Mining is a six-step outbound play for email and LinkedIn, from “Export the founder’s connections” to “Route by tier”. It uses LinkedIn, Clay, BetterContact, Findymail, Nooks and three more tools." url: https://frontal.so/plays/founder-connections-mining updated: 2026-10-19 --- Play 21 Outbound # Founder Connections Mining Founder Connections Mining is a six-step outbound play for email and LinkedIn, from “Export the founder’s connections” to “Route by tier”. It uses LinkedIn, Clay, BetterContact, Findymail, Nooks and three more tools. [Kenny Damian](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenny-damian-90aba221a/), Co-founder & Head of GTM **Motion** Outbound **Channel** Email, LinkedIn **Steps** 6 **Tools** 8 ## The workflow [![Workflow diagram of the Founder Connections Mining play in five numbered stages: export the founder’s network; load into Clay and keep the date; enrich, then check two things; rank by fit, not by memory; and route by tier.](https://frontal.so/_astro/founder-connections-mining-1280.BLLf8M9-.webp)](https://frontal.so/_astro/founder-connections-mining-1280.BLLf8M9-.webp) *[Open the diagram full size](https://frontal.so/_astro/founder-connections-mining-1280.BLLf8M9-.webp) (1280 x 2204 px)* **The diagram as text** 1. Export the founder’s network - **Settings → Data privacy → Download data archive**. Tool: LinkedIn. - **Connections CSV (one-time pull)**: Name, Title, Company and Connected-on date. Warm data that sits in the founder’s network and almost never gets mined. Tool: LinkedIn. - **Best with 2,000+ connections** 2. Load into Clay and keep the date - **One row per connection**: The connected-on date stays on every record. It decides the opener. Tool: Clay. - **Connected on → Opener** - Recently → Can assume they know the founder - Years ago → Reintroduces the founder first 3. Enrich, then check two things - **Company**: Industry, Headcount, Funding stage and Tech stack. With: Clay and Apollo. - **Person**: Current role, Seniority and Decision-maker. Email: BetterContact and Findymail. - **Gate 1: No open deal**: Companies already in the CRM are flagged so the founder never cuts across a live deal. Dropped: Open deal. Tool: HubSpot. - **Gate 2: Still there, still relevant**: The person still works at the company, in a role worth talking to. Dropped: Moved on. Tool: Clay. 4. Rank by fit, not by memory - **Tier 1**: ICP + decision-maker. - **Tier 2**: Good fit, needs warm-up. - **Tier 3**: Partial fit. 5. Route by tier - **AE cold call (call)**: A one-time play, so the top tier gets real effort. The call names the existing connection. Call: Nooks. - **Email + LinkedIn (sequence)**: Opens on the fact they are already connected. Email: Instantly. LinkedIn: lemlist. - **Light nurture (nurture)**: Email only, low priority. Email: Instantly. - **Outcome: Warm pipeline from the founder’s network**. Tool: Nooks. **The stack:** LinkedIn, Clay, Apollo, BetterContact, Findymail, HubSpot, Nooks, lemlist, Instantly. ## The play in six steps 1. ### Step 1: Export the founder’s connections Warm data that is already sitting in the founder’s personal network and has almost never been mined systematically. - LinkedIn → Settings → Data Privacy → Download Data Archive. - Export the Connections CSV (name, title, company, connected-on date). - Best when the founder has 2,000+ connections. 2. ### Step 2: Upload to Clay One row per connection, preserving how long they have been connected. - Create a single record per contact. - Keep the connected-on date: older connections need a different opener. 3. ### Step 3: Enrich the companies Work out which of those connections sit at companies you can actually sell to. - Industry, headcount, funding stage, tech stack. - Flag companies that already appear in the CRM so you do not cut across an open deal. 4. ### Step 4: Enrich the contacts Confirm the person is still there and still relevant. - Current role and seniority. - Decision-maker flag. - Verified email via BetterContact or Findymail. 5. ### Step 5: Score against ICP Rank the network by fit, not by how well the founder remembers them. - Tier 1: strong ICP match and a decision-maker. - Tier 2: good fit, needs a warm-up touch. - Tier 3: partial fit, low priority. 6. ### Step 6: Route by tier This is a one-time play, so the top tier deserves real effort. - Tier 1: AE cold calls through Nooks, referencing the existing connection. - Tier 2: email plus LinkedIn, opening on the fact they are already connected. - Tier 3: light email nurture only. ## Tools used The eight tools this play names. Each links to the other plays that use it. - [LinkedIn](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=LinkedIn) - [Clay (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/clay) [Clay](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=Clay) - [BetterContact](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=BetterContact) - [Findymail](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=Findymail) - [Apollo (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/apollo) [Apollo](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=Apollo) - [Instantly (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/instantly) [Instantly](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=Instantly) - [lemlist (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/lemlist) [lemlist](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=lemlist) - [Nooks](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=Nooks) ## Related plays - Play 26 Outbound ### [New Hire & GTM Leader Tracking](https://frontal.so/plays/new-hire-tracking) 6 steps · Email, LinkedIn - [Clay (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/clay) - [Apollo (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/apollo) - +2 more - Play 33 Inbound · Outbound ### [Brand Mentions Monitoring](https://frontal.so/plays/brand-mentions-monitoring) 6 steps · LinkedIn, Email - [Clay (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/clay) - [Instantly (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/instantly) - [lemlist (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/lemlist) - +2 more - Play 22 Inbound · Outbound ### [Webinar & Event Attendee Capture](https://frontal.so/plays/webinar-attendee-capture) 6 steps · Email, LinkedIn - [Clay (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/clay) - [Apollo (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/apollo) - +2 more [All GTM plays](https://frontal.so/plays) ## Have us run this play Tell us what you’re trying to hit this quarter, and we’ll suggest where to start. 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