Cold + warm playbook

5 tactics for filling themed weeks + growing membership

Five outreach motions, ordered by warmth. Each one has a list source, a 3-touch sequence, a sample first message you can copy as-is, and an honest read on what reply volume tends to look like.

None of these require ad spend. All five run on Kiba (or one part-time helper) doing 30 to 60 minutes a day.

Tactic 01

Lu.ma host scrape

Lu.ma hosts who already run ETH meetups, DeSci salons, or builder dinners are the warmest cold list on the internet. They understand the format. They have an audience that maps to Zucity themes. They are one DM away.

Where to source the list

Lu.ma's public event discovery pages, filtered by city (Tokyo, Singapore, Bangkok, Lisbon, SF, NYC) and tag (web3, AI, longevity, DeSci, network state). Each event page lists the host with a public profile and usually an X handle. Build a sheet of 50 hosts per themed week, starting with hosts who have run 3+ events (signal: they take it seriously). The attend-then-DM pattern works even better: register for one of their events, send the DM from a "fellow host" frame.

Sequence

Step 1. X DM or email. One line about their specific event, one line about the themed week, one line offering a comp pass.
Step 2. +5 days, no reply. One-line bump with one new specific value hook (a confirmed guest, a venue detail, an angle their crowd cares about).
Step 3. +10 days, still no reply. One line closing the loop and putting them on the list for the next themed week.

Step 1 script

Hey [name], saw you ran the [event name] meetup in [city] last month. We're putting together a DeSci week in Karuizawa end of August, partner properties, 30 builders max. Want a comp pass to see if it'd fit your crowd? No expectation, just figured the format overlaps with what you're already doing.

Realistic expectation. Lu.ma hosts who already match the theme tend to reply at meaningful rates. Expect somewhere around 1 in 5 to write back, and a smaller fraction of those to actually show up. The compounding value is in the next themed week, when the ones who said "next time" actually mean it.

Tactic 02

Themed-week recruiter sequence

Generic "come to Zucity" pitches blur into noise. A specific "come to d/acc week, here is who else is confirmed, here is why your work matters in the room" pitch lands. One sequence per themed week, run 60 days out.

Where to source the list

For each themed week, build a 30-person target list from the ICP source that matches the theme. d/acc week: pull from Vitalik's recent quote-tweets, Twitter Lists curated by d/acc voices, Mirror.xyz d/acc tag. DeSci week: VitaDAO contributors, Molecule funding pages, recent DeSci podcast guests, ResearchHub power users. jp/acc week: Japanese builder Twitter, Fracton Ventures portfolio, Code for Japan past speakers. AI Builder week: Replicate top users, OpenRouter community, AI agent X bios with Asia city tags.

Sequence

Step 1. Personalised opener referencing their specific work + theme-specific hook + confirmed-attendee social proof.
Step 2. +4 days, no reply. Drop one concrete detail that closes a hesitation (cost, length, who else is in, the unique session).
Step 3. +9 days, still no reply. Soft close: "If timing doesn't work, want me to flag the next one in [theme]?"

Step 1 script (DeSci week example)

Hi [name], been following the [specific paper / DAO / project] work, the bit on [specific detail] in particular. We're running a DeSci week in Karuizawa late August. 25 researchers, partner labs in Tokyo doing site visits, [confirmed name] already in. Format is 5 days deep work + 2 days field trips. Worth a look? Happy to send the brief if so.

Realistic expectation. Cold but theme-matched outreach in a niche this small typically pulls a reply rate in the low double digits. Conversion from reply to actual attendance is the harder leg. The wins compound across weeks because every "yes" becomes social proof in the next sequence.

Tactic 03

Podcast-guest pipeline

Each podcast Kiba lands on puts the Zucity story in front of 30 to 1,000 people who already self-selected for network-state, nomad, or AI-builder content. One pod a week beats 100 cold DMs. Goal: 10 pods in 90 days.

Where to source the list

ListenNotes search for "network state", "popup city", "digital nomad founder", "AI agents", "Zuzalu". Spotify category browsing in Tech + Business + Society. Cross-reference with Edge City / Cabin / Esmeralda alumni podcast appearances (those pods already book this genre). Twitter search for "we just dropped" + podcast names in the space. Build a sheet of 40 candidate pods, rank by listener count + topical fit, pitch the top 20.

