Skip to main content
Signals tell Guhan when to reach out. Pick the wrong signal → good ICP, wrong timing. Pick the right one → 3-5× reply rate.

​
The mental model

Ask yourself: What is happening in the prospect’s world right now that makes them more receptive to my pitch? Different signals for different products:
Best signals:
  • They’re hiring (Sales department) — team is growing, tooling gaps appear
  • New leadership (VP Sales just joined) — new leader = new stack decisions in first 90 days
  • Funding raised (Series A / B) — they’re scaling the go-to-market
Best signals:
  • Posted about a topic — attribution, ABM, growth (your product’s category)
  • Engaged with a competitor’s post — evaluation-window catch
  • Funding raised — new budget for marketing
Best signals:
  • They’re hiring (Engineering department) — pain of scaling
  • Posted about a topic — DevOps, reliability, security (your product’s category)
  • Funding raised — engineering scale-up phase
Best signals:
  • Funding raised — right after a raise, they’re focused on execution
  • New leadership (they just hired their first Head of X) — team is scaling
  • They’re hiring — general growth signal
Best signals:
  • They’re hiring — pain of scaling
  • New leadership (Head of People just joined) — new leader = new systems
  • Funding raised — headcount ramp

​
Signal-by-signal breakdown

​
💰 Funding raised recently

Great for:
  • Selling anything expensive that requires budget
  • Selling growth infrastructure
  • Timing with the “we just closed” moment (< 60 days from announcement is peak)
Configure:
  • Stages — pick which rounds count (seed, Series A, B, C, etc.)
  • Recency — how recent (30 / 60 / 90 / 180 / 365 days)
Message opener:
Saw your Series A announcement — congrats. Founders at that stage usually run into [X] — happy to share how [Y other company] handled it.

​
📈 They’re hiring

Great for:
  • Selling tools that scale with team size
  • Selling infrastructure (CRM, ATS, HRIS, etc.)
  • Timing with the “team is growing → tooling gaps appear” moment
Configure:
  • Departments — Sales, Engineering, Marketing, People, etc.
  • Minimum open jobs — 3+ posted in that department
  • Window — last 30 / 60 / 90 days
Message opener:
Noticed you’re hiring 5 SDRs — that’s the moment when onboarding time bloats. Curious if you’ve got a plan for it.

​
👔 New leadership joined

Great for:
  • Selling anything a new leader would evaluate in their first 90 days
  • Timing with “leader change = tool change” window (~40% of new VPs swap key tooling in first 6 months)
Configure:
  • Titles that count — CEO, VP Sales, Head of Marketing, etc.
  • Recency — last 30 / 60 / 90 days since they joined
Message opener:
Congrats on the new role at Acme. Curious how the [X function] tooling looks — happy to share how peers at [similar company] structure it.

​
🎯 Engaged with competitor’s post

Great for:
  • Catching prospects mid-evaluation
  • Very high intent (they’re actively looking)
Configure:
  • Competitors — paste their LinkedIn company URLs
  • Timeframe — last N days
  • Engagement type — comments (higher intent) or reactions + comments
Message opener:
Saw your comment on [Competitor]‘s post about [topic]. We had a similar debate internally — happy to share how we think about it.

​
🎁 Engaged with a specific post URL

Great for:
  • Catching people who engaged with content you know is relevant
  • Amplifying your own posts (find who engaged, reach out to the qualified ones)
Configure:
  • Post URL — paste the exact LinkedIn post URL (yours or a competitor’s or a thought-leader’s)
  • Engagement type — comments only, reactions + comments
Message opener:
Saw your comment on [Post Author]‘s post about [topic]. Loved your take on [specific point they made].

​
📢 Posted about keywords

Great for:
  • Finding people actively thinking about topics in your space
  • Positioning yourself as a peer with a POV, not a vendor
Configure:
  • Keywords — words or phrases (e.g., “attribution”, “product-led growth”, “SDR ramp”)
  • Timeframe — last N days
Message opener:
Your post on [keyword] hit a nerve. We had a similar internal debate — the point you made about [specific] was spot on.

​
Combining signals

You can pick multiple signals on one Watchlist Agent. Two modes:
  • Any (default) — a prospect matches if ANY signal fires
  • All — a prospect matches only if EVERY signal fires (much narrower)
Start with Any. Switch to All only if you want very tightly targeted prospects (fewer, higher intent).

​
Which signal delivers the highest reply rate?

Based on aggregate reply-rate data across Guhan users:
SignalMedian reply rate
Engaged with specific post URL~12%
Engaged with competitor’s post~10%
New leadership joined~9%
Funding raised recently~7%
They’re hiring~6%
Posted about keywords~5%
No signal (ICP only)~2-3%
Higher-intent signals convert better but also produce fewer prospects.

Signal catalog

Every signal with full parameter reference.

Create a Watchlist Agent

Full walkthrough.