> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://apidoc.cufinder.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What are buying signals?

> Why timing beats static lists, and how signals change the way you prospect.

A static lead list tells you *who* a company is. It never tells you *when* to call them. In B2B, timing is most of the game, a perfect-fit account is worthless if you reach out during a hiring freeze instead of a hiring surge.

**Buying signals** flip that model. Instead of guessing, you watch for the observable events that historically precede a purchase.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Static firmographics" icon="id">
    Industry, size, location, tech stack. Stable attributes that describe a company but carry no timing.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Buying signals" icon="bolt">
    Funding rounds, executive hires, hiring surges, expansions. Time-stamped events that signal need and budget right now.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## A signal is an observed change

Every signal in this catalog is defined the same way: a measurable change between two snapshots of a company or person. A company that just opened its first engineering role in a new country is expanding. A company that just added a CRO is about to overhaul its sales stack. These are not hunches. They are patterns.

## Three families of signals

CUFinder organizes signals into three families:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Company Signals">
    Derived from a company's public Professional Network page: growth and decline in headcount, identity and categorization changes, location moves, structural shifts, funding, and posting activity.
  </Step>

  <Step title="People Signals">
    Derived from individual employee profiles: who joined, who left, who got promoted, and which executives moved. People moves are often the earliest and richest signals.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Composite signals">
    Combinations of the above that map to major events: IPOs, acquisitions, mergers, pivots, rebrands, expansions, restructurings, and rolling momentum and risk scores.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Match signals to what you sell

The best signal depends entirely on your product. The point is to map signals to your specific buyer.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Sell sales tools?" icon="chart-line">
    Watch `sales_leader_hire`, `sales_hiring_surge`, and `funding_round_announced`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sell engineering platforms?" icon="code">
    Watch `engineering_leader_hire`, `engineering_hiring_surge`, and `pre_ipo_signal`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sell compliance or finance tools?" icon="scale">
    Watch `ipo_signal`, `company_type_change`, and `hq_country_change`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sell to expanding companies?" icon="world">
    Watch `expansion_signal`, `country_expansion`, and `first_job_in_country`.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Card title="See every signal CUFinder tracks" icon="list-details" href="/buying-signals/concepts/signal-index" horizontal>
  Browse the full index, then sign up to enrich your lists with the ones that fit your motion.
</Card>