The Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Deep Dives with Chris Koerner He Makes $4K/Day With This Weird Middleman Business - Ep. #295
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Apr 28, 2026 
William Lindholm, founder who turned a birthday-cake startup into a cake-based outbound sales business. He explains pivoting to “cold caking,” using mailed cakes to book meetings and spark PR. Short takes cover why physical gifts outshine noisy digital outreach, AI agents for bakery sourcing, viral pitch-deck stunts, and rapid revenue growth after the pivot.
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Booked 17 Meetings With A Free Cake Hook
- William booked 17 meetings in four hours at a Norwegian sales competition by offering free cakes as a hook during cold outreach.
- That experience convinced him the birthday-cake automation idea had product-market fit and led to building a birthday delivery service in Norway.
Physical Gifts Cut Through AI-Cluttered Outreach
- As AI multiplies personalized online noise, physical gifts like cakes cut through digital agent filters and reach humans directly.
- William calls this an advantage against the 'dead internet' where agents triage messages, making tangibility a future-proof GTM lever.
Use Cakes To Boost Meeting Rates Not Low Ticket Sales
- Test outbound cake campaigns against standard cold outreach because William reports ~35% of cakes convert into booked meetings.
- Target sales-focused buyers (SaaS, agencies) where a meeting lifts measurable revenue; avoid low-ticket offers.