I sent a cold WhatsApp DM to a man with 6.8 million YouTube subscribers.
He replied in 2 minutes.
The Target
Ali Abdaal is one of the biggest creators on the planet. Former doctor turned full-time YouTuber. 6.8 million subscribers. Author of 
Feel-Good Productivity. Runs a $5M+ per year business across Part-Time YouTuber Academy, Productivity Lab, the Deep Dive podcast.
I'd never met him. Never spoken to him. Never DM'd him. Never been in the same room as him. Zero prior interaction of any kind.
The only thread connecting us was that we were both members of Boardroom -- a high-level paid mastermind. That's it. That was the whole thing.
The Setup
I was scrolling through Boardroom and I saw Ali's thread about launching a new program. Something clicked. I went and checked out his LinkedIn. And I could see it immediately -- his team needed LinkedIn lead gen and they didn't have it.
Now, this is where the OV thinking kicks in, right? Before I typed a single word, I already knew this would land. LinkedIn lead gen for creator businesses? Massive latent demand. Instantly understood category. "Turn LinkedIn into a lead engine" is a visible, tangible outcome anyone on his team would get. And his team would absolutely pay for this kind of thing.
Demand, clarity, outcome, purchase intent -- all fives across the board.
I knew it was a yes before I hit send. The only question was whether the DM itself was good enough to carry the offer through.
The DM
Here's the exact message I sent. Every word. Every typo. Exactly as it went.
Hey Ali, what's up. We've never met, but my name is Matt Lakajev and we are in Boardroom together
A couple of weeks back I was following your thread re you launching your new program.
Then I went and checked o it your LinkedIn as that's my thing (weird I know lol)
I was wondering... I've done 3x calls in Black Belt with Taki coaching everyone on booking sales calls and closing deals on LinkedIn.
I've booked 5,000 calls myself and coached 1,500 founders.
I reckon I'd be able to show your team how to turn LinkedIn into an insane lead engine in 75 mins
Would you potentially be open to that in exchange for you potentially assisting us?
I know this is kinda weird and out of the blue, but I went through your profile and I know how I can make you win massively.
This is me speaking so show I know what the hell im talking about lol -- [YouTube video link]
If not, totally sweet
Just let me know
The Reply
Ali replied in roughly 2 minutes.
Hey! Thanks for reaching out
Yessss would love to turn LinkedIn into a better leads machine
Two minutes. From a bloke with nearly 7 million subscribers. To a cold message from someone he'd never met.
What Happened Next
I didn't chase. He said he was slammed -- launching a new cohort of students, then heading to Palm Springs. I just said "happy to do when you get back" and left it. No follow-up. No nudge. No "just circling back." Nothing.
Weeks later, Ali came back to me. Not the other way around.
He'd gone and watched my LinkedIn training inside the Black Belt portal on his own. Then he sent me this:
Bonjour, finally got around to watching your LinkedIn training... It's SOO GOOD. Would love to chat about how we can help each other.
The dynamic completely flipped. I started as the cold outreach sender. Ali ended up pitching me the partnership.
Sit with that for a second.
The Observation
When I broke this DM down on a teaching call, a bloke named Ray picked up on something that most people miss.
The honesty IS the hook.
He was right. And that's where this whole thing starts.
The Breakdown
Let's go through it line by line.
"We've never met, but...we are in Boardroom together"
This one sentence clears two gates at once. Move 2 -- honest naming -- and Move 1 -- tribal recognition. Both in one hit.
"We've never met" is doing something that most people would never do in a cold DM. It's admitting the awkwardness. Volunteering the gap. A scammer would never say "we've never met." A spammer would pretend you're old mates. Only a genuine person names the absence of a relationship.
And then immediately: "we are in Boardroom together." One word -- Boardroom -- reclassifies the entire message. Ali's brain shifts from "unknown stranger" to "fellow member of a community I chose to be in." That's a completely different frame. It's lateral, not vertical. Not fan-to-celebrity. Peer-to-peer. Two people who independently paid to be in the same room.
Two gates. One sentence. Done.
"Following your thread re launching your new program"
Move 3. Snowflake specificity.
This isn't "I love your videos." Any random person off YouTube could say that. This references activity inside Boardroom. A specific thread. About a specific launch. Something only a fellow member would know about. Ali's brain processes: this person has been paying attention to my actual moves, not just my public content.
That's the difference between flattery and recognition.
