The “Growth Signal” Triangulation

What It Is

Growth Signal Triangulation is an advanced targeting methodology that requires multiple positive signals to converge before triggering outreach. Instead of reaching out when you see one signal (like a funding round), you wait until that signal is corroborated by another (like a hiring surge). This dramatically increases timing accuracy and outreach relevance.

Why It Matters

Single signals can be misleading. A company that raised funding might not be ready to buy for 6 months. A company posting jobs might be replacing departures, not growing. But when you see funding + hiring + increased marketing spend all within 30 days? That's a company actively scaling—and they need tools to support that growth now. Triangulation cuts through the noise to find accounts in true buying windows.

Who It's For

• Enterprise and mid-market sales teams with longer sales cycles
• RevOps teams building sophisticated lead scoring models
• Companies selling growth-stage solutions (scaling infrastructure, team tools, etc.)
• SDR orgs that prioritize quality over quantity in outbound

Required Tools

• Crunchbase API (for funding data)
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator or recruiter seats (for hiring signals)
• Clearbit or ZoomInfo (for firmographic enrichment)
• G2 or Bombora (for intent data, optional but valuable)
• Clay (for orchestration and signal aggregation)

Required Fields/Properties

• Target Account List with domains
• Signal tracking: funding rounds, job postings, office openings, etc.
• Time window configuration (recommend: 30-day lookback)
• Signal combination rules (which 2+ signals trigger outreach)

Definitions Required

• Which signals indicate growth vs. churn (hiring vs. layoffs)
• Signal weighting: not all signals are equal (Series B > press mention)
• Minimum signal threshold (2 signals? 3 signals?)
• Signal freshness requirements (funding within 60 days, hiring within 30 days)

Email Template: Funding + Hiring Combination

Subject: Congrats on the raise—now the hard part

Hi {{first_name}},

Congrats on {{company}}'s {{funding_round}}. I also noticed you're hiring aggressively—{{job_count}} roles posted in the last month.

That combination usually means one thing: you're scaling fast and the systems that got you here are about to break. We've seen it a dozen times—what works for a 20-person team falls apart at 50, and by 100 it's chaos.

We help growth-stage teams like {{similar_company}} and {{similar_company_2}} build revenue infrastructure that scales. Not a rip-and-replace—more like a force multiplier for what you've already built.

Worth a conversation before the cracks start showing?

{{sender_name}}

Email Template: Intent + Hiring Combination

Subject: Saw you're researching {{category}}—quick thought

Hi {{first_name}},

I noticed {{company}} has been actively researching {{category}} solutions. Combined with the hiring I'm seeing ({{departments_hiring}}), it looks like you're gearing up for a growth push.

Timing matters with this stuff. We've worked with teams who waited until they were drowning to fix their [relevant process]—and teams who got ahead of it. The second group scales 2x faster.

If you're evaluating options, I'd be happy to share what we've seen work at similar companies—no pitch, just pattern-matching.

15 minutes this week?

{{sender_name}}

Signal Combination Matrix

| Signal Combo | Combined Weight | Priority | Messaging Angle | Route To |
|--------------|-----------------|----------|-----------------|----------|
| Funding + Hiring + Intent | 13+ | Red Alert | "Perfect timing" | AE |
| Funding + Hiring | 8-9 | High | "Scale-ready" | AE |
| Funding + Intent | 9-10 | High | "Evaluating solutions" | AE |
| Hiring + Intent | 8-9 | High | "Growing + researching" | SDR |
| Funding only (Series B+) | 5 | Standard | "Post-raise priorities" | SDR |
| Hiring surge only | 4 | Standard | "Team growth" | SDR |
| Intent only | 4-5 | Standard | "Research mode" | SDR |

Slack Alert: Red Alert (3+ Signals)

🚨 *RED ALERT: Triangulation Triggered*

*Company:* {{company_name}}
*Signal Score:* {{total_weight}} (threshold: 7)
*Signals Detected:* {{signal_count}}

*Active Signals:*
{{#each active_signals}}
• {{signal_type}}: {{signal_detail}} (Weight: {{weight}})
{{/each}}

*Key Contact:*
• {{contact_name}} ({{title}})
• {{email}}
• {{linkedin_url}}

*Recommended Action:* AE outreach within 24 hours
*Messaging Angle:* {{recommended_angle}}

<{{crm_link}}|View Account> | <{{draft_email_link}}|Draft Email>

Signal Weight Reference

| Signal Type | Description | Weight | Freshness Window | Data Source |
|-------------|-------------|--------|------------------|-------------|
| Series B+ Funding | Announced funding round | 5 | 90 days | Crunchbase |
| Series A Funding | Announced funding round | 4 | 90 days | Crunchbase |
| Hiring Surge | 10+ job postings in 30 days | 4 | 30 days | LinkedIn |
| Leadership Hire | VP+ level new hire | 4 | 60 days | LinkedIn |
| G2 High Intent | High intent score in category | 5 | 30 days | G2 |
| Pricing Page Visit | Visited pricing on your site | 5 | 7 days | Website tracking |
| Competitor Research | Actively researching competitors | 4 | 30 days | Bombora |
| New Office | Office opening/expansion | 3 | 90 days | LinkedIn/News |
| Ad Spend Increase | 2x+ MoM increase | 3 | 30 days | SpyFu/SimilarWeb |

Test Cases Checklist

• Account with funding + hiring detected → flagged for outreach with combined weight
• Account with single signal (funding only) → NOT flagged until second signal appears
• Signal older than freshness window → excluded from calculation
• Red Alert account (3+ signals) → routed to AE channel, not SDR
• Email template correctly includes all active signal details
• Signal score recalculated daily as signals age or new signals appear
• Duplicate signals (same type, same week) → deduplicated

Common Failure Modes

• Signal staleness: Reaching out about funding that happened 6 months ago. Enforce freshness windows and reference recency in outreach.
• Over-weighting one source: If all your signals come from one source (e.g., LinkedIn), your model is brittle. Diversify signal sources.
• Threshold too high: If you require 4 signals, you'll have very few accounts to work. Start with 2-signal minimum and increase if quality is low.
• Missing signal combinations: Intent + Hiring is as good as Funding + Hiring, but some models overweight funding. Validate with conversion data.

Troubleshooting Tips

• If too few accounts triggering: Lower weight threshold or expand signal sources
• If quality is low: Increase weight threshold or add additional required signals
• If signals seem stale: Shorten freshness windows and increase refresh frequency
• If conversion isn't higher than single-signal: Re-examine signal weights and combinations

KPIs to Track

• Triangulation Rate: 10-15% of target accounts should have 2+ signals at any time
• Reply Rate (Triangulated): >18% (vs. ~10% for single-signal)
• Meeting Book Rate: >7% of triangulated accounts
• Conversion Lift: 2x higher SQL conversion vs. single-signal leads
• Signal Accuracy: >80% of signals confirmed accurate in discovery calls

Suggested Dashboard Widgets

• Signal Distribution: Heatmap showing which signal combinations are most common in target accounts
• Triangulation Funnel: Funnel: Total Accounts → 1 Signal → 2 Signals → 3+ Signals → Contacted → Meeting
• Conversion by Signal Combo: Table showing meeting rate for each signal combination
• Signal Freshness: Chart showing age distribution of active signals