How to sell to Founders at Developer tools companies in Canada
Founders at developer tools companies in Canada are primarily measured on product adoption rates. They respond well to outreach that demonstrates an understanding of their unique challenges, such as scaling their CI/CD processes or enhancing observability. Highlighting specific efficiencies or innovations can capture their interest and prompt a response.
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
- lengthy deployment cycles
- integration difficulties
- budget constraints
- team burnout from manual processes
The playbook
- 01
Identify companies with recent funding
Use Crunchbase or PitchBook to filter for developer tools companies in Canada that have secured funding in the last 6 months. These companies are often looking to scale rapidly and may be more open to new solutions that can enhance their product offerings.
- 02
Pinpoint challenges in CI/CD processes
Research common pain points in CI/CD within developer tools, such as lengthy deployment times or integration issues. Tailor your messaging to address these specific challenges, as Founders will appreciate solutions that can streamline their workflows.
- 03
Highlight recent observability trends
Look for the latest developments in observability tools and practices within the industry. Reference these trends in your outreach to demonstrate you are well-informed and can provide relevant insights that resonate with their current priorities.
- 04
Address objections about cost
Prepare to counter objections regarding the cost of new tools by showcasing potential ROI through case studies or industry benchmarks. Founders often worry about budget constraints, so presenting a clear value proposition will help alleviate these concerns.
- 05
Follow up after tech conferences
Monitor the schedule of tech conferences and events in Canada related to developer tools. Plan to follow up with Founders shortly after these events, as they may be more receptive to conversations about new solutions and partnerships.
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
- Streamline your CI/CD process
- Enhance observability today
- Solutions for developer tool challenges
Questions
- Why do founders of developer tools companies overlook cold outreach?
- Founders often receive numerous pitches daily and may prioritize relationships or referrals over cold outreach. They tend to focus on immediate operational challenges, making it essential for outreach to be highly relevant and timely to capture their attention.
- What messaging resonates with founders in the developer tools space?
- Messaging that emphasizes efficiency, scalability, and innovation tends to resonate well. Founders appreciate solutions that can directly impact their product's performance and user satisfaction, particularly in areas like CI/CD and observability.
- How can I effectively research developer tools companies?
- Utilize platforms like LinkedIn, Crunchbase, and industry forums to gather information about companies, their recent activities, and pain points. Understanding their current projects and challenges will help you tailor your outreach effectively.
- What role does funding play in outreach to founders?
- Recent funding rounds often indicate a company's readiness to invest in new tools and technologies. Founders at these companies may be more open to discussions about solutions that can help them scale or improve their product offerings.
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