From the Reel: the full guide

Can they pay? 3 free checks before you pitch

Before you spend a week on a company, spend two minutes on three public pages. Two of them give you a hint. One gives you proof.

The 2-minute checklist

  1. Ads (30 seconds). Search the company in Meta's Ad Library. Any ad marked Active? Read "Started running on".
  2. Hiring (45 seconds). Open their site and find Careers. Which roles are open, and is there a pay range?
  3. The filing (45 seconds). Search their name on the SEC's free search with form type D. Read "Total Amount Sold" and the filing date.
  4. Score it. Ads and hiring are hints. A filing is proof. Pitch the companies with proof first.

1. Ads: a hint

A company that keeps paying for ads is spending money to get customers. Meta shows every ad a company is running, and the day each one started.

  1. Open Meta's Ad Library. This button opens it set to all countries. You don't need a Facebook account.
    Open Meta's Ad Library →
  2. Tap "Ad category" and pick the choice that covers all ads. The search box unlocks.
  3. Type the company's name in the search box and pick it from the list of advertisers.
  4. Look at each ad's top lines. "Active" means it is running today. "Started running on" is the day it began.
An ad in Meta's Ad Library marked Active, Started running on Oct 11, 2023
A real ad from the Reel: still active, started in October 2023. The advertiser's ID is blurred.
How to read itOne ad running for months usually pays for itself, or they would have stopped it. Many new ads this week means they are testing, so money is moving. Both are worth a pitch.

Then check Google too

Some companies only advertise on Google. Search their website address here, with the region set to Anywhere.

Open Google's Ads Transparency Center →

Google Ads Transparency Center result: No ads found
"No ads found" is not a no. The company in the Reel that raised $52 million shows none.
Why it is only a hintAn ad can cost five dollars a day. It tells you they spend to grow. It does not tell you how much they have.

2. Hiring: a hint

An open role is money that has already been approved. A role in the work you sell is the best kind.

  1. Open the company's website and look for Careers or Jobs in the top menu or at the very bottom of the page.
  2. No link? Search Google for the company's name plus the word jobs.
  3. Read two things on each post: the job title and the pay range.
Job post title: Marketing and Communications Manager
Job post pay range: $88,000 to $120,000 a year
A real job post from the Reel. The company's name is left out.
The pay range is a budgetMore than a dozen US states, including California, New York, Colorado, Washington and Illinois, now require a pay range on job posts. So the number is on the page. A company offering up to $120,000 for a marketer has already approved that money for marketing.
How to use itA hire takes months to find and start. You can start this month. Pitch yourself as the fast option while the role is open.

No careers page usually means a small team or no open roles. That is not a no either.

3. The filing: proof

When a US company raises money from investors, it files a short public form with the government, called a Form D, within 15 days of the first sale. It states how much money has come in.

  1. Open the SEC's free search. This button opens it with the form type already set to D.
    Open the SEC search →
  2. Type the company's name in quotes in "Document word or phrase", for example "Acme Robotics", then tap SEARCH.
  3. Open the row that starts with "D", then tap Open document.
  4. Read two lines: "Total Amount Sold" and the filing date.
Form D section 13: Total Offering Amount and Total Amount Sold, both $52,250,260 USD
Filing Date 2026-11-05
The real filing from the Reel: $52,250,260 sold, filed November 5, 2026. The company's name is left out.
Try the legal nameNo result? Search the name without "Inc." or "LLC", or use the name at the bottom of their website. "D/A" is an update to an older filing, so the money may be older.
Want a whole list of them?The same search can show every company in your industry that raised in the last 30 days. That guide is here.

Score it

What you foundWhat to do
A filing with money sold in the last few monthsProof. Pitch first. Lead with what a team needs right after a raise.
An open role in the work you sellHint. The budget is approved. Pitch as the fast option while they hire.
An ad that has run for monthsHint. They pay to grow. Pitch more results from the same spend.
None of the threeNot a no. Move them down the list and check again next month.

One clue can mislead you. In the Reel, the plain company led on ads and the polished one had the $52 million.

Write the opener with Claude

Paste this into Claude and fill in the yellow parts with what you found.

I'm deciding whether to pitch [company]. I sell [what you sell, in one line]. Here is what their public pages show. Ads: [what you saw, e.g. one ad running since Oct 2023, or none]. Hiring: [the roles and pay range, or none]. Filing: [amount sold and filing date, or none found]. First, tell me in one line whether this company can likely afford me, and which finding matters most. Then write a 2-line opener for a cold email to [their name or role] that uses that finding without saying where I saw it. Plain words, no flattery, under 40 words.
Don't quote it backSay "saw you're growing the marketing team", not "I saw your $120,000 job post". Same information, much less creepy.

What it can't tell you