From Founder-Led to Scalable Outbound: How DianaHR Built a Sales Playbook

The Problem

DianaHR, a US-based HR tech startup of under 20 people, wanted to accelerate on growth following their funding round. The team had product-market clarity, but needed to consistently generate qualified leads to support ambitious targets.

“We wanted to double down on outbound,” says Upeka Bee, Founder and CEO at DianaHR. “But we needed a system to channel that effort into results—something that would help us scale without losing the personal touch that worked well in early sales.”

The challenge wasn’t knowing the playbook—it was running it at scale. Outbound was working, but they saw clear gaps in efficiency. It was time to tighten the operation without losing the creativity that made it effective.

The Solution

Campaigns That Matched the Way HR Buys

Working with Topo, DianaHR built a structured outbound system designed for speed and learning.

• Ran tech-stack-based campaigns that showed how DianaHR complemented other tools, making the value prop easier to understand

• Built community-driven campaigns leveraging the YC founder network for credibility and relevance

• Used signal-based targeting: companies hiring in multiple states or adding +4 headcount, indicating growing HR complexity

• Tailored messaging to connect with real pains—hiring ops, onboarding chaos, lack of workflow automation

A System for Fast Learning and Strategic Focus

Every campaign was tracked, evaluated, and refined bi-weekly. Underperformers were cut quickly. High-performers were scaled up and cloned into new segments.

• Bi-monthly performance reviews with Topo kept the feedback loop tight

• High-velocity iteration created a scalable process without overextending the team

• Feedback-driven campaigns—especially founder-to-founder emails—drove consistent pipeline from DianaHR’s ICP

“The structure gave us space to test and learn without spinning our wheels. It felt focused, not frantic.”

The Results

• Top campaigns reached a 4.2% reply rate

• Consistent positive feedback from founders and operators in the ICP

• Founder-to-founder campaigns emerged as a strong playbook for future scale

• Iteration system helped the team scale fast without sacrificing relevance

• Targeting based on hiring signals proved effective for qualification and resonance

“We now have a framework that supports growth without depending on guesswork or one-off wins.”