What is Tim Ferriss’s cold email template?
It is a four-part email for asking a busy stranger one specific thing. The version people search for comes from Alex Banayan, author of The Third Door, who recounts in that book a phone interview with Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek and host of The Tim Ferriss Show. In a book excerpt Entrepreneur published on 6 June 2018, Banayan reports Ferriss describing the general composition of the emails Ferriss sends to busy people:
- The opener. A greeting, then: “I know you’re really busy and that you get a lot of emails, so this will only take sixty seconds to read.”
- Who you are. One or two lines that establish your credibility.
- The ask. One very specific question.
- The out. A line saying you understand if they are too busy to respond, and that even a very short reply would be welcome.
In the same excerpt, Ferriss tells Banayan never to ask to jump on the phone, get coffee or pick someone’s brain, to put the question in the email itself, to avoid superlatives such as calling something perfect for the reader, and not to end with thanks in advance, which Ferriss calls annoying and entitled. Keep that last rule in mind: the model email on Ferriss’s own blog, below, signs off with exactly that phrase.
What does Tim Ferriss say about cold emails on tim.blog?
Three posts on tim.blog cover it, 18 years apart, and they don’t all agree. Here is what each says, in our summary:
| Date | Ferriss page | What it says about cold email |
|---|---|---|
| 19 May 2008 | 5 Tips for E-mailing Busy People | Shares an email from Robert J. Moore and lists five things it gets right: it’s short with a clear request; no zero-content keeping-in-touch emails; it shows what the sender already tried; it uses the executive recruiter referral trick; it says it’s OK not to help |
| 22 Mar 2016 | How to Get Busy Influencers to Share Your Stuff | Contact influencers only if they gave you their details or through a warm introduction; calls cold emails a waste of everyone’s time; says an easy out has, in Ferriss’s experience, dramatically increased response rate |
| 8 Apr 2026 | Transcript of episode #860, with Michelle Khare of the show Challenge Accepted | Ferriss says they owe their career in some ways to cold emails; credibility or a real mutual contact in the subject line, a line or two of text on who you are, a clear ask, a phone number in plain sight, an easy out, and one follow-up |
The 2008 email was not fully cold. Ferriss writes that Moore had made an impression at an earlier meeting and hadn’t sent zero-content emails since. Moore was raising $500,000 to $750,000 for a software company serving nonprofits and asked whether Ferriss had lessons on finding seed investors, or knew Princeton alumni or others with an appetite for such deals. In the comments, Ferriss gives the subject line: Moore ’06 Update. The referral trick is the part worth stealing: like a headhunter asking an executive whether they know anyone for a role, it lets the reader decline comfortably.
The 2016 warning was about people who can make or break a launch, and it sits oddly next to the 2026 episode, where Ferriss calls a cold email an “audition for everything else to come”. The two fit if you read the 2016 rule as being about famous strangers asked for a favour, and 2026 as how to write the email when you do send one. In the episode, Ferriss also suggests your first five to 10 cold emails may simply be practice, and describes asking better-known people at events to critique an email that had got no reply. The episode’s show notes on tim.blog turn the advice into a fill-in template: three short paragraphs of about two sentences each, the phone number in the final sentence, and one follow-up after about a week.
Does the sixty-second promise still hold?
At typical lengths, yes: the two example emails on Ferriss’s blog take under a minute for an average reader. Marc Brysbaert of Ghent University, in a 2019 review and meta-analysis of reading rate covering 190 studies, puts average adult silent reading of English non-fiction at 238 words a minute, with most adults between 175 and 300. Here is what that means for each email, using our word counts of the body text:
| Words | Seconds at 238 a minute | |
|---|---|---|
| Moore’s 2008 email to Ferriss | 211 | 211 ÷ 238 × 60 = 53 |
| The sample email in the 2026 show notes | 156 | 156 ÷ 238 × 60 = 39 |
| Our sales version (template 2 below) | 65 | 65 ÷ 238 × 60 = 16 |
| Lavender’s best range for a cold email | 25 to 50 | 6 to 13 |
Two things follow. A slower reader at 175 words a minute needs 211 ÷ 175 × 60 = 72 seconds for Moore’s email, so the sixty-second promise holds for an average reader, while slower readers need longer. And the promise costs words. The opener is 22 words, about 5.5 seconds of reading (22 ÷ 238 × 60). Lavender, a sales email coaching company, wrote in January 2023 that its data puts the best cold email length at 25 to 50 words (its chart plots reply rate against word count, but the post doesn’t say how many emails it analysed); at that length the opener alone would use 44% to 88% of the email (22 ÷ 50 and 22 ÷ 25).
Our reading: keep the line when you are asking a well-known person for advice, where the two example emails on Ferriss’s blog run to 156 and 211 words and the line signals respect. In a short sales email, spend those 22 words on why you are writing now. Our guide to how long a cold email should be covers the length data in full.
Which parts of the template work in a B2B sales email?
Most of it does, once you swap the opener for a reason. The table sets out each part, where Ferriss says it, and how we would use it:
| Part | Ferriss source | Asking for advice | Selling to a B2B buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sixty-second opener | Banayan, 2018 | Keep | Replace with the specific reason you are writing |
| Who you are, in the text | Banayan, 2018; episode, 2026 | One or two lines | One line: role plus one real credibility marker |
| One very specific question | Banayan, 2018; blog, 2008 | Keep | Keep, answerable in a line |
| Show what you already did | Blog, 2008 | Say what you tried | Show you looked at their company |
| Recruiter referral trick | Blog, 2008 | Ask who else might help | Ask who owns the problem |
| Mutual contact first in the subject | Episode, 2026 | Only if they would vouch for you | Same rule; otherwise a credibility marker |
| Phone number in the last sentence | Episode, 2026 | Keep | Keep, if you will answer it |
| Easy out | 2008, 2016, 2018, 2026 | Keep | Keep |
| One follow-up after about a week | Show notes, 2026 | Keep | One or two, each with something new |
The last row is where sales differs most. Ferriss is writing to people who owe the sender nothing, and one follow-up is plenty. For a sales list, the data in our guide to how many follow-up emails to send points to three emails in total. The question itself can borrow from sales trainer Josh Braun’s method of asking about a risk instead of pitching, which our poke the bear cold email guide explains.
