How to sell to CTOs at Developer tools companies in Sweden
CTOs in developer tools companies in Sweden are primarily measured on the speed and reliability of their software delivery, specifically through CI/CD metrics. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a deep understanding of their tech stack and highlights solutions that can enhance their observability practices, ultimately leading to reduced downtime and increased deployment frequency.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 587 developer tools company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- slow deployment cycles
- high system downtime
- inadequate monitoring tools
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent CI/CD tool upgrades
Use LinkedIn or industry news to find companies that have recently upgraded their CI/CD tools. This indicates they are investing in their development processes and may be open to complementary solutions that enhance their observability.
- 02
Segment by observability challenges
Filter your list to companies that have mentioned struggles with observability in their recent posts or blogs. This allows you to tailor your outreach to address their specific pain points, making your message more relevant.
- 03
Craft a message around deployment frequency
When reaching out, focus on how your solution can help increase their deployment frequency. CTOs are often driven by metrics, so connecting your offering to tangible improvements in their CI/CD pipeline can grab their attention.
- 04
Anticipate objections about integration
Be prepared for objections regarding how your solution will integrate with their existing systems. Have case studies or examples ready that demonstrate seamless integrations with popular tools in their tech stack.
- 05
Suggest a call after a product launch
Timing is crucial. Reach out shortly after a known product launch or major update, as CTOs will be evaluating their current systems. This creates a natural opening for discussing improvements in their processes.
Can developer tools companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 587 developer tools companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 27.4% of 1–10-person companies against 94.9% of the largest — 68 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Improving your CI/CD pipeline
- Enhance your observability strategy
- Streamline deployment processes
Questions
- Why do CTOs at developer tools companies ignore outreach about new tools?
- CTOs often receive numerous outreach messages daily and may ignore them if they perceive them as generic or irrelevant. They are more likely to engage when the outreach demonstrates a clear understanding of their specific challenges and offers tailored solutions.
- What common metrics do CTOs focus on?
- CTOs typically focus on metrics such as deployment frequency, mean time to recovery, and system uptime. These metrics are critical for assessing the efficiency of their development processes and the reliability of their software products.
- How can I make my outreach stand out to CTOs?
- To stand out, personalize your outreach by referencing specific challenges faced by the CTO’s company, such as recent CI/CD tool upgrades or public statements about observability issues. Providing insights or solutions tailored to these challenges can capture their interest.
- What factors influence a CTO's decision to adopt new tools?
- CTOs are influenced by factors such as integration capabilities with existing systems, potential ROI, user experience, and the ability to enhance team productivity. They seek tools that align with their strategic goals and improve overall software delivery.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
Try it on your site