I signed up for 84 SaaS products just to read the first email each one sends. Slack says almost nothing; Make hands you a playbook; Clay name-drops Anthropic. The whole board — every Day 0 welcome, side by side — plus the six plays worth stealing.
By Shreyans Bhansali · May 28, 2026
I signed up for 84 SaaS products in a month. Not to use them — to read the first email each one sends the second you hand over your address. Slack, Loom, Clay, Calendly, Klaviyo, the lot. Day 0. The welcome.
I'd just shipped, the welcome sequence was the one screen still blank, and every "best welcome email" post shows you five examples and calls it done. I wanted the whole shelf. So I built it — 84 first emails, side by side, one board.
What jumps out after the 84th: a great welcome email isn't trying to teach you the product. It's trying to get you to do one thing. The good ones pick that thing and delete everything else.
Slack's is almost rude in how little it says. A line, a button, done.
Slack — one button, OPEN SLACK. The whole email is “get back in.”
Make goes the other way — a numbered first-task playbook — but it's still one job: run your first scenario. The subject already asked the only question that matters: "what's the first thing you'll automate?"
Make — a numbered first-task playbook. Subject: “what’s the first thing you’ll automate?”
Two opposite designs, same move. That's the pattern under almost all 84. Below: the full board, plus the handful of plays worth stealing.
Pick one action. Open the app (Slack), send your first event (Mixpanel), install the extension (Grammarly). Not three. One.
Put the name in the first line — the subject isn't enough. "Hey Shreyans," does more work than a logo.
Borrow trust fast. Clay leads with "how Anthropic's Sales Ops team uses Clay" and a real face on the video. A named customer beats a feature list.
Show the product, not a tour. Calendly and Coda open with a screenshot of the thing — Coda with a template gallery, so you copy something that already works.
Name the sequence. Framer labels its welcome "1 of 4." You know more is coming, which is honest and oddly reassuring.
The trap: abstraction. Wrike's "Welcome to the age of connected intelligence" says nothing you can act on. The emails that aged worst all reach for a Big Idea instead of a next click.
Twelve worth studying
Clay — borrows trust fast: “How Anthropic’s Sales Ops team uses Clay,” plus a real face on the 101 video.Calendly — product screenshot first, then a 5-tips video. Two CTAs, both pointing back in.Loom — “we’re so glad you’re here.” Warmth as the whole pitch.Klaviyo — the subject IS the structure: “Getting started is as easy as 1-2-3.”Grammarly — install-the-extension is the only job. One action, repeated.Mixpanel — “send your first event” is the activation moment, and they say so.Framer — labels itself “1 of 4.” The welcome is openly the first of a sequence.Typeform — “let’s get started” with a single build-your-first-form path.Coda — leads with a template gallery, not a feature tour. Copy something that works.Wrike — “Welcome to the age of connected intelligence.” The abstraction trap.
That's the shelf. Grab the board, find the one closest to what you're shipping, and copy the move — not the words. The words are theirs; the move is yours to take.
