Site record

    Changelog

    Every new case published, every offense type added to the taxonomy, every scoring change. The record of what changed and when.

    April 2026
    Apr 11, 2026
    siteAI paste-and-score tool launched at /analyzeNew

    Self-audit tool: paste any cold outreach message and get a two-pass forensic analysis. Heuristic regex pre-screen followed by a full Claude API pass against the 30-offense taxonomy. Results include per-offense span annotations, a weighted score, percentile rank against the 300-case reference set, and a materially rewritten version.

    AI analysisSelf-audit30 offensesTry the tool →
    Apr 11, 2026
    siteState of Cold Outreach 2026 publishedNew

    Annual research report covering the 40% decline in reply rates since 2019, the AI volume acceleration, the quality gap between top-quartile and median senders, and the buyer's view. Four sections with bar charts, stat pulls, evidence tables, and research citations woven into prose.

    Annual reportResearchExternal citationsRead the report →
    Apr 11, 2026
    siteOffense tag pages rebuilt with full taxonomy depthNew

    Each /tag/:offense page now includes the coinage block, example with why-it-fails explanation, research validation stat, co-occurrence data from the 300-case reference set, fix prescription, and a sidebar with all offense navigation.

    Tag pagesGEOCo-occurrenceView FAKE-RESEARCH →
    Apr 09, 2026
    siteIndustry and channel landing pages publishedNew

    Dedicated pages for each industry (SaaS, FinTech, Cybersecurity, MarTech, HR Tech, Real Estate Tech, DevTools) and each channel (LinkedIn InMail, Cold Email, SMS) with aggregate stats, pattern analysis, and case indexes.

    7 industry pages3 channel pages
    Apr 09, 2026
    siteHall of Shame publishedNew

    Ranked leaderboard across four dimensions: worst scores, most offenses per message, most common offense types, and performance by channel.

    March 2026
    Mar 14, 2026
    caseCase #0042 - Generic Blast - F · 1.2/10

    LinkedIn InMail · SaaS · SDR. Auto-fail triggered by MERGE-FAIL. Four offenses identified: MERGE-FAIL, FAKE-RESEARCH, VAGUE-ICP, PREMATURE-ASK.

    MERGE-FAILFAKE-RESEARCHVAGUE-ICPPREMATURE-ASKView case →
    Mar 10, 2026
    caseCase #0041 - Cargo-Cult Personalization - F · 1.8/10

    Email · FinTech. Four offenses. Generic growth compliment as opener, buzzword-dense value prop, FOMO-BAIT close.

    FAKE-RESEARCHBUZZWORD-LOADFOMO-BAITPREMATURE-ASKView case →
    Mar 07, 2026
    taxonomyPAIN-ASSUMPTION added to offense canon

    New offense type added after appearing independently in three cases. Definition: asserting the recipient is experiencing a specific problem without evidence they are. Severity: Major.

    Opening categoryMajor severityView taxonomy entry →
    February 2026
    Feb 28, 2026
    caseCase #0039 - The Pain Inventor - F · 2.4/10

    Email · Cybersecurity. First case to trigger the new PAIN-ASSUMPTION offense type. Also the first Cybersecurity case in the archive.

    PAIN-ASSUMPTIONHUMBLE-BRAG-PIVOTFOMO-BAITVAGUE-ICPView case →
    Feb 20, 2026
    caseCase #0038 - The Full Disaster - F · 0.8/10 - Lowest score on record

    Email · HR Tech. 0.8/10 - the lowest score in the archive. Five offenses across a 4-sentence message. Every element failed simultaneously.

    5 offensesAuto-failLowest score everView case →
    Feb 15, 2026
    scoringAuto-fail ceiling set at 2.0

    Updated scoring methodology: any message containing a MERGE-FAIL offense is capped at 2.0/10 regardless of other content quality.

    Scoring changeApplies to all future cases
    Feb 05, 2026
    siteYourOutreachSUCKS launches - 4 cases published

    Site launched with 4 cases, 6 offense types, and the initial scoring rubric. FOMO-BAIT and REPLY-ALL-ENERGY added in the first week.

    Launch4 cases6 offense types
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