Sourcing deals through cold emailing?

I recently convinced my firm to try this.  Old school MDs were very highly opposed.  Got the firm to invest in quality lead lists that I identified online + a ZoomInfo subscription, and started spending 30-60 mins a day cultivating this on the side.

I have about a 3% success rate of cold email --> call, and 1 or 2 that are looking like they could maybe turn into real deals after about a month minor cultivating, so I would say it works (or at least is working so far).  If 1 deal converts, it pays for the cost of the list + ZoomInfo + my time many many times over (which, overall cost is probably not that difference than sending an MD to a conference).

My advice from trying to get this project off the ground is that the source of your lists matter.  If you write good, compelling emails to people you've accurately screened, you maximize your odds.