Ask HN: Advice reaching out cold to find B2B customer development interviewees?

In the past, I'd dive in straight to product development. I'm determined not to repeat mistakes of the past.

My idea is centered around more effective collaboration in companies and teams. I'm realizing that the CEO/COO/someone in a similar capacity would be someone I'd ideally like to talk to, primarily because she/he sees the business as a whole and is most concerned with ensuring things are running well in the company.

Reaching out to CEOs of well-known companies on LinkedIn though sounds to me like a bad idea. One I'm not sure they even check their LIs and two, I wonder if LI connect is as effective anymore.

What has worked for you when starting cold and prospecting interviewees for your customer interviews (pre-product)?