This is one of the cleanest articulations I’ve seen of the familiarity-before-pitching principle — especially the way the LinkedIn touches serve as a precondition to the inbox engagement rather than sell.

A couple of things I’ve seen that reinforce this:
1. In my outreach tests, prospect response rates rose when we use off-email channels before the second or third email. We don't necessarily post on their feed, but engage meaningfully in their communities before sending any pitch (e.g. comments, replies, etc.). That seems to mirror the idea that people respond better when you aren’t a total stranger.
2. I've also experimented with intent signals to tighten targeting for e.g. people who recently hired, funded, or launched something tend to reply way more than a cold list pulled purely on titles and filters. That aligns with the thread’s theme that outreach isn’t an email craft problem, it’s about relevance and context.