Oftentimes, men are told they should never cold approach and that it's much better to warm approach a woman, as a woman is more likely to be receptive to that. That may be true, however, the negative consequences to a warm approach going badly are much worse than a cold approach going badly.

Any approach has the potential to go badly. A man could misread signs, he could escalate too quickly, he could just not notice a cue that she's not interested in talking, or he could not realize that she's currently going through something that would make her hate being approached. No matter how pure his intentions are, or even if he doesn't do anything that could be seen as "objectively creepy", these could all happen and result in negative consequences, especially if the guy is inexperienced.

The negative consequences to a cold approach are unlikely to be lasting. A woman may be creeped out or annoyed, but if the guy can understand the rejection and take it and stop then, it's unlikely to follow him. The chances that she tells anyone he knows are miniscule, and if she does, the chances the people she tells make the connection are even less likely (I know that some guys here will talk about getting blasted on TikTok or going viral or something, but that's incredibly rare and unlikely). Most likely for him, it will be a moment of awkwardness, maybe some feeling bad for a bit.

The consequences for a warm approach going badly however, are much worse. Mainly because she will know who he is, and he will know people who know her. If she was his friend and he wanted to date her, or add benefits to that friendship, all future interactions with each other will be tainted at best, since she will know he thinks of her like that. If she was a friend of a friend, said friend may be reluctant to introduce him to more friends. If this was at a hobby group or a class, other women may be reluctant to be around him at best, especially if he approaches more than one woman at that class.

Combine this with the fact that any guy who's learning how to attract women will need to go through a phase where he makes some women uncomfortable (see my previous post on this subject), and it seems like cold approach would be the better choice for a man still learning. This does not mean it's OK for him to corner a woman, or stalk her, or sexually harass her, but to just go simply talk to a women at a bar, a club, or anywhere that won't be terrifying (like a dark alley at night or a secluded forest).