How to sell to Founders at Fintech companies
Founders in fintech prioritize rapid user acquisition and innovative solutions that disrupt traditional banking. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a deep understanding of their unique challenges, such as navigating regulatory hurdles or scaling technology effectively. Highlighting how your offering can streamline operations or enhance customer experience will capture their attention, as these are critical for their growth metrics.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 570 fintech company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- regulatory hurdles
- user retention issues
- scaling technology
- cash flow management
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent funding rounds
Use platforms like Crunchbase to filter for fintech companies that have recently closed funding rounds. Founders are often looking to invest in solutions that can help them utilize their new capital effectively. Reach out within a week of the funding announcement to ensure your message aligns with their fresh priorities.
- 02
Research compliance challenges
Dive into industry news and forums to find specific compliance issues currently affecting fintech startups. Founders are often seeking solutions to mitigate risks associated with regulations. Tailor your outreach to address these challenges directly, showcasing your understanding of their immediate pain points.
- 03
Target companies expanding product lines
Filter for fintech companies that have announced plans to expand their product offerings. Founders in this phase are typically open to partnerships that can enhance their new services. Mention how your solution can integrate seamlessly with their upcoming products to capture their interest.
- 04
Follow up on industry events
Identify fintech conferences or webinars that recently occurred and check attendee lists. Founders often attend these events looking for innovative solutions. Reference the event in your outreach to create a connection and demonstrate that you’re engaged with their industry.
- 05
Leverage mutual connections
Use LinkedIn to identify mutual connections with the founder you wish to reach. A warm introduction from a trusted source can significantly increase your chances of a response. If you have a relevant case study or success story, mention it to establish credibility.
Can fintech companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 570 fintech 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: 34.3% of 1–10-person companies against 92.2% of the largest — 58 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
- Navigating fintech regulations
- Scaling your fintech startup
- Innovative solutions for payments
Questions
- Why do founders in fintech overlook cold outreach?
- Founders often receive numerous cold outreach attempts daily, making it easy for them to overlook messages that don't immediately resonate with their current challenges. They prioritize communications that are timely, relevant, and demonstrate a clear understanding of their specific needs in the fast-paced fintech landscape.
- What common objections do fintech founders have?
- Fintech founders frequently express concerns about the cost of new solutions and the potential disruption to their existing operations. They may also be skeptical about integration capabilities and the ROI of implementing new technologies, especially in a resource-constrained startup environment.
- How can I make my outreach stand out to fintech founders?
- To stand out, personalize your outreach by referencing specific challenges the founder is facing or recent news about their company. Demonstrating knowledge of their business and offering tailored solutions can capture their attention more effectively than generic pitches.
- What timing is best for reaching out to fintech founders?
- The best time to reach out is shortly after significant events such as funding announcements or product launches. Founders are often more receptive during these periods as they are actively seeking solutions to help them capitalize on new opportunities and address immediate challenges.
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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