Sequence

Step 1. Email or X DM to host. One-line credibility, one-line specific angle they have not had a guest on, one-line offer.
Step 2. +7 days, no reply. Bump with one new hook: a recent story, a data point, a controversial take they would not get from a typical guest.
Step 3. +14 days, still no reply. "If now isn't right, I'll keep an ear on the show and circle back when there's an angle that fits."

Step 1 script

Hey [host], been listening since the [specific episode] ep, the [specific guest or topic] was the one that got me. I run Zucity, a network-state-style coliving across rural Japan + Chiang Mai. We just wrapped a d/acc week with 30 builders. There's a real story in what works and what completely doesn't when you try to build community infrastructure in places without the usual Web3 scene. Worth a conversation?

Realistic expectation. Cold pod pitches with a specific story angle convert better than most cold outreach because hosts need guests. Smaller shows reply readily; bigger shows usually need a warm intro or a second touch. Hitting 10 bookings in 90 days off 40 pitches is a realistic stretch goal, not a guarantee.

Tactic 04

X / Farcaster content cadence

3 posts a week from Kiba, all lived-experience moments from running Zucity. Not marketing. Not "join our themed week." Real stories, weird Japan things, builder-house failures, what works. The conversion is sideways: people engage, you DM them, the DM becomes a relationship.

Where to source the list

The list is built by the content itself. Watch quote-tweets, replies, and follows after each post. Anyone who engages with 2+ posts goes on a "warm watch" list. On Farcaster, do the same with reactions + recasts in the channels Zucity belongs in (/network-states, /japan, /ai-agents, /nomad). Tools that help: Tweetdeck-style columns for replies + mentions, Farcaster channel feeds, a simple Notion sheet tracking who engages and what they care about.

Sequence

Step 1. Post the story. No CTA. No link. Just the moment.
Step 2. When they engage. Reply publicly, briefly, real. Build the relationship in the open.
Step 3. After 2+ engagements. DM with no ask. Comment on something specific from their own feed. Convert to ask only if and when it becomes natural.

Step 3 DM script

Hey, been seeing your stuff on [specific topic from their feed], the [specific post] in particular. I'm in Chiang Mai mostly, Karuizawa some of the year, running Zucity. Always up to swap notes with people thinking about [their topic] from a builder angle. Coffee if you're ever this side?

Realistic expectation. Content cadence is a 6-to-12 month bet, not a 30-day one. The DMs that come from sustained presence convert at much higher rates than cold lists because the relationship is already mutual. Measure quality of replies, not follower count.

Tactic 05

Reciprocal partnership outreach

Edge City, Cabin, Esmeralda, Network School, Outpost are not competitors. They are the rest of your category, and their members are exactly your members. One co-hosted event per quarter compounds harder than 100 cold DMs.

Where to source the list

The top 20 is already known: Edge City, Cabin, Esmeralda, Network School, Outpost, Vibecamp, Foresight, Praxis, Honduras Prospera community, Akashi (if active), Builder Residency, Solana House programs, Eth Denver house operators, AthensDAO, Berlin coliving operators, Lisbon nomad collectives. Pull contact info from their site + the founder's X. Approach the founder, not a "partnerships@" inbox.

Sequence

Step 1. Founder-to-founder note. One-line "I've been watching what you're doing", one-line concrete proposal (co-host between [their city] and Karuizawa), one-line ask for a 20-min call.
Step 2. +10 days, no reply. Drop one piece of evidence Zucity is real (a recent themed week recap, a partner property, a name they would recognise from their world).
Step 3. +21 days. "Parking this for now, will circle back next quarter when we have [next themed week] dates locked."

Step 1 script

Hey [name], Kiba from Zucity. Been watching what you're building with [their project], the [specific thing] is the part that stuck. There's an obvious co-host between [their city] and Karuizawa, 3 days each side, shared member list, both sides get the cross-pollination. Worth a 20-min call to see if there's a real shape to it? Either way, mutual respect for what you're putting into the category.

Realistic expectation. Founder-to-founder outreach in a small connected category gets read. Reply rates here can be quite high in relative terms because everyone in this space knows each other is rare. Not every reply becomes a deal. The few that do produce member overlap that lasts for years.

Pick two, run them for 60 days before adding more. Lu.ma host scrape and podcast pipeline are the highest-leverage starter pair for Zucity's stage. Host scrape fills themed weeks. Podcast pipeline compounds the membership funnel. Both run on Kiba time, no spend, no team build. Add tactics 2, 4, and 5 once those two are humming.

Donal · Online Optimisers · 2026-05-28