← claude-skills

# Source Matrix — which platform for which persona

The right platform = the place where your target persona is **already self-identifying**. If they don't post about their work somewhere, you can't source them — you can only stumble into them. Pick the platform where the signal-to-noise ratio for your persona is highest.

## Quick decision table

| Persona / use case | Primary | Secondary | Tertiary | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **B2B SaaS buyers / decision-makers** | LinkedIn | Company blogs, podcast guest lists | Twitter/X | LinkedIn for role + tenure; podcasts for what they actually think |
| **B2B SaaS sellers / founders** | LinkedIn, Twitter/X | IndieHackers, ProductHunt | YC startup directory | Founders ship on Twitter/X, gripe on IH |
| **Senior software engineers (general)** | GitHub, LinkedIn | Twitter/X, Hacker News profiles | Conference speaker pages | Code is the signal; LinkedIn is the verification |
| **Frontend / design-minded engineers** | GitHub, Twitter/X | Dribbble, dev.to | LinkedIn | Twitter/X especially strong for this tribe |
| **ML / AI researchers** | arXiv author pages, Google Scholar, GitHub | Twitter/X, LessWrong | LinkedIn | Citations + papers + author affiliations |
| **ML / AI engineers (applied)** | GitHub, LinkedIn | Twitter/X, Hugging Face profiles | r/MachineLearning, r/LocalLLaMA | HF profiles are underrated for applied folks |
| **Security researchers / pentesters** | Twitter/X (infosec community), GitHub | Reddit (r/netsec, r/AskNetsec, r/oscp) | ctftime, conference speaker pages, HackerOne profiles | Small tribe, vocal, easy to identify |
| **Bug bounty hunters** | HackerOne / Bugcrowd profiles, Twitter/X | GitHub, personal blogs | YouTube (writeups) | Public bounty leaderboards are gold |
| **Indie hackers / solo founders** | IndieHackers, Twitter/X | ProductHunt | LinkedIn | IH milestones reveal MRR + launch date — perfect signal |
| **Creators / YouTubers** | YouTube | Twitter/X, Instagram | TikTok | Subscriber count + recent upload activity = signal |
| **TikTok / IG creators** | TikTok, Instagram | YouTube | Twitter/X | Engagement rate matters more than follower count |
| **Newsletter writers / bloggers** | Personal sites (search bylines), Substack discover, beehiiv | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Search by topic on their archive page |
| **Journalists / reporters** | Twitter/X, outlet bylines | Muck Rack | LinkedIn | Bylines = ironclad identity verification |
| **Academics / professors** | University faculty pages, Google Scholar, ResearchGate | arXiv (sciences), SSRN (social) | Twitter/X | University pages have email + research focus |
| **PhD students / postdocs** | Google Scholar, university lab pages | Twitter/X | GitHub | Lab pages list current students |
| **VCs / angel investors** | LinkedIn, Twitter/X | Crunchbase, firm websites | Podcasts | Twitter/X reveals actual thesis vs. LinkedIn polish |
| **Open-source maintainers** | GitHub (specific repo contributors) | Twitter/X, personal sites | Discord (public servers) | Look at recent commits, not just stars |
| **Local community / event-based** | Meetup, Eventbrite, Facebook events | Local subreddits | Twitter/X (geo search) | Attendee lists rarely public; speakers/organizers are |
| **Game developers (indie)** | Twitter/X (#gamedev, #indiedev), itch.io | YouTube (devlogs), Reddit (r/gamedev) | Steam developer pages | Indie devs livestream + post WIP heavily |
| **Designers (UX/UI/brand)** | Dribbble, Behance | Twitter/X, LinkedIn | Read.cv, personal portfolios | Portfolio sites have direct contact links |
| **Copywriters / content marketers** | LinkedIn, Twitter/X | Personal sites, Substack | Upwork / Contra (if freelance) | LinkedIn posts reveal voice, not just credentials |
| **Recruiters (target: recruiters themselves)** | LinkedIn | Twitter/X | LinkedIn Recruiter groups | LinkedIn post activity = active recruiter |
| **Therapists / coaches** | Personal sites, Psychology Today directory, LinkedIn | Instagram (newer cohort) | YouTube | Directories give contact + specialty |

## Rule of thumb

If your persona has a **public artifact** (code, posts, papers, talks, products, designs), source from where that artifact lives. The artifact = the signal that makes the row personalizable in Phase 5.

If the persona has no public artifact (e.g., procurement managers, IT admins at mid-market companies), LinkedIn becomes the only viable source — and the personalization quality drops accordingly. Set expectations with the user.

## Cross-platform stitching — a near-rule

After pulling a candidate from one platform, spend ~20 seconds finding their other handles. The lift in personalization quality is enormous — a LinkedIn-only profile gives you a corporate headline; their Twitter/X gives you what they actually believe.

Order to try:
1. Look on the primary profile itself (most platforms let users link other profiles in their bio).
2. `"<full name>" site:twitter.com OR site:x.com`
3. `"<full name>" site:github.com` (devs)
4. `"<full name>" personal site` or `"<full name>" blog`

Stop at 2–3 cross-links. You're not building a stalker dossier; you're triangulating enough to write a real outreach line.

## When the signal is weak

If after 2 rounds of scraping you can't find specific signals on candidates (just generic bios, no posts, no code, no talks), your persona is probably defined too loosely OR you're sourcing from the wrong platform. Stop scraping, go back to Phase 1, sharpen the persona or pivot platforms.