Get your first customers

The scrappy, unscalable work of going from zero to your first users.

What founders use for get your first customers, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. The definitive talk that reframes launching from a one-shot event into a repeatable tactic, exactly this category's thesis. YC... YC Startup Library Video · ~25 min How to Launch (Again and Again) Kat Manalac (Y Combinator) In 16 answers
  2. Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky In 16 answers
  3. Video · About 25 minutes How to Get Your First Customers (Startup School) Gustaf Alstromer In 13 answers
  4. Pete Koomen took Optimizely from zero to $100M+ ARR, and here he breaks the enterprise funnel down for exactly the person who... Y Combinator Startup School Video · ~35 min Enterprise Sales for Founders Pete Koomen In 11 answers
  5. A YC partner and ex-Airbnb growth lead gives a tactical, no-fluff talk on landing early customers for both B2B and B2C. It's... YC Startup Library Video · ~30 min video How to Get Your First Customers Gustaf Alstromer (Y Combinator) In 10 answers
  6. Once you have a list of people to reach cold, this shows you how to write emails they actually answer. Seven concrete... Y Combinator Startup Library Video · ~33 min How to Convert Customers With Cold Emails Aaron Epstein In 9 answers
  7. A step-by-step, modern YC walkthrough of identifying buyers, starting conversations, and converting them into your first... YC Startup Library Video · ~20 min How to Get Your First 10 Customers Max Kolysh (Y Combinator) In 8 answers
  8. A YC partner turns 'talk to users' into a repeatable 5-question interview script you can use this afternoon. It's The Mom Test... YC Startup Library Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky (YC / founder of Pebble) In 5 answers
  9. Video · ~10 min How to get your first ten customers Michael Seibel In 5 answers
  10. Video · ~20 min How To Talk To Users | Startup School Gustaf Alstromer In 4 answers
  11. Video · 6 min watch How To Cold Email Investors Michael Seibel In 4 answers
  12. Video · ~13 min How to Plan an MVP Michael Seibel (YC) In 3 answers
  13. Video · about 30 minutes How to Sell Tyler Bosmeny In 3 answers
  14. Tom Blomfield's practical framework for pricing when you sell to businesses, including why to charge from the start and how to... Y Combinator Startup Library Video How to Price for B2B (Tom Blomfield, Y Combinator) Tom Blomfield In 3 answers
  15. Michael Seibel's crisp framing of holding the problem and customer tightly while holding the solution loosely, the mindset that... Y Combinator Startup Library Video · ~15 min How to Plan an MVP Michael Seibel In 2 answers
  16. Kevin Hale's YC lecture is the clearest introduction to pricing first principles and the mistakes founders repeat. The... ycombinator.com Video · ~35 min video + transcript Startup Pricing 101 Kevin Hale (Y Combinator) In 2 answers
  17. Video · ~30 min Enterprise Sales | Startup School Pete Koomen In 2 answers
  18. Michael Seibel, who ran YC, makes the blunt case for shipping something almost embarrassingly simple and learning from real... Y Combinator Startup Library Video · ~10 min video How to Build an MVP Michael Seibel In 2 answers
  19. Video · 50 min Stanley Tang (DoorDash): Scaling the Unscalable Stanley Tang In 2 answers
  20. A short clip of Paul Graham explaining the idea in his own words, useful if you want the core of the essay before committing to... Startup Archive Video · 5 min Paul Graham explains what it means to do things that don't scale Paul Graham In 2 answers
  21. Video · ~20 min How to do customer interviews? | Rob Fitzpatrick, author of "The Mom Test" Rob Fitzpatrick
  22. Video · About 25 minutes Building Product Michael Seibel
  23. Video · ~90 min The ultimate guide to founder-led sales (Jen Abel, co-founder of JJELLYFISH) Lenny's Podcast (guest Jen Abel)
  24. Video Y Combinator's Brutally Simple Playbook to Get Your First 100 Customers Y Combinator

Show the next 24

The questions

Getting your first 10 customers 18

Do things that don't scale to get to ten.

How do I actually get my first 10 customers when nobody has heard of me? 19 → Isn't doing things that don't scale a waste of time, shouldn't I automate from day one? 17 → Where do I find the very first people to even talk to about my product? 18 → Should I charge my very first customers or give it away free to get traction? 18 → How did real successful startups actually land their first customers? 20 → All 18 questions in Getting your first 10 customers →
Launching (again and again) 18

A launch is a tactic you repeat, not an event.

When is my product 'ready' to launch? 20 → My launch flopped and nobody cared, did I mess it up? 20 → How do I actually launch on Product Hunt and not embarrass myself? 15 → What's the best channel to launch on, Product Hunt, Reddit, Hacker News, or LinkedIn? 17 → How do I build up an audience before I launch so it's not just crickets? 18 → All 18 questions in Launching (again and again) →
Founder-led sales 18

Nobody sells your product better than you, yet.

I'm a technical founder and I hate selling, do I really have to do sales myself? 18 → How do I run a sales call without sounding like a pushy salesperson? 15 → How do I handle objections and prospects who go silent on me? 17 → When do I know it's time to hire a salesperson instead of doing it myself? 19 → What sales process should I follow if I've never sold anything before? 17 → All 18 questions in Founder-led sales →
Cold outreach & email 18

Start conversations with strangers who need you.

How do I write a cold email that people actually reply to? 19 → How many times should I follow up before giving up on a cold prospect? 18 → Cold email or cold LinkedIn/DM, what works better for reaching first customers? 19 → Is cold outreach even worth it, or is it just spam that hurts my brand? 19 → How do I build a targeted list of the right people to cold email? 18 → All 18 questions in Cold outreach & email →
Distribution & channel strategy 18

The channel is the strategy.

How do I figure out which distribution channel is right for my startup? 2 → Why does everyone say 'distribution is more important than product'? 2 → What are the actual distribution channels I can choose from? 1 → Should I focus on one channel or spread across many? 2 → How do the fastest-growing B2B companies find and scale their distribution? 2 → All 18 questions in Distribution & channel strategy →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →