I used to hate unsolicited email, until I got unsolicited texts, calls, Twitter DMs, Facebook messages, and LinkedIn invitations. Now I think email is the most polite way to reach a stranger directly. In that vein, I recommend this thorough guide to finding anyone’s email address.
Businessperson Timur Daudpota lists several resources like Hunter and Who.is, plus specific ways to use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Slideshare to figure out an address.
He also explains some strategies for figuring out email formats on your own. For example, he says, a company’s founding members often use their first names, like [email protected], whereas later employees use their full names, like [email protected].
Lifehacker health editor Beth Skwarecki adds one more tip: “If your target is a scientist, doctor, or academic, look them up on Google Scholar. If you can find a recent paper where they are the corresponding author, their preferred email will be right there.” This helps a lot with academics who keep their email addresses off their faculty pages to hide from randos.