Is cold emailing considering creepy?

I'm a current undergrad student who just sent some cold emails asking for a chat to some people at research shop I wanted to recruit for. I got some people to agree to set up a time but one person emailed back asking how I got his email, which wasn't available publicly. I told him I just followed the template of email addresses at his firm and found him on Linkedin, to which he replied was creepy. Did I do anything wrong/dash my chances of working at this firm? I though guessing emails was part of the process and didn't want to lie about how I got his email. 

Edit: Typo

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I've done a lot of cold calling and emailing in my life, and cold emailing and cold calling is always a numbers game. You need to develop thick skin. One person will think you're creepy, and another will be impressed by your resourcefulness, creativity, perseverance, and ambition. You only need one person to really bite to secure the job you want, and not everyone will like you. I would just charge it to the game and keep doing what you're doing. Don't let the comments of one person mess up your strategy. He's dead to you. You're dead to him, so keep it moving.

Edit: Not saying this is the case, but sometimes the guy that will think you're creepy never had to send out a million emails because his dad was an MD or he came from some sort of privilege, not all the time but sometimes. Usually, the guys that had to get it out the mud recognize game and respect other people on grind.

 

Thanks! Maybe I'm overthinking this but could this guy send HR a note saying I was creepy or otherwise harm my chances of landing an internship at the firm, especially given how competitive recruiting is?

 

You're overthinking it a bit. He could try to do that if he's determined to stop you from joining the firm over guessing his email address, and he has pull like that. Who did you email? I wouldn't lose sleep over it if it were just an analyst or something similar. But if you were bold enough to hit up a partner or something, he could make your life harder if he cared enough. Honestly, he probably won't care enough to do all that. If he did all that over someone guessing his email address, he's more creepy and weird than you ever will be. That's pretty crazy. You're not the first person to follow the template of a firm's email address, and you won't be the last. It's a common strategy many students and people in general use.

 

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