"Weird I know lol"
Move 2 again. And this is where the science gets kind of interesting.
In 1966, a researcher named Elliot Aronson ran an experiment -- the pratfall effect. Here's what he found: a competent person who makes a small blunder -- spills their coffee, trips slightly, acknowledges something awkward -- is actually rated MORE likable than someone who appears flawless.
"Weird I know lol" is a pratfall. I'm acknowledging that yes, I went and stalked your LinkedIn profile, and yes, that's a bit odd from a stranger. But by naming it before Ali can feel it, I discharge the tension. Like releasing pressure from a valve. The awkwardness was going to exist whether I acknowledged it or not. Owning it takes it away.
Three words and a "lol." That's all it took to turn a potential cringe moment into a trust signal.
"3x calls in Black Belt with Taki"
Move 4. Inside-world proof.
This is the line that separates this DM from every other cold pitch Ali's ever received. The proof doesn't live outside his world. It lives inside it. Black Belt is part of the community Ali belongs to. Taki Moore is a figure they both know. "3x calls" is specific and verifiable -- Ali could check this in 30 seconds.
This isn't "I've been featured in Forbes" or "I've worked with 50 companies." That's external credibility. This is embedded authority. Proof that already exists inside the walls of Ali's own ecosystem.
The brain processes this completely differently. It's not "some outsider trying to get in." It's "someone who's already inside."
"Show YOUR TEAM how to turn LinkedIn into an insane lead engine in 75 mins"
Moves 5 and 6 together. And there's a subtle thing here that most people would miss.
It's not "show YOU." It's "show your TEAM."
That one word lowers the status gap massively. I'm not positioning myself as someone who's going to teach Ali Abdaal -- a man with nearly 7 million subscribers -- how to do something. I'm offering to train his team. His team gets the capability. He gets the result. Low personal exposure. Low ego risk.
And then: 75 minutes. Not "a multi-week engagement." Not "an ongoing consulting arrangement." Not some vague "let's jump on a call." Seventy-five minutes. Specific. Short. Fits in any calendar. The energy calculation compresses to almost zero. Ali's brain runs the maths -- how much time, how much effort, how much calendar shuffling -- and the answer comes back: barely anything.
"Would you POTENTIALLY be open... in exchange for you POTENTIALLY assisting us?"
Move 7. And this line changes the entire power dynamic.
"Potentially" appears twice. Each one adds a layer of softness. This isn't "can we set this up." It's not even "would you be open." It's "would you potentially be open." Maximum optionality. Zero pressure. Zero obligation. Just... exploring the idea.
But the real magic is "in exchange." Two words that collapse the status gap from "unknown person asking a celebrity for a favour" to "two professionals exploring a trade." I have something you want. You have something I want. Let's swap.
That's not extraction. That's exchange. And it positions me as a peer, not a fan.
"If not, totally sweet"
Move 7 again. The zero-pressure exit.
Here's the thing about this line. When someone feels completely safe to say no, they become far more likely to say yes. Because the yes is genuine. It's not extracted through guilt or obligation or that weird social pressure where you feel like you have to respond because someone wrote you a novel.
"Totally sweet" eliminates the last risk bucket -- social risk. There's no awkwardness if Ali says no. The exit is clean. And that clean exit is precisely what makes the entrance so easy.
The Big Picture
So let's zoom out for a second.
Every single line in that DM was doing multiple jobs simultaneously. The honesty built trust. The shared community created context. The inside-world proof collapsed the "is this person legit?" question. The exchange framing collapsed the status gap. The specificity made it impossible to ignore. The pratfall made it human. The zero-pressure close made saying yes feel safe.
And then I didn't chase. I didn't follow up. I just let the message do its work.
Weeks later, Ali came back and pitched me a partnership bigger than anything I'd originally proposed. That's what a well-constructed cold DM does. It doesn't just get a reply. It shifts the entire dynamic so that the other person starts selling themselves on working with you.
That's not a trick. That's what happens when every line earns the next one.
The Template: The Shared Community + Exchange DM
Use this when you share a paid community, mastermind, or alumni network with someone you've never spoken to. The shared context does half the work for you. Frame it as an exchange, not an ask.
Variation: This works for any shared tribe -- an industry conference, a Slack group, a cohort program, an alumni network. The specifics change. The key stays the same: exchange framing that collapses the status gap between you and the person you're reaching out to.
Next: Chapter 7 -- John Barrows