Article · ~15 min read

How to win your first 10 B2B customers

Lenny Rachitsky · Lenny's Newsletter Freemium Intermediate

A tactical follow-on covering the channels and motions top