The 3 Pipelines Every Founder Needs (And How to Build Them Systematically)

Your biggest competitor isn't another startup. It's the founder who figured out how to systematically reach the right people while you're still hoping for warm intros.

Most founders treat relationship building like it's optional—something they'll "get to" after they ship the next feature. But the best founders know that building relationships with hires, customers, and investors isn't separate from building their company. It *is* building their company.

While you're perfecting your product in isolation, they're having conversations that shape their roadmap, validate their assumptions, and open doors you didn't even know existed.

The difference isn't that they're better networkers or more charismatic. They've just built tiny, repeatable systems that compound over time. Here's exactly how they do it.

The Manual Trap That's Killing Your Momentum

Still doing any of this manually?

1. Scraping LinkedIn profiles one by one
2. Crafting individual 1:1 messages from scratch
3. Forgetting to follow up with promising conversations
4. Letting warm leads go cold while you focus on product

It's not just time you're wasting—it's momentum. Every manual process is a bottleneck that slows down your ability to build the three relationships that actually matter for your startup's survival.

How the Best Founders Actually Operate

The best founders don't wait around for warm intros or hope their latest tweet goes viral. They build tiny, compounding systems that reach the right people every single week.

The formula is simple: Show up → spark context → stay top of mind. All while shipping product and building the actual business.

They understand that consistent, systematic outreach isn't a distraction from building—it's part of building. Every conversation with a potential hire, customer, or investor teaches you something that makes your product and strategy better.

The Only 3 Pipelines That Matter

There are only three types of people you need to stay alive as a founder:

• People who can build with you (hires, advisors, co-founders)
• People who want to buy from you (customers, users, early adopters)
• People who might back you (angels, VCs, strategic investors)

Everything else is noise. Don't chase scale—chase signal. Your job isn't to reach everyone; it's to systematically reach the right people in each of these three categories.

Step 1: Build Micro-CRMs (Not Tools, Lists)

Forget expensive CRM software. Start with three simple lists:

• One for candidates you might want to hire
• One for customers who fit your ideal profile
• One for angels and funds that invest in your stage and sector

Pull them from LinkedIn. Filter by title, company size, funding stage, or whatever criteria matter for your business. Update them weekly as you discover new people or companies.

That's your battlefield. These aren't static lists—they're living documents that grow as you learn more about your market and ideal profiles.

Step 2: Watch for Signals (Don't Spray and Pray)

Don't send cold messages to everyone on your lists. Wait for something—anything—to warm up the conversation:

• They changed jobs (new role, new priorities)
• They posted something relevant to your space
• They viewed your LinkedIn profile
• They followed your co-founder or engaged with your content

One signal is all it takes. That's your opening to start a relevant, timely conversation instead of another generic cold pitch.

Step 3: Use Sequencing, Not Scripts

Here's the cadence that actually works:

Connect → Light touch → Soft follow-up → Drop value → Clear CTA

Most people quit after one DM and wonder why their "outreach doesn't work." But every step in the sequence is a new chance to land the conversation. The real leverage lives in the follow-up—that's where relationships actually get built.

Each touchpoint should feel natural and add something new to the conversation, not just repeat the same ask in different words.

Step 4: Don't Get Blocked (Play by LinkedIn's Rules)

LinkedIn has rules. Don't break them. Instead, get creative about how you show up:

• Message inside groups where you're both members
• Join events and DM attendees who are clearly interested in your space
• Engage with mutuals to get on someone's radar before reaching out
• Use co-founder accounts strategically to expand your reach

It's not about spamming or gaming the system. It's about showing up across multiple surfaces so when you do reach out directly, you're not a complete stranger.

Step 5: Learn from Every Response (Including Silence)

This is where most founders miss the biggest opportunity. Every interaction teaches you something:

• Who's biting? What types of people are most responsive?
• Which lines fall flat? What messaging isn't resonating?
• Where do people click but ghost? What's the disconnect between interest and action?

This isn't just "ops"—it's early-stage go-to-market research. Treat it like product development: hypothesis, test, measure, iterate.

Level Up: Advanced Optimization Tactics

Once your basic system is running, here's how to maximize results:

A/B test your CTAs: "Any interest?" vs. "Want to try?" vs. "Worth a quick test?" Small changes in how you ask can dramatically impact response rates.

Bucket your replies: Sort responses into categories like "curious," "cold," "hiring soon," "not now." Then tailor your follow-ups accordingly instead of using the same sequence for everyone.

Tag ghosters for re-engagement: People who went quiet aren't dead leads. Re-engage them 4-6 weeks later with something new—a case study, product demo, or company update.

Score your lists: Track who's actually engaging with your outreach and content. Double down on those personas and de-prioritize the ones that consistently ignore you.

Good outreach doesn't just scale—it learns and adapts based on real market feedback.

The System That Runs Itself

Once you've proven this approach works manually, you shouldn't keep doing everything by hand forever. The best founders automate the repetitive parts while keeping the human touch where it matters—in the actual conversations.

This is exactly why we built Tiger. It runs this entire system quietly in the background, letting you focus on product development and the strategic conversations that actually move your startup forward.

Tiger handles:

• Systematic list building from your ideal customer profiles
• Signal detection to time your outreach perfectly
• Sequence automation that feels human, not robotic
• Performance tracking so you can optimize what's working

The result? Consistent pipeline development across all three critical relationships—hires, customers, and investors—without the manual overhead that kills momentum.