How to sell to CTOs at SaaS companies in Canada
CTOs at SaaS companies in Canada are primarily measured on system uptime and service reliability. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their current tech stack and how it impacts customer satisfaction. Highlighting potential improvements in system performance or security can capture their attention, especially if it addresses recent incidents they've faced.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 559 saas company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- system downtime complaints
- data security breaches
- subscription churn rates
- scaling infrastructure issues
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent system outages
Search for news articles or social media posts about recent outages or performance issues at SaaS companies in Canada. Use Google News or LinkedIn to find specific incidents that impacted their service delivery. This insight can serve as an entry point for your outreach.
- 02
Analyze tech stack vulnerabilities
Utilize tools like BuiltWith or SimilarTech to analyze the technology stack of your target companies. Identify any outdated technologies or security vulnerabilities that could be relevant to your conversation. Tailor your messaging to address these specific weaknesses.
- 03
Leverage industry-specific challenges
Focus on common challenges faced by SaaS CTOs, such as managing subscription churn or scaling infrastructure. Reference industry reports or case studies that highlight these issues. This shows you understand their context and can offer relevant solutions.
- 04
Follow up on recent tech events
Monitor tech conferences or webinars that your targets have attended. If they participated in discussions around cloud security or data privacy, mention these in your outreach. This demonstrates you are engaged with their interests and aware of their professional commitments.
- 05
Propose a solution to a known issue
After establishing a connection, propose a specific solution that addresses a known issue they face, such as improving data compliance or enhancing user experience. Be clear about how your solution can directly impact their KPIs, such as reducing downtime or improving customer feedback.
Can saas companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 559 saas 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: 16.7% of 1–10-person companies against 80.9% of the largest — 64 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
- Addressing your recent outage
- Improving your tech stack security
- Solutions for subscription churn
Questions
- Why do CTOs at SaaS companies often ignore cold outreach?
- CTOs are inundated with messages, often focusing on generic solutions that don't address their specific challenges. They prioritize communications that demonstrate a deep understanding of their unique tech environment and offer tailored solutions to real problems.
- What are common challenges CTOs face in SaaS?
- CTOs in SaaS frequently deal with issues like ensuring system reliability, managing data security, and optimizing user experience. They also face pressure to innovate while controlling costs, making them selective about new partnerships.
- How can I get a CTO's attention with my outreach?
- To capture a CTO's interest, your outreach should highlight specific pain points relevant to their current tech stack. Mention recent industry trends or challenges that resonate with their experiences, and propose clear, actionable solutions.
- What role does compliance play in a CTO's decision-making?
- Compliance is critical for CTOs in SaaS, as they must ensure their services meet regulatory standards. Non-compliance can lead to severe penalties and damage to reputation, making compliance-related solutions particularly appealing.
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.
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