Why Istos has no contact database
Most outreach tools sell you a database of people. Istos doesn't, and won't build one. Why every address comes from you or from an email finder you pay directly, and what that means for the people you write to.
When people look at outreach tools, one of the first things they compare is the database. How many contacts, how many companies, how many emails a month. Some of the biggest tools are, at heart, a very large list of people with a product built around it.
Istos has none. There's no list of people to search, no bulk export, no "enrich 10,000 contacts" button. Every address on a draft either came from you, or from an email finder you connected with your own account and pay for directly. This post is about why I made that choice and what it changes.
A database changes what you do
A big database is a powerful thing to hand someone. It makes the obvious move "more": search a segment, pull a few thousand names, put them in a sequence. That's the right tool for some teams. It's the wrong default for a founder looking for ten customers, a freelancer looking for three clients, or someone looking for one job.
For them, the list isn't the bottleneck. They usually know, or can find out, who they'd most like to work with. What they need is help choosing well, finding a good reason to write now, and writing something that sounds like them. A database pulls the other way.
So Istos starts from people you already have or can name:
- people you add by hand or paste in from a spreadsheet;
- your own LinkedIn connections, from the archive LinkedIn gives you, on Pro;
- companies you pick from the news because something just changed there;
- companies like the customers you've already won.
Where the address comes from
When you need someone's work address, Istos asks the email finders you've connected, in the order you set: Hunter, Prospeo or LeadMagic. It stops at the first verified address. If a finder only gets as far as a catch-all address, one the company's server accepts whatever it is, Istos keeps it while it tries the next finder, and tells you it couldn't be confirmed.
Three rules hold the whole way through:
- No guessing. Istos never builds an address from a pattern such as first.last@company.com. An address comes from you, or from a finder that found it.
- No sending to what couldn't be found. A draft to an address marked not found can't be sent. A catch-all needs you to say yes first.
- No lookup for someone who said no. Your do-not-contact list is checked before a paid lookup, so your credits are never spent on them.
How to find verified email addresses with your own keys shows the setup step by step, including what each finder charges.
You pay the provider, not us
Your finder account is yours. You sign up with the provider, choose their plan, and paste your API key into Connections, where it's stored encrypted for your account alone. Credits come from your provider, never from Istos.
That has a few useful effects:
- The cost is visible. The Usage page lists every call to your finders, and says plainly that costs are each provider's own credits and Istos adds no charge.
- You set the ceiling. A daily limit on lookups, 50 unless you change it, keeps a long list from burning a month's credits in an afternoon.
- You don't pay twice. Istos keeps each answer in your account for 30 days, so looking up the same person again doesn't cost another credit.
- You can leave. Turn a finder off, change the order, or remove the key whenever you like.
Why it matters to the people you write to
There's a person at the other end of every address. When their details come from a resold list, they have no idea how you got them, and neither, often, do you.
When the address comes from a finder you chose, for a person you picked, for a reason you can state, the chain is short and clear. You know where it came from. If they ask, you can say. And if they say no, Istos's do-not-contact list makes sure nothing else reaches them, from any part of Istos.
This isn't legal advice, and the rules for contacting people at work vary by country. But a short, clear chain from "why this person" to "where this address came from" is a good place to start under almost any of them.
What it costs you
Honestly, speed at the start. If you want ten thousand contacts by lunchtime, a database tool will get you there and Istos won't. You'll have to bring your own list, connect a finder, and look people up as you go.
I think that's the right trade for the people Istos is built for. The bottleneck for a small team is almost never the size of the list. It's choosing the right people and writing to them well. That's where Istos spends its effort, and it's why nothing sends without your approval either.
If a large database is what you need, Istos, Apollo, Clay and Instantly compares the tools built around one, fairly.
Let the agents do the searching
Istos is in private beta. Join early access, or try the free preview on your resume, your website or your raise first. Nothing sends until you approve it.