First Customers (GTM)
Getting your first 10 customers
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?
You go get them by hand, one at a time, email people you already know, people your investors/friends know, and strangers in the exact niche you're ...
Isn't doing things that don't scale a waste of time, shouldn't I automate from day one?
No. Automating too early is how you build a machine that efficiently delivers something nobody wants. The unscalable, unglamorous work, hand-recrui...
Where do I find the very first people to even talk to about my product?
Start with the channels that already have trust and work outward: your personal network, then your extended network via warm intros, then the influ...
Should I charge my very first customers or give it away free to get traction?
Charge them. Free users tell you polite lies; paying customers tell you the truth, because money is the clearest signal that you've solved a real p...
How did real successful startups actually land their first customers?
Almost universally through unscalable, personal effort: Airbnb's founders knocked on doors and re-shot listing photos themselves; Stripe hand-insta...
I only have a landing page and a waitlist, how do I turn signups into paying customers?
A waitlist is not traction; it's a list of people to email personally. Reach out to each signup one-on-one, get on a call, understand their problem...