Tim Ferriss cold email templates for a small B2B team
Two versions and the one follow-up. Northwind Ltd, Priya at Acme and Sam Lee are sample names; fill in the brackets with real facts or leave the line out.
Template 2 is 65 words before the brackets are filled in. The Sam Lee line only works if it is true: in the 2026 episode, Ferriss says the reader may text the mutual contact straight away, and that nine times out of 10 that person barely knows the sender. For more first-email shapes, our 18 B2B cold email templates include a who-owns-it version of the referral trick. A sales email also has legal requirements wherever your buyer is; our comparison of GDPR, UK PECR and CAN-SPAM sets them out.
The slow part is usually the bracket that says why you are writing now. Siela’s Lead Finder looks for that reason for each lead (hiring for the work you automate, a new role, a funding round) and saves it with the lead in the built-in CRM.
What gets a cold email archived, according to Ferriss?
Between the 2008 post and the 2026 episode, Ferriss warns against six habits; for four of them, Ferriss says the email is archived, goes unanswered or the sender is dropped. Check your draft against each:
- Instant familiarity. Shoulder-slapping openers that assume instant camaraderie with a stranger are, Ferriss says, most of the time an auto-archive. The show notes suggest Dear [Name] or Hello Mr./Ms. [Last Name].
- A stretched mutual contact. Name someone only if they really suggested you get in touch.
- A link instead of text. Ferriss says there’s no time to go on a scavenger hunt to find out who you are, and that anyone reasonably well-known gets a lot of phishing attacks. The show notes say to avoid attachments unless they are absolutely necessary.
- A vague call with proposed times. Asking to hop on the phone about something vague next Tuesday at 2pm is, Ferriss says on the episode, an email Ferriss is never going to answer.
- Bumping every two days. One follow-up, after a wait, then assume they aren’t interested and move on.
- Questions a search engine could answer. The 2008 post says asking these puts you on Ferriss’s banned list.
Write one version this week
Use template 1 or 2 with three real facts: your credibility line, the reason you are writing, and one question.
Time it
Count the body words and divide by 238, then multiply by 60. Over 60 seconds for an advice ask means cut. For a sales email, compare the count with Lavender’s 25 to 50 words and cut any line that isn’t your credibility, the reason, the question or the out; template 2 is 65 words before the brackets are filled.
Treat the first 10 as practice
Ferriss suggests your first five to 10 may simply be practice; if none of yours get a reply, ask someone you respect to critique the email before you send more.
Follow up once
About a week later, in the same thread, with the question in one line. Then move on.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Tim Ferriss cold email template come from?
The four-part version comes from Alex Banayan’s book The Third Door, excerpted by Entrepreneur in June 2018, where Banayan recounts a phone interview with Ferriss. Ferriss’s own blog has related advice: a 2008 post with five tips for emailing busy people, a 2016 post on approaching influencers, and a 2026 podcast episode with Michelle Khare whose show notes include a fill-in template.
What subject line does Tim Ferriss use for cold emails?
In the 2026 episode, Ferriss starts the subject line with a real mutual contact, in the form For [name] via [contact], then your name or a credibility marker, because subject lines often get cut off on phones. Without a genuine connection, use your strongest true credential instead, such as an organisation you volunteer for, a publication or notable past work.
How many times should you follow up on a cold email, according to Ferriss?
Once. In the 2026 episode, Ferriss says not to bump an email every two days; you get one follow-up, after waiting, and then you should assume they aren’t interested and move on. The show notes put the wait at about a week. For a sales list, our advice is one or two follow-ups, each adding something new.
Does the Tim Ferriss cold email template work for sales emails?
The shape does: credibility in one line, one specific question, a referral ask and an easy out all carry over. The sixty-second opener costs 22 words, which is close to half of a 50-word email, so in a short sales email it is better spent on why you are writing now. Keep the opener for advice requests to well-known people.
Should you put your phone number in a cold email?
Ferriss says yes: make it explicit, not buried in the signature, and agrees with Michelle Khare that it can go in the final sentence. In the 2026 episode Ferriss says somewhat interesting emails with no number get archived, because Ferriss’s team has no time for back-and-forth to find a time; with a number, Ferriss might call for five minutes. Only include it if you will answer, and keep any time you promise.
Sources
- Entrepreneur: How an 18-Year-Old Uncovered Tim Ferriss's Secret Cold Email Template (Alex Banayan, excerpt from The Third Door) (published 6 Jun 2018, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Tim Ferriss: 5 Tips for E-mailing Busy People (published 19 May 2008, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Tim Ferriss: How to Get Busy Influencers to Share Your Stuff (published 22 Mar 2016, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- The Tim Ferriss Show Transcripts: Michelle Khare (#860) (published 8 Apr 2026, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- The Tim Ferriss Show: Michelle Khare (#860), show notes (published 7 Apr 2026, updated 17 Sep 2026 (page metadata), checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Marc Brysbaert: How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate (author manuscript) (2019, checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Lavender: Data says: The Shorter, the Better for Your Cold Email (Will Allred) (published 8 Jan 2023, checked 4 Nov 2026)