Forty Letters

We find the person who's hiring. You email them.

We pick 40 companies that fit you, find the founder or hiring manager at each one, and write the application and a short email in your voice. You read it all, then send it from your own Gmail. If you don't get a first-round interview within 30 days, you get every dollar back.

$249 one time, for our first 25 people. It goes to $299 after that.
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We read every intake before you pay anything. If we don't think we can get you a call, we'll tell you and you won't be charged.

Why email the person

Applying cold has gotten rough. Greenhouse says the average job got 99 applications in 2022 and 183 in 2025. Plenty of those come from bots now, and the big applicant systems have started flagging them.

3%of regular applications get an interview
40%of referrals get an interview
183applications per job in 2025, up from 99

The first two are from Ashby's study of 38 million applications. The third is Greenhouse's.

Most people don't have a referral at the company they want. A short, specific email to the person who actually decides is the next best thing. It's also a pain to do well, which is why almost nobody does it. That's the part we take off your hands.

How it works

  1. Tell us what you want

    A 10 minute form: your resume, the roles you want, where, your pay floor, and a few companies you'd love to work at. We reply within one business day. If it's a fit, we send you a payment link.

  2. We do the research

    Within 3 business days of paying, you get your 40 companies, the right person at each one, an application for each open role and a short email from you to that person.

  3. You check it

    Swap any company you don't like. Change any line that doesn't sound like you. We turn swaps around in a business day.

  4. You send it

    Submit the applications on each company's own careers page and send the emails from your Gmail. A week later, you send the follow-ups we wrote for anyone who hasn't answered.

What you get

  • 40 companies that fit the role you want, at your level, in places you'd work, above your pay floor. You approve the list before anything else happens.
  • A named person at each company. At small startups that's usually a founder. At bigger ones it's the hiring manager or the person who'd be your boss.
  • An email address for each person that has passed a mailbox check.
  • An application for each open role, with answers to the form questions and a cover note where they ask for one. You paste it in and hit submit.
  • A short email to each person, written to sound like you. Most are under 120 words.
  • One follow-up per email.
  • A spreadsheet with all of it, so you can keep track of who wrote back.

Some small companies won't have a posting that fits. For those, the email is the application. That's how a lot of startup hiring works anyway.

The guarantee

If you don't get a first-round interview within 30 days, we refund the whole thing. Here are the exact terms. They won't change after you pay.

What counts as an interview

A live phone call, video call or in-person meeting about a job, with someone who works at one of your 40 companies. A screening call with the company's own recruiter counts.

What doesn't count

Take-home tests or skills assessments, recorded one-way video, chatbot screeners, or calls with outside agency recruiters.

When the 30 days start

The day we deliver your finished list and drafts.

What you need to do

Send your 40 emails within 7 days of delivery, and send each follow-up within 3 days of the date we put on it. If you'd rather skip a company, tell us first. We'll swap it.

How to claim it

Email us within 15 days after your 30 days end and say you didn't get an interview. We refund the full price to your card within 5 business days. There's no form, and you don't have to argue with anybody.

Who it's for

A good fit

  • You've done the job you want, or something close, for at least a year.
  • You want to work at a startup or a smaller tech company, where a founder or manager still reads their own email.
  • You're in the US, or you want a remote job at a US company.
  • You're fine putting your name on 40 emails and sending them yourself.

Probably not a fit

  • It's your first job and you don't have internships or work to point to yet.
  • You're switching into a field you haven't worked in.
  • You're after big companies, government or jobs that need a license. The people hiring there mostly don't answer cold email.
  • You want 500 applications sent for you. We do 40 on purpose.

If you're not sure, fill out the form anyway. We'll tell you honestly before you pay.

Why we started this

This summer I was looking for a new sales job. I did it two ways at once. I applied the normal way, about 155 times. And I emailed people at the companies directly: 918 emails to 358 people at 437 companies, each address checked before I sent anything.

27 companies got on a first call with me. Every one of those 27 had gotten a direct email from me first. 8 of them never saw an application at all.

The job I took came from one cold email to a founder. I never applied. They wrote back in 3 hours, and I had an offer 5 days after that first email.

I'm in sales, so writing a cold email is pretty much my job, and that helped. Your numbers won't look exactly like mine. That's why there's a refund. But most of those six weeks went to research: finding companies that fit, finding the right person and making sure the address was real. That's the part we do for you.

From the founder

Questions

Do you need my Gmail password?

No. We never ask for it and we never log into your email. We hand you the drafts and you send them yourself, from your own account, one at a time.

Do you touch my LinkedIn?

No. We don't log into LinkedIn, Indeed or any job site as you, and we don't use bots to apply. You submit every application yourself on the company's own site.

What counts as an interview?

A live call or meeting about a job with someone who works at one of your 40 companies. Their in-house recruiter counts. Tests, recorded video, chatbots or agency recruiters don't. The full terms are in the guarantee.

How does the refund work?

Email us from the address you signed up with, within 15 days after your 30 days are up. We'll ask which companies wrote back so we can learn from it, and then we refund you. The money is back on your card within 5 business days.

How fast is it?

We answer your intake within one business day. Your 40 companies and drafts come within 3 business days of paying. Swaps take one business day.

Do you use AI?

Yes, for a lot of the research and the first drafts. Every address gets a mailbox check before you see it, and nothing goes anywhere until you've read it and sent it yourself.

Will my emails look like spam?

They come from your own address, to one person per company, written about that company. Forty emails over a week is normal for a personal account. Each one also ends with an easy out, something like "if this isn't a fit, just say so and I won't follow up."

What if an email bounces?

A few still might, even after the check. Tell us and we'll find someone else at that company or swap it for a new one.

What happens to my resume?

We use it for your sprint and nothing else. We delete it, along with your drafts, 60 days after your sprint ends, or sooner if you ask. We don't sell it or share it with anyone who isn't helping us do the work. The privacy policy lists who that is.

Can you promise me a job?

No, and be careful with anyone who does. We can get your name in front of the right people. The interview is yours.

40 companies, 40 real people, and an email to each one in your voice.

$249 for our first 25 people. Full refund if no interview in 30 days.

Start your sprint