This student had the guts to cold email Elon Musk (and it worked).

Niko Bonatsos wanted to interview Elon Musk for his research paper. Instead of messaging someone at Tesla, he cold emailed Elon directly — and got a response.

Here’s why I think worked, broken down into 3 parts:

1/ Building Rapport Like a Human

Niko started by establishing familiarity.
When someone opens a cold email, the first thing they subconsciously assess is: "Is this a spammy pitch or an internet creep?"

You have to get past the crocodile brain first. And the key is emotion.

When you remind someone of their time at university, or graduating, there’s an emotion of nostalgia.
If the reader doesn’t feel something in the first second, they stop reading.

2/ Sincere Appreciation > Flattery

Elon knows he’s built one of the most innovative companies in the world.
But, it feels good to be reminded with genuine admiration — not over-the-top praise, but a heartfelt and personal note.

Make them feel special and yourself qualified.

As Dale Carnegie says "Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise"

3/ Have a SIMPLE ask

The worst thing you can ask for is a "coffee" or a "quick 20 min call" (or worst of all - "to pick their brain"
That’s not an ask. That’s a vague request for their time.

Instead, Niko made a specific, actionable request: to interview Elon for his research paper on Tesla's Corporate Strategy.
> It showed he had a plan.
> It respected Elon’s time.
> And it signaled that he was a person of action.

Niko is a master at cold emailing, he's gotten responses from Evan Spiegel - Founder of Snapchat (asking for an internship) and Steve Ballmer - Former CEO of Microsoft.

👇️ Sub to see them