What was built
A launch sales stack for a one-person company, built session by session with the founder rather than handed over as a finished configuration. Pipedrive is the hub, Apollo supplies and enriches the leads, Lemlist runs LinkedIn, and the point of the whole arrangement is that the two outreach channels never work the same person twice.
| Area | Description |
|---|---|
| Stack selection | Pipedrive over HubSpot, argued from base-plan webhooks (real-time Make automation without an Operations Hub tier) and predictable per-seat pricing for a startup |
| Pipedrive foundation | Sample data cleared, EUR-only currencies, loss reasons defined, and a Blocker activity type so private calendar events reserve time without creating overdue tasks |
| Google Workspace | Chosen over Microsoft 365 for the deeper Pipedrive sync, then wired up as two-way calendar and mail sync with only real meeting types flowing back to the calendar |
| Meeting scheduler | A Pipedrive booking link replacing Calendly, with duration, availability, buffers and the Sales Meeting activity type set for clean reporting |
| Apollo integration | Connected to Pipedrive with field mapping for job title, LinkedIn and the AI-generated enrichment fields, and an initial list of ~4,500 contacts pushed across |
| Outreach workflow | A two-step Apollo workflow: a saved search fills a Buffer list with enriched leads, a human review moves them to a Clean list, and that triggers the specialist or generalist sequence |
| Lemlist & LinkedIn | Lemlist connected to Pipedrive, driven by a LinkedIn URL field and a LinkedIn Outreach label; removing the label pauses the campaign, giving one kill switch inside the CRM |
| Lead handoff | Engagement in Apollo labels the Pipedrive contact: a hot lead becomes a task for immediate personal follow-up, a cold one goes to the Lemlist campaign |
| Product webhook | A Make webhook path so new users of the product itself land in Pipedrive and drop out of every sales campaign |
| Deliverability | Domain warm-up planned as its own track, with low-volume sends from the existing domain while the new one aged |
| Training | Working sessions over Zoom plus recorded walkthroughs on the Apollo, Pipedrive and Lemlist workflows, so the founder operates the stack himself |
Two decisions shaped the result more than the configuration did. The cold email moved from a long AI-generated pitch to a short problem-first sequence, sent by hand to a small group first so the copy was judged on replies rather than on taste. And the Apollo enrichment workflow needed a real fix: it triggered on saved contacts, but Apollo's search-to-list action never saves them, so enrichment moved into the lead-creation workflow itself.
Tech stack
| Technology | Role |
|---|---|
| Pipedrive | CRM, scheduler, labels, tasks, the hub both channels sync into |
| Apollo | Lead sourcing, AI enrichment, cold email sequences |
| Lemlist | LinkedIn visits, connects and messages |
| Make.com | Webhook from the product backend into the CRM |
Project stats: 7 tasks, 3 recorded walkthroughs, ~8h tracked, December 2025 to September 2026.