"I hope this finds you well" is why you got deleted

01What the first line is for

The first line has one job: make the reader believe this email is about them.

Not about you. Not about your company, your product or your funding round. About them, their company, their week, their problem.

In most inboxes the first line also shows up as the preview text under the subject. So it's doing double duty: it's the second half of your subject line and the first sentence of your pitch. Waste it and the reader has decided before they open.

A good first line passes one test: could you have sent it to anyone else? If yes, delete it.

02Opener 1 we would cut: "I hope this finds you well"

It's polite. It's also invisible. It tells the reader nothing, proves you know nothing about them, and burns the most valuable line in the email. Every sales email in their inbox starts this way. Yours just joined the pile.

The fix isn't a cleverer greeting. Drop the greeting and start with them.

03Opener 2 we would cut: "My name is… and I'm the… at…"

Your name is already in the From field. Your title is in your signature. Opening with your CV tells the reader this email is about you. They'll assume the rest is too.

04Openers 3 to 5

3. "I came across your profile and was impressed." By what? If you can't say, they know you didn't look. If you can say, say that instead and skip the word "impressed".

4. "Quick question." Then a long paragraph. It's a promise you break in the next sentence, and readers notice.

5. "Are you the right person to talk to about…?" It hands the reader a job: work out who in their company should deal with you. Most people take the easier option and delete. Do the research yourself. (We wrote about why this matters in The person who signs is rarely the person you emailed.)

05What to write instead

Start with something true about them that you couldn't have known without looking. Then connect it to one problem you solve. Keep it to one or two lines.

The second version is specific, it's about Priya, and it sets up the problem you solve without a word about you.

Three places to find a first line worth writing:

1. What they just did. A hire, a launch, a new office, a funding round, a post they wrote.
2. What their customers see. Something on their site, their pricing or their reviews.
3. What their peers are dealing with. A change in their industry that hits companies their size.

If you can't find one of those, you're not ready to email them yet.

06The short version

• The first line exists to prove the email is about the reader.
• Cut greetings, introductions, empty praise, "quick question" and "are you the right person".
• Open with one specific, true thing about them and tie it to one problem.

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