The pipeline
Pipeline at a glance
From an unknown company to a sent referral ask, stage by stage.
A company enters as a name and leaves, if it earns it, as a sent referral ask with a person's name on it. Each stage has one job, writes through the guardrails, and records why when it can't finish.
- 01DiscoverCompanies from ATS boards, YC, Wellfound, funding news, India sources
- 02FillDescription, LinkedIn page, funding, pay power — each with its evidence
- 03Hiring proofAn open role on their own careers page or job board
- 04Roles & scoringRoles scraped, matched to the resume, ranked by selection odds
- 05DecideP(offer) per company; a shortlist per city and one company a day
- 06PeopleEngineers and founders who work there now, in the company's own city
- 07AddressesReal addresses first; a guessed one only when nobody ready has a real one
- 08DraftOne honest email per person, from evidence — or no email at all
- 09ReviewYou read, edit, approve or reject. Nothing sends without this.
- 10SendFrom your Gmail, 25 a day, at most 3 into one company, spread like a person
- 11RepliesRead back, classified, bounces caught, the brake applied
- 12Follow upExactly one, after five quiet days — back through review
- 13ScheduleA “yes” with a time becomes a calendar event, clashes flagged
Who runs each stage#
| Stage | Runs in | Spends |
|---|---|---|
| Discover | Free tick (rotating steps), paid tick, daily scrape | Free; Exa and X in the paid tick |
| Fill | Free tick (20 per tick) · Fill now · opening a company | Free |
| Hiring proof | Fill, careers and verify steps | Free |
| Roles & scoring | Daily cycle in the API; selection odds every tick | Model rubric on survivors only |
| Decide | Every free tick, after the role scores · decide run · the mixer | Free — arithmetic over fields already held |
| People | The Apify job (every 30 min): People tabs for the shortlist, tech team only; the free tick’s people step | Apify inside its daily cap |
| Complete the shortlist | Shortlist job (every 10 min): one company at a time, Bengaluru first | Free fill + Exa (Agent Reach); referrals via the Apify job |
| Addresses | Right after every people step | Free (MX lookups); Hunter when enabled |
| Draft | On request: Outreach → batch, or the CLI | Model polish, optional |
| Review | You, in the Queue | Ten minutes |
| Send | Send job, every 5 minutes | One email per run, 25 a day |
| Replies & follow-up | Free tick and the API’s hourly reply cycle | Cheap model for classification |
Referrals are Apify's job
Company and role scraping runs on the free and paid ticks. Referrals come from the Apify job, the shortlist first and the tech team only; the free people-search job is off. See Scheduling.The order work is done in#
Every queue reads the same ordering (db.fill_order): the ★ India list first, in list order; then Bengaluru and Hyderabad companies found in the last 30 days; then companies we know nothing about; then the least-complete of the highest-priority companies. Referrals go city by city — Bengaluru, then Hyderabad.
Stage by stage#
The pipelineDiscoveryWhere companies come from, and the gate they pass to get in.The pipelineFill & enrichmentDescription, LinkedIn page, funding and pay — completed with evidence.The pipelineHiring proofProving a company is really hiring, on its own site or board.The pipelineRoles & scoringScraping roles, matching them to the resume, and ranking the odds.The pipelineThe decision brainWhich companies to spend the days on: P(offer), the shortlists, one company a day.The pipelineThe mixerDecide first, then buy: free layers narrow the field, Apify fills only what is missing.The pipelinePeople & referrersFinding the humans who could refer you — without your accounts.The pipelineEmail addressesReal addresses first, confirmed patterns second, never invented.The pipelineDrafting & the review gateHow each ask is written, and why nothing leaves without your approval.The pipelineSending & deliverabilityGmail, the daily cap, pacing like a person, and the bounce brake.The pipelineReplies & follow-upsReading what comes back, classifying it, and following up once.
For how these are scheduled, see Scheduling & the tick.