Get your first ten customers

No brand, no referrals, no budget. Work out who to talk to, what to say, and how to close.

4 steps, 16 questions underneath, read for breaking into gtm

1. 1
   Who you sell to

   Picking a customer worth chasing, and knowing early when a deal is not one.

   What is an ICP and how is it different from a persona? People use both words for the same thing.

   The gist An ICP describes the company you want as a customer: size, industry, what they already use, what has to be true for your product to matter. A persona describes the human inside that company: their title, what they get judged on, what makes them look good or bad. You need both and they do different jobs. The ICP tells you which doors to knock on, the persona tells you what to say when someone opens. A useful ICP is uncomfortably narrow and written as filters you could actually apply to a list, not as adjectives like 'modern' or 'fast growing'.

   📰 Defining our ICP is the most important thing we ever did A real company showing its ICP before and after, including the messy middle where they were guessing. The point that narrow ICPs beat broad ones, a... 4 questions on who you sell to →
2. 2
   Positioning and messaging

   Making a buyer understand in one sentence why you exist and why you are the one to pick.

   What is positioning in plain English, and why does everyone insist we have got it wrong?

   The gist Positioning is the context you give a buyer so that your strengths look obvious. It is the answer to 'what kind of thing is this and who is it for', and everything else, your tagline, your website, your pitch, is downstream of it. Most teams get it wrong because they start from what they built rather than from what a customer would use instead of them. The practical version has five parts: the alternatives buyers actually consider, what only you can do, why that matters to them, which customers care most, and what market you want to be judged in. Get those five right and the words write themselves.

   📄 An Introduction to Positioning Explains why positioning is not messaging, branding or a vision statement, which is the exact confusion behind the question. The email versus chat ... 4 questions on positioning and messaging →
3. 3
   Outbound that works

   Cold email, cold calls, LinkedIn, sequences and lists. How to start conversations with people who have never heard of you.

   I have never sent a cold email in my life. Where do I even start?

   The gist Start with twenty companies, not two thousand. Pick people you can describe precisely (job title, company size, the specific problem you think they have) and write each of the first twenty emails by hand so you learn what makes someone reply. Keep it to four or five sentences: why you are writing to them specifically, the problem in their words, one line of proof, and a small ask like fifteen minutes. Your reply rate on the first batch will be embarrassing and that is the point, you are collecting evidence about your message, not building a machine yet. Only once a message reliably gets replies should you think about tools, sequences or volume.

   📰 How to find and win your first 10 B2B customers It orders the seven ways early customers actually arrive (network, cold outbound, investors, community, content, press, launch) by how much trust e... 4 questions on outbound that works →
4. 4
   Running a sales process and closing

   Discovery, demos, qualification, champions, procurement and the last mile to a signature.

   I have a call booked with a real prospect tomorrow. What do I do on it?

   The gist Ask questions and shut up. Gong's analysis of more than half a million calls found the sweet spot is somewhere around eleven to fourteen questions, spread through the call rather than fired off at the start, and the best calls surface three or four real business problems. Aim for a talk to listen ratio near forty six to fifty four, which will feel like you are barely talking. Open by stating the purpose of the call, the benefit to them and a check that it works for them, then dig into what happens today and what it costs. Do not demo until you know what to demo, and end with a specific next step and a date, not "I will send something over".

   📄 Effective strategies for successful sales discovery calls Gives you numbers to aim at on your next call instead of vague advice: roughly 11 to 14 questions, spread through the call rather than front-loaded... 4 questions on running a sales process and closing →