Cold-calling SMB manager?

what's up savages

I've been at a Series A for 6-9 months and am getting burnt out. Love the people there but it's quickly become a place where management gets off on activity metrics and don't devote any time to development (and offer no clear path to promotion - have a couple SDRs who have already closed deals and they couldn't tell you when they'll move up).

In the interest of my career (and sanity) I want to look elsewhere. You know the shtick - SMB AE jobs look for a minimum of 1yr experience but I'm confident I have the skills. I've listened to every Gong call we have, I compiled best practices and resources for other SDRs to learn from, I've created strategy for breaking into accounts (we were given lists and told "go get 'em tiger!").

I found a few companies I want to target but I wanted to get some insights on what people think is the best way of approaching SMB managers / TAs. Cold-call? Email? How much am I pitching on this initial outreach? I'm not worried not send out a few feelers and I think I have a good idea of what to include but I worked in another field prior so this specific kind of outreach feels different and I don't want to make myself look like a baboon.

Peace & love & bless anyone who read all this shit.