How

Had a $32M+ ARR Cold Email Engine On Their Way To Raising $40M

We proved cold email worked for Fyxer, then got them past $1M+ ARR before demo day. The outbound machine we built kept scaling through their $10M Series A and $30M Series B.

01At a Glance

At a Glance

2,228

users in first 90 days

$1M+

ARR before demo day

$40M

total raised

($10M Series A + $30M Series B)

8.8M

emails/month at peak

4,275 signups/month

$4.3M

annual pipeline

$32.2M potential at full TAM

Estimates are based on Sales Automation Systems' internal tracking and modeling.

"Sales Automation Systems & Taylor Haren helped us build and manage a cold email channel that contributed to our growth from $1–$10M in just five months. They managed the full technical complexity of large-scale email operations (sending 1,923,082 cold emails per week) with clear reporting, accurate attribution, and minimal management overhead from our side."

Archie Hollingsworth

Co-Founder & CRO, Fyxer AI

02Video

Watch the Full Fyxer AI Breakdown (24:06)

Rather watch than read? Taylor walks through the whole Fyxer story: how a $1K/month consulting engagement turned into a machine sending 8.8M emails/month and driving $4.3M/year in pipeline, and how that work shaped our current Series A and Series B plans.

If you want a machine like this, let's find out whether we can build you one.

03The Starting Point

The Starting Point: "Can Cold Email Even Work For Us?"

Fyxer was moving from an executive assistant service to an AI SaaS. Before going all in, Archie wanted to know one thing:

Is cold email actually a viable channel for Fyxer?

We started with a small consulting engagement (~$1K/month, weekly calls). Together we:

Set up basic infrastructure
Reviewed Archie's early campaigns
Iterated on targeting and messaging

Outcome: cold email worked for their offer and audience. Once we'd proven that, Archie paused the channel and went back to product and fundraising.

04Phase 1

Phase 1: 90-Day Sprint To Demo Day & Series A

With demo day approaching, Archie came back with a bigger ask:

"Can you get cold email up and running fast enough to sign up thousands of users before December?"

We:

Built and warmed a full machine in ~2 weeks
Ramped from 0 → 500K → 1M emails/month
Pure PLG motion: straight to free signup
Started as an infrastructure-only service, then quickly became fully managed growth generation: lead gen, validation, enrichment, campaign build & management

Results by demo day:

2,228 new users from outbound cold email
At least one ~$1M ARR enterprise client from this flow
Fyxer crossed $1M+ ARR, with cold email as a major contributor
They went into demo day with real traction, which opened the investor conversations that closed their $10M Series A

This sprint is what later became our Series B Plan: a way to go from no outbound to hundreds of thousands of emails a month in weeks, not quarters.

05Phase 2

Phase 2: CAC Crisis → Prototype Performance Deal → 5.37x Efficacy

We paused for 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year's.

After the holidays, Fyxer wanted cold email as a long-term, efficient channel.

We launched a huge test:

26+ variants
873,641 emails in 2 weeks
As expected with heavy testing, average performance dropped short term from ~4,753 → ~7,300 emails per positive reply

We didn't frame up front how ugly testing would look, so it triggered a cancellation notice from Fyxer's team. Internally, their CAC for this channel looked like it almost doubled overnight.

How We Restructured Fyxer's Deal Into What We Now Call Our Series B Plan

Originally, Fyxer was on:

Fixed $25K/month
For 1,000,000 emails/month
No performance fee

After the cancellation notice, we:

Showed the data on the top 5 variants (all outperforming the old control)
Switched Fyxer to a 100% performance-based arrangement
Structured so their economics worked out to roughly a 3:1 LTV:CAC protection, while our performance fees ended up above $25K/month anyway

So in practice, Fyxer got the prototype of the model we use now: first a fixed high-volume sprint, then a pure performance deal once the machine was proven.

We then pushed the top 5 campaigns live.

Performance the following month:

Testing low: ~7,317 emails per positive reply
New average: 1,829 emails per positive reply
5.37x efficacy improvement vs the testing low
One campaign delivered ~2,433 emails per signup, because many people clicked through and signed up without replying

Their LTV:CAC was implicitly guaranteed and our campaigns were 5x more effective, so Fyxer was happy to keep going on the new performance model.

06Series B Plan

Our Fyxer-Inspired Series B Plan

Everything we built with Fyxer became the basis for our current Series B Plan. They got the prototype. We later turned it into cleaner terms for the clients who came after.

Our Series B Plan:

Equivalent to our current $25,000/month Series B flat plan
Performance economics added later after campaign data was real
Minimum 250,000 cold emails per month sent for you
Fully managed: infra, data, enrichment, campaigns, and reporting

In plain terms: you get the same outbound playbook Fyxer used to go from $1M to $10M ARR in five months. You start on the equivalent of the flat Series B plan, and performance terms come later.

