Templates

Templates live one step after leads in the chain: signal → sync → lead → template. For each signal type you define how FounderMCP opens the conversation — and because the signal explains why someone surfaced, the template can be specific instead of generic.

Anatomy of a template

A template is two things:

• A channel strategy — which steps on which channel, in which order: for example LinkedIn request → message → InMail, or an email sequence.
• The text per step — written by the template agent, by you, or both.

Building with the template agent

The template agent is a chat on the left; the template itself stays in view on the right. When you open Templates, it is ready for a new template. Right above the message box, Edit an existing template opens your list of templates in the big block on the right: click one to open it, or New template to start another one. Pick the signal the template is for, then the channel strategy — that choice is always yours; ask the agent which one it recommends if you're unsure. From there it builds the template while you watch: it writes every message, adds or removes follow-ups, changes wait times and rewrites whatever you want changed. Every change shows up in the template right away and is saved as you go. Need more room for the template? Collapse the chat with the small arrow on its edge; click the narrow strip to open it again.

The agent knows what a template can be: the channel strategies and how they branch (already connected, accepted, no reply), the 300-character limit on a connection note, the placeholders and how often each one is filled, and what the signal means — including whether the person did something themselves or their company did. It writes from what FounderMCP knows about you: your company profile, your ICP document (Settings → ICP), your best customers, and your existing templates as tone examples.

By default the agent drafts the full sequence, follow-up messages included: on top of the strategy's steps it writes one follow-up per channel — a second email, a follow-up LinkedIn message, a follow-up InMail, whichever the strategy carries. Ask for the lean version if you don't want them.

The agent works on an existing template too — open it with Edit an existing template and ask: "make the note shorter", "add an InMail for people who don't accept". Want another channel strategy? Ask for it and pick one from the strategies the agent shows you. The agent only shapes the template; nothing is sent from here — sending starts on Leads, with Start outreach.

Checking a step

Click a step to write or edit its text. Add a placeholder — first name, company, the signal and more — by clicking it above the text or dragging it into place. The amber ones above the text are only sometimes filled; inside the text, those show dashed. At the bottom, Preview for a real lead shows the message as three real leads of this signal would get it. When a lead has no data for a placeholder you used, the preview says so: Start outreach skips that lead rather than send a half-filled message.

Writing without the agent

• Pick a channel strategy in the empty template and write the messages yourself. You get the lean strategy; follow-ups stay optional add-buttons in the flow.
• Use your own AI — copy the prompt into your ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and paste the answer back. Best when your own assistant already knows your context and tone. The prompt is always in English; you only pick the language of the messages.
• Every step in the editor also carries Write with your own AI for a single message.

Branches per signal type

Templates hang under their signal type, and a type can carry more than one — variants live side by side as branches. Edit an existing template in the chat shows them all as blocks, grouped per signal type, each with its strategy and the campaign status underneath; click one to open it, or click the button again to go back to the template you had open.

From template to message

When a lead lands, the drafted opener in the leads table follows the template for that lead's signal type — the wording of the signal (what they did, or what their company did) flows into the message. Adjust per lead where you want; the template keeps the baseline sharp.