Every founder hears the same advice: talk to your customers. What nobody explains is how to get a stranger to give you 15 minutes.

I've had about 100 customer discovery conversations so far, mostly with insurance brokers. Nearly all of them started with a cold message on LinkedIn. Here's the method I use, the exact messages I send, and why I think it works.

Why cold outreach usually fails

When someone you've never met messages you, you assume they want something. That's a fair assumption, since almost everyone who reaches out cold is selling. So most outreach gets filtered out before the first line is finished.

Here's the good news for student founders: in customer discovery, you really aren't selling anything. You want to learn how someone does their job. The whole method is about making that come through clearly, from the first message to the first minute of the call.

The principle: be exactly what you are

You're a student with a real question. Every message should look and sound like that, because it's true.

People spot campaigns quickly. Generic wording, no first name, a corporate tone, a pitch in the opening message: any one of those gets you written off. So I apply one test to every detail. Does this read like one curious person reaching out, or like an outreach campaign? If you're honest about who you are and what you want, that test is easy to pass.

Why LinkedIn

Most outreach advice assumes email. For discovery, LinkedIn works better. Your name, face, and background are one click away, and reaching out to someone because of the work they do makes sense on a platform built for exactly that. A cold email raises an awkward question before it says anything: how did you get my address?

Start with your own profile

The first thing people do when your request arrives is check who you are. Your profile is part of the message.

• Use a real photo where you look approachable. A suit against a gray backdrop says "sales," which is the assumption you're working against.
• Lead with being a student, if you are one. Plenty of people genuinely enjoy helping students.

Founders often polish their profiles to look as professional as possible. For discovery, that backfires, because looking impressive looks like sales. Looking like a curious student looks like what you are.

The three messages

My examples involve insurance brokers, but the structure works for any profession. The only part you need to rewrite is the question in Step 2.

Step 1: The connection request

Once you’ve built your list (more on that below), send a connection request with a short note:

Hi [Name], how are you doing? I'm Yannick, I'm from the Netherlands, and I'm currently a grad student at NYU. I came across your profile and was looking at your experience. Any chance I could ask you a question? 🙂

Keep it personal and small. Use their first name, say who you are, and ask permission to ask a question without asking it yet. There's no pitch, so there's nothing to decline. Most people accept because they're curious what you want to know.

Step 2: The question

Once they accept, most people reply within a day or two with something like "Sure, what's up?" Now you ask. I send it as two short messages, the way you'd text a person:

Amazing, appreciate it [Name]!

I keep reading that AI is going to eat a large chunk of insurance placement, but the more I look into how the industry actually functions, it seems like the work is too nuanced for AI to just take over. Do you think things are actually changing, or is it overblown?

A good question does two things. It shows you've thought about their world, and it takes a real answer. Mine touches on something brokers think about a lot and invites them to explain what outsiders get wrong. The replies often run several paragraphs, and they're some of the most useful research I get.

Writing your own question

There's one requirement: the question has to be open enough that answering it takes paragraphs, not a few words. A long answer makes them the expert and you the learner, which sets up the next step naturally.

From strongest to weakest:

1. A question about a change people say is coming for their job. "Everyone says X is going to change your work. I'm not sure they're right. What's your take?"
2. Any ongoing debate in their field. Practitioners have opinions and rarely get asked for them.
3. Any thoughtful, open question about their work. It's weaker, but an interesting question still gets a real answer.

Avoid questions that can be answered in a line, anything that sounds like a survey ("What are your top three pain points?"), and anything where you're the one with the insight. You want them explaining, not agreeing.

AI is a live topic in almost every industry right now, so this version travels well: "[Profession] is supposedly about to be automated, but the more I look at how the work actually happens, it seems too nuanced for that. Is it real, or overblown?" Better still, find the specific debate your industry is already having.

Step 3: The ask

After they reply, thank them and ask for a short call, again in two messages:

Yes it does and makes total sense, that tracks exactly with what I've been picking up

I've actually been trying to learn more about specifically this and looks like you have the right experience, any chance you'd be up for a 15 min chat sometime so I can learn more about your view of the future?

This is where most people say yes, and it's easy to see why. You're no longer a stranger. They've just taught you something, so asking to learn more feels like a natural next step rather than a new favor. The ask is small and specific: 15 minutes, one purpose. Book it for 15. It almost always runs 30 or more.

If someone goes quiet

People drop off at every stage. Wait a week or two, then send:

Hi [Name], let me know 🙂

That's the whole message. A short nudge reads like a person waiting on a reply, and a surprising number of people respond. Long follow-ups that re-explain or apologize tend to do worse.

One rule: if someone accepts but never replies, don't send the question anyway. Nudge them and wait for a yes. Sending it unprompted turns a conversation back into a cold message.

Tone rules for every message

• Write like a person. Keep it casual, use contractions, and skip the formal sign-off.
• Keep messages short. Two short messages read like a conversation. One long one reads like a business email.
• Never pitch. Not in the note, not in the question, not on the call. The moment a pitch appears, you're back to being someone who wants something.

Making it a habit

The messages get people to say yes. A simple system gets you to enough people.

• Build a list. I use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to filter for the people I want, but regular search works fine. What matters is tracking who you've already contacted.
• Reach active users. I only contact people with at least 50 to 100 connections. Below that, they're probably not on LinkedIn enough to see your message.
• Work in batches. I send about 50 connection requests a day. With shortcuts, that takes me about 15 minutes, and 50 requests usually turns into two or three conversations. LinkedIn limits how many requests you can send but doesn’t publish the number, so if you get a notice that you’ve hit it, ease off for a while.

I put music on while I work through a batch. It feels less like a chore and more like going out to meet the people you're building for.

The first three minutes of the call

The Leslie Entrepreneurial Institute has many resources on running discovery conversations, so I'll only cover how I open.

1. Start warm. "Hi, how are you, so nice to meet you." Make a little small talk. If nothing comes up, ask where they're calling from today.
2. When they ask you back, say you're calling from NYU. It's a natural reminder of who you are.
3. Transition: "So as you might remember, I'm trying to get a better understanding of how [role] do [job]. Thank you for taking this chat. I've prepared a list of questions I'd love to go through, but before I pull that up, I'd love to tell you a bit about myself, and maybe you can share a bit about yourself too. Does that sound good?"
4. Trade a couple of sentences each. By then it feels comfortable. Then pull up your questions.

Come prepared. They gave you their time because you were curious, so make it worth their while. And at the end of every call, ask if you can follow up.

Why people say yes

People enjoy talking about their work, and hardly anyone asks them about it. Someone with twenty years in an industry has a lot to say and few chances to say it. From their side, 15 minutes with a curious student is a pleasant conversation.

So you're not taking anything from them. The only thing in the way is their reasonable assumption that a stranger wants to sell them something. Be honest about who you are, ask a question worth answering, and you'll both get a conversation you enjoy. That's also why the calls run long: nobody's in a hurry to leave.