We'll pressure-test your TAM and economics, and tell you straight if it doesn't pencil out.

07Phase 3

Phase 3: Segmentation, Evergreen Pillars & Peak Machine

Over the next few months, we turned the machine into a segmented, evergreen system:

What We Tested

Inbox type: Gmail performed ~2x better than other inboxes
Industry: tested 100+, kept the top 10 (data stays with Fyxer)
Seniority: C-suite, founders, VPs, etc.

Breakthrough segment:

C-suite + Gmail + certain industry + certain headcount
302,000+ leads fit that criteria
643 emails per positive reply
Estimated 470 signups → actually 600+ signups

We turned segments like this into evergreen "pillars" that cycled every 2 months, then built many more pillars just like it.

At peak, we were sending:

8.8M

emails/month

4,275

signups/month (965/week)

$4.3M

annual pipeline/year

If we'd kept pushing volume until the machine reached Fyxer's full TAM (132M potential professional contacts) every 60 days, the same setup modeled out to:

$32,225,017.88

per year in annual pipeline

Beyond Series B: Custom Scale

This "Phase 3" scale with Fyxer is why we still take custom scale conversations.

At that stage we were sending millions of emails per month and charging them as high as six figures in single months.

All on a performance plan.

Some companies want more than us running the channel for them.

They want to start at extreme volume and have their internal team trained and implemented alongside us.

Custom scale is for companies that need:

More volume than the Series B starting point
A custom send plan based on TAM, proof, and deliverability
Training and implementation with your team so you can own more of the machine over time

If you're already at scale and want to operate more like Fyxer did in their peak months, ask about custom scale on your intro call.

We'll assess your current scale and whether a custom volume plan makes sense.

08Phase 4

Phase 4: Strategic Exit & Series B

We wrapped with Fyxer as they headed into their Series B.

Reason:

As they prepared for their $30M Series B, one of Fyxer's key product features was blocking cold emails. Their founders and investors felt it no longer made sense to keep cold email as a major acquisition channel while selling a product that helps users stop it.

They announced:

$30M

Series B

$17M

ARR

By our final day:

The machine was at 8.8M emails/month, with clear room to scale toward the 66M/month TAM target
It was still far from fully optimized. Our estimates show that if we'd kept increasing volume, they'd have had a $32M ARR cold email machine, fully managed and hands off

Cold email, run by , had:

Proven the channel and helped Fyxer cross $1M+ ARR with 2,228 users in the first 90‑day sprint
Sourced a ~$1M ARR enterprise account directly from outbound
Reached 8.8M emails/month, driving $4.3M/year in annual pipeline with $32.2M/year modeled at full TAM saturation
Added the kind of hard traction numbers that underpinned Fyxer's $10M Series A and $30M Series B

09Is This a Fit?

Is This Right For Your Company?

We're a fit if:

You're B2B, AI, or SaaS
You have real retention and margin (or clear line of sight to it)
You want cold email as a core channel, not a side experiment
You're okay with us pressure-testing your CAC and messaging the way we did with Fyxer

What Happens On The Intro Call

We map your TAM and economics
Stress-test whether cold email can hit your LTV:CAC targets
Show you the exact infrastructure and testing plan we'd run
If it's not a fit, we'll tell you directly. If it is, we'll outline timelines and investment.
We'll also tell you whether you're a better fit for the Series A Plan or the higher-volume Series B Plan.

"Taylor is the 🐐 of cold email"Archie, Co-Founder, Fyxer AI

We'll run the numbers together. If it doesn't pencil out, we'll tell you.

10Full Testimonial

Full Testimonial From Fyxer

"Sales Automation Systems & Taylor Haren helped us build and manage a cold email channel that contributed to our growth from $1–$10M in just five months.
This is what makes Taylor and his team world class:
Operational Excellence
– They managed the full technical complexity of the large scale email operations (sending 1,923,082 cold emails per week).
– Provided clear reporting and attribution tracking
– Required minimal management overhead from our side, we could trust them to do an outstanding job
Flexible Approach
– Adapted pricing models as our needs evolved
– Pivoted targeting strategies based on performance data
– Scaled operations when needed for specific campaigns
Full-Service Execution
– Handled copywriting, data analytics, and campaign strategy
– Managed the entire technical stack and infrastructure
– Allowed us to treat this as a managed channel
Cold email became a very effective channel in our growth mix as we scaled to $10M in ARR. It contributed meaningfully to our pipeline and helped us reach users who might not have found us through other channels.
For founders considering cold email, look for partners who can handle the operational complexity, adapt to your changing needs, and integrate well with your broader growth strategy. Taylor's team delivered on these fronts."