--- title: "Solo-founder playbook: founder-led outbound on autopilot | FirstSales" description: "One founder, one or two mailboxes: warm up, ground the AI in your product, launch an AI-drafted campaign to a small ICP list, triage replies, and book meetings — with the app doing the heavy lifting." canonical: "https://firstsales.io/tutorial/playbook-solo-founder/" --- [Home](/)/[Tutorials](/tutorial/)/Solo-founder playbook: founder-led outbound on autopilot Getting Started # Solo-founder playbook: founder-led outbound on autopilot One founder, one or two mailboxes: warm up, ground the AI in your product, launch an AI-drafted campaign to a small ICP list, triage replies, and book meetings — with the app doing the heavy lifting. 12 min read·Intermediate·8 steps 1. 1 ## Pick autopilot, tune once, then approve-and-forget As one person, you don't have time to hand-source contacts or hand-write every email. The whole point of this playbook is **Autopilot mode**: the app finds the contacts and drafts the emails, and your job is a little setup up front plus light-touch approval as it runs. The path: warm one mailbox → ground the AI in what you sell → create an Autopilot → Meeting campaign → point it at a small, specific audience → tune the AI's voice once → set approval to auto-approve → triage the replies that come back. 2. 2 ## Warm the one mailbox you'll send from Go to **Connectors → Add Connector** and connect the mailbox you'll send outbound from. Confirm **SPF, DKIM, and DMARC** show green, then toggle on **Email Warmup** and leave auto-adjust on. Warm-up needs real runway — plan on roughly two weeks before you lean on this mailbox for cold outreach. See _How to Set Up Email Warm-up_ for the full walkthrough. ![Warm the one mailbox you'll send from](/tutorials/warmup-03-warmup-toggle.webp) 3. 3 ## Ground the AI in your product Before the AI can write a good email, it needs real facts. Create a **Knowledge Base** from your site URL (**Knowledge Base → New KB**) so drafts cite what you actually built, and add one **Offering** (**Offerings → Create Offering**) describing the specific thing you're selling — its benefits and a link. These two are what keep AI drafts specific instead of generic. See _Build a Knowledge Base_ and _Create Offerings_. ![Ground the AI in your product](/tutorials/kb-01-create.webp) 4. 4 ## Create an Autopilot → Meeting campaign Open **Campaigns → Create Campaign**. Set **Campaign Type** to **Outreach**, **Campaign Mode** to **Autopilot** (so the AI sources and writes for you), and **Campaign Goal** to **Meeting** (so every email drives toward a booked call). Name it and describe your ICP in **Contact Search Criteria** — **mode can't be changed after creation**, so pick deliberately. See _Create an Autopilot Meeting Campaign_. ![Create an Autopilot → Meeting campaign](/tutorials/autopilot-meeting-01-mode-goal.webp) 5. 5 ## Point AI Leads at a small, specific list In the builder's **Contact Harvester**, enable **AI Leads** and write a tight **Target Audience** line — narrower is better than broad for one sender. Apply the AI's **recommendation card** for Max results and frequency instead of guessing; it factors in your mailboxes and send capacity, so you don't source 500 leads a mailbox or two can never reach. See _Use AI Leads to Source Contacts_. ![Point AI Leads at a small, specific list](/tutorials/ai-leads-01-config.webp) 6. 6 ## Tune the AI SDR once with a preset Open the campaign's **AI Instructions** (Email Drafter SDR Config). Apply a starting **preset**, then set **Persona & Voice** and a one-line **CTA** so every draft sounds like you, not a generic template. This is the single biggest quality lever you have — ten minutes here does more than fifty later. ![Tune the AI SDR once with a preset](/tutorials/autopilot-meeting-05-ai-instructions.webp) 7. 7 ## Set Content Approval to auto-approve and launch In the **Workflow**, the **Content Approval** step gates every draft before it sends. Choose **auto-approve** — you're notified to review, and **“no response within 24 hours? Email sends automatically”** — so the campaign never stalls waiting on a busy founder. Pick a warmed connector on **Settings**, then set the campaign **Active**. ![Set Content Approval to auto-approve and launch](/tutorials/autopilot-meeting-04-workflow-steps.webp) 8. 8 ## Triage replies and book meetings From here, work only the real replies in the **Inbox** — approve, answer, and book the call. Judge the campaign by **Analytics**: replies and meetings booked, not opens. A thin reply rate means tighten the Target Audience line and the SDR voice before you raise volume; sending more to the wrong list just burns credits. ## Pro tips Hard-won shortcuts that keep warm-up on track. 1 ### Autopilot is the point — don't hand-run it Auto-approve plus a tuned SDR means the campaign runs while you build product; only real replies need your attention. 2 ### Source to your capacity, not your ambition One founder with one mailbox can't email 500 a day — apply the AI Leads recommendation so credits aren't burned on leads you'll never reach. 3 ### Tune the SDR once, well Ten minutes in AI Instructions (voice + one-line offer) beats fifty small tweaks later. It's your whole brand voice living in one place. 4 ### Judge on replies and meetings, not opens With a Meeting goal, a low reply rate means tighten the audience line and SDR voice — not raise send volume. ## Frequently asked questions I'm one person — is FirstSales actually hands-off enough? Yes, if you set it up that way: **auto-approve** Content Approval plus a tuned AI SDR and AI Leads sourcing means the app finds contacts, drafts emails, and sends without you touching each one. You step in for replies and the occasional voice tweak. Do I need to write any emails myself? No — in **Autopilot** mode the **Email Drafter** writes every email. You steer it with **AI Instructions** (persona, voice, CTA). If you'd rather write your own copy, a **Template** campaign is the alternative, but it won't source contacts for you. How small can my list be? AI Leads' **Max results** goes down to 10\. For one founder, a tight, specific ICP beats a broad blast — apply the recommendation card so volume matches what you can actually send. How long before I can send? Plan on roughly **two weeks** of warm-up before leaning on a new mailbox for real cold sends. You can set up the Knowledge Base, Offering, and campaign in parallel while warm-up runs. Will it send bad emails while I'm not watching? With **auto-approve**, you're notified and get a 24-hour window to review before anything auto-sends. Keep it on for the first batch so you can sanity-check the AI's voice before trusting it fully. One mailbox or two? You can start with one, but two lets you split volume and hedge one mailbox's reputation. It's not required to start — see _Add Unlimited Mailboxes_ when you're ready to add more. What does this cost to run? AI Leads runs roughly **1 credit per lead found** plus **0.2 credits per contact** for cleaning; AI-drafted emails add on top. See _Credits, Plans & Billing_ for the full rate list and how to watch your balance. What if replies dry up? Tighten the **Target Audience** line and the SDR's **Persona & Voice**/CTA before adding volume. A narrower, sharper campaign usually outperforms a wider, sloppier one. ## Ready to put this into practice? Start your FirstSales trial and launch a warmed, authenticated mailbox in minutes. [Start for $1](https://app.firstsales.io) [All tutorials](/tutorial/)