Why we confirm your email

Stage 1 writes to senior buyers in your name, from your own domain. Before it does that, it should know the email on the account is really yours.

So new sign-ups now confirm their email address with one click. It takes seconds, and your Board doesn't wait for it.

What happens when you sign up

Sign up with your work email and a password, and Stage 1 sends you a short email. Open it and tap Confirm my email. You land back in Stage 1 with a note that says approving and sending are on.

The link works for 7 days. The email goes out in the background, so sign-up never waits on it. You're on your first screen before it arrives.

What works before you confirm

Nearly everything. Stage 1 reads your website, builds the Brain, fills the Board and ranks every account by signal strength. You can open any account, read the research and the drafted Hypothesis Opening, and add people by hand. That first look is covered in your first Board in two minutes.

Three things wait for the click. Approving an account, which is what starts outreach. Sending a reply from the Desk. And inviting teammates.

Each of those either reaches someone outside your firm or brings someone into your workspace. Those are the ones worth a confirmed address.

The banner

Until you confirm, a banner at the top of the Board says Confirm your email, names the address the link went to, and says approving and sending start once you click it. Lost the email? Tap Send it again in the banner. Use the newest one when several arrive.

Stage 1 sends up to five links an hour. Past that it asks you to use the newest one or try again later. If a link has expired, the app says so and points you back to the banner for a fresh one.

Who skips the step

If you sign in with Google or LinkedIn, the provider has already confirmed your address. There's nothing to click.

Teammates you invite skip it too. The owner invited that exact address, and the invite went to it, so it counts as confirmed.

And resetting your password by email confirms the address along the way. The reset link proved you can read that inbox.

Why a work email

A new workspace needs a company address. Personal inboxes can't start one, for two reasons. Stage 1 sends from your own domain, so the domain on the account should be the one your buyers will see. And a free inbox for every trial is the easiest way to mine research without being a real firm.

Teammates you invite are the exception. They can join from whatever address the owner invited.

Why it matters for a services sale

Your first message to a buyer carries your firm's name and your own. It's the first impression of a relationship that might be worth $200K or more. That's worth one click to protect.

It protects the buyers too. Stage 1 won't approve outreach or send replies from an account until the address behind it is proven. Nobody can sign up as you and start writing to your market. Trust is the whole product in a services sale, and it starts before the first send. More on that in trust is the product.

One click, and you're sending.

Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. Plans and details are on the pricing page, or you can start your trial.