The first buyers gather where their vendors put them: in partner directories, in Clay's community and on vendor-hosted podcasts. Of the 108 entries in the directory, 63 were found through a Smartlead page, 39 through Clay and 23 through Instantly (The first 100 buyers). The same lists that sell these agencies to clients show Julian where they are. Using those lists for first contact is restricted by the same country rules his product will enforce (EU/EEA country matrix).
For the 14 best-fit entries in consent countries, the most efficient route is a room: a Clay Club in Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen or Switzerland. In-person contact is not "electronic mail" under §7 UWG or the ePrivacy Directive, and the hosts are themselves buyers in the list.
Partner and expert directories
| Directory | Size seen | Who is in it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smartlead partners | 104 partner pages, 135 case studies; 12 on the certified shortlist | Danish Lead Co., LeadLead BangBang, letstrike, StackOptimise, Halfwarm | Smartlead claimed "100+ certified experts" in Feb 2024. Some agency-partner pages are unfilled templates (GTM engineers and Clay shops) |
| Instantly Experts | 51 profiles, about 10 visibly European | closed:in, Lead Printer, Litehouse, Spring Drive, UltB, Cold Labs | Several overlap with Clay and Smartlead |
| lemlist Experts | 141 listings: 104 in Europe, 57 in France | Leadix, Outbound Catalyst, Peakora, Scalantec | Service partners need "at least 5 active teams", earn up to 25% and get a partner Slack channel |
| Clay Experts | 186 results across Elite Studio, Studio, Advanced Artisan, Artisan | Growth Engine X, GenFlows, closed:in, Saleslift, Harochi, Targetory | 29 of 80 profiles read list a "$5k+ a month" minimum (GTM engineers and Clay shops) |
| HeyReach Experts | 16 results, 6 shown | Scalantec, Harochi, OneThousandPieces | Premium Partners capped at 50; 10–40% revenue share; HeyReach co-hosts events |
The lemlist list leans French, which matters because France is a lawful email market (France). The Clay list skews US: 37 of the 80 profiles read were American, 30 European or British.
Each Clay, Smartlead and Instantly profile has a "Book a call" link meant for prospective clients. This hub has no source on whether a sales pitch sent through a booking form or contact form counts as electronic mail under §7(2) Nr. 2 UWG or the national rules in other consent countries. Treat it as email: use it only where email to that person is already lawful, and never in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Poland or Denmark.
Clay Clubs and the Clay community
Clay's own job posting (May 2026) describes "50+ Clay clubs, and 30k members on Slack", along with "125+ agencies" and "150+ integration partners". The same post also says "84+ chapters globally" (Clay, via Sapphire Ventures job board). Both figures are vendor-stated.
European clubs on record:
| City | Evidence | Host or link to the list |
|---|---|---|
| Berlin | 85 registered for "Supercharge Your Outbound Game" | Hosts Hakon Junge and Taimoor Tariq; Scalantec's Nicolas Schell hosts monthly events in Berlin and Munich |
| Munich | Monthly events (same post) | Scalantec (DE, fit 4) |
| Paris, Barcelona, Warsaw, London | Listed in a community round-up (year not stated) | Local hosts named by first name only |
| North UK | Launch event; led by "Jake G." | — |
| Copenhagen | Inaugural club, 30 April 2026 | TC9, a Clay implementation partner |
| Switzerland | Peakora "runs a Clay Club" (Clay profile, per GTM engineers and Clay shops) | Peakora (CH, fit 3) |
These cities match where the work is. TechTree counts 492 titled GTM engineers in Europe as of June 2026, led by London (69), Paris (42), Berlin (24) and Munich (17). It is a single report and its method is not public.
No public, complete list of Clay Clubs with dates was found. A community moderator said the landing page was "in the works". Attendance figures exist for one Berlin event only.
