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The $25,000/month stack we replaced
We used to spend $25,000 a month on lead data and the software to process it. We were doing a ton of work moving the same records between apps.
Now I use Claude Code to run the workflow, call the providers directly, and have Python process the files. One person on my team processed eight million leads on a 16 GB MacBook Air in a week.
We can pull 1 million leads in 20 minutes on our current setup. Then we find the missing emails, validate them, and make the file we're going to send. I keep those stages separate because I want to see which part is taking time and which part is costing money.
What we replaced
| Old job | How we do it now |
|---|---|
| Search in Apollo, ZoomInfo, or Sales Navigator; export whatever the database gives us | Search BlitzAPI, LeadOcean, and MoltSets against the same brief. Combine their coverage. |
| Move exports through Clay, Sheets, ChatGPT, and separate cleanup steps | Give Claude the brief and access to the tools. It handles the repetitive list work for us. |
| Buy another lookup for a contact we already found | Check the list we already have. Pay to find only the missing information. |
| Treat the sequencer's reply-rate report as the result | Use OutFound to see which emails led to meetings, signups, customers, and revenue. |
| Run client sending through the old stack | We use Halo. 6 - Set up sending: Halo, Instantly, and costs shows the Instantly implementation you can access yourself. |
Obviously I still pay for data and sending. What I've removed is the work of moving files between software, buying the same lookup again, and cleaning everything manually. The $200 processing subscription is one part of that bill. It isn't the whole cold email channel.
Video: How I Get 8M+ Leads Using Claude Code (For Cold Email)
Work out what comes off your bill
I start with last month's invoices and put them in this table. Include the person doing the work too. Their time has a cost.
| Expense | Replacement cost |
|---|---|
| Search and contact databases | Provider plans and usage |
| Finding and checking emails | People still missing usable contact details |
| Table software and processing | Claude Code plus scripts |
| Operator time | Measured time in the new workflow |
| Sending and mailboxes | Use the budget in 6 - Set up sending: Halo, Instantly, and costs |
By the end of this, I want one working replacement and a list of subscriptions I can take off next month's bill.