Communities
| Community | Size | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Clay Slack | 30k members (Clay, May 2026) | Answer questions in public; the jobs channel shows who is hiring for multi-client work |
| r/coldemail | ~75,000 members | Vendor accounts get downvoted (Go-to-market plan). Answer as a person |
| Instantly's "Cold Email Masterclass" Facebook group | 18,000+ (2023 podcast figure, Distribution) | Instantly-owned; do not pitch there |
| Skool: Matt Lucero's Cold Email Lab | 35 members at $499/month | Small and expensive, made up of operators. Lucero also coaches 350+ agencies (self-reported) |
| Vendor partner Slacks (lemlist, HeyReach) | Not disclosed | Only reachable once Julian is a technology partner |
Podcasts, newsletters, video
- Smartlead's "Cold to Close", hosted by its founder. Episode 3 (27 April 2026) featured StackOptimise's Felix and Penn Frank on going "$0 to $3M ARR in 2 years" (founder claim).
- Discovered Labs, which interviewed Leadbird's Nick Abraham on 1.5M+ emails a month and Instantly's co-founder on its early growth.
- "How To Scale An Agency", co-hosted by AJ Cassata of Revenue Boost (Spotify). Audience size not verified.
- Newsletters: The GTM Engineer Pulse (Substack), OneGTM's Substack, Email Outreach Company's Beehiiv letter and Jed Mahrle's Practical Prospecting.
- YouTube: Eric Nowoslawski (Growth Engine X), Max Münstermann (closed:in), and Brandon Charleson, who co-hosts Instantly's channel (GTM engineers and Clay shops).
Most of these shows are run by vendors, so an entrant gets on them as a guest with data, for example the benchmark in Go-to-market plan, not as a sponsor.
Events in Europe
A vendor-compiled list (SyncGTM) gives these for 2026. Two fall in the next 90 days:
| Event | City | 2026 dates | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| SaaStock Europe | Dublin | 13–15 Oct | 4,500+ founders, operators, investors |
| SaaStr Europa | London | 1–2 Dec | Founders and early GTM leads |
| GTM Super Conference | London | 24–25 Jun (past) | GTM directors, RevOps |
| RevOpsAF Europe | London | 10–11 Jun (past) | RevOps practitioners |
| DMEXCO | Cologne | 23–24 Sep (past) | 40,000+; DACH marketing |
These are conferences for software buyers, not agency meetups, so the agency owners in this list are a small share of the room. Clay Clubs are the better use of travel money (Go-to-market plan budgets €2,000 for meetups in Q4).
Which channels are lawful for first contact
| Channel | UK, FR, IE, SE, FI, EE, PT | NL, BE (named people) | DE, AT, CH, IT, ES, PL, DK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talk or demo at a Clay Club; conversations at events | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Public posts and answers in Slack, Reddit, LinkedIn | Yes, within community rules | Yes | Yes |
| Introduction by a design partner or club host | Yes | Yes | Yes. Follow-up answers the person's own request |
| Technology-partner listing (Clay integrations, HeyReach, lemlist) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| LinkedIn connection or message | Yes | Yes | Contested in Germany (Germany); unverified elsewhere. Keep the first message non-promotional and ask permission |
| Slack or community DM | As LinkedIn, and only if community rules allow | As LinkedIn | As LinkedIn |
| Booking link or contact form | Treat as email | Treat as email | No |
| Cold email to a named person | Yes, with Art. 14 notice and opt-out; role-relevant in FR, FI, IE (UK: PECR and DUAA 2025, France) | Generic addresses only | No |
| Phone | Not covered by this hub | Not covered | Germany: B2B calls with presumed consent and a concrete reason. Not assumed for AT or CH |
What this means for an entrant
- Become a technology partner before you pitch partners. A listing with Clay (150+ integration partners) or HeyReach puts Julian in the partner Slacks where the agencies already are.
- Spend the Q4 travel budget on Clay Clubs. Berlin, Munich and Copenhagen reach Scalantec, Harochi, Targetory, Danish Lead Co. and The Growth DNA, none of whom Julian may cold-email.
- Get on vendor podcasts as a guest with data. A methodology-first reply benchmark (Reply benchmarks) is the ticket; sponsorship prices are unknown (Go-to-market plan).
- Use directories as maps, not mailing lists. Their booking links exist for the agencies' clients.
- Log the channel and legal basis for every first touch. It is the same provenance record the product sells (Reaching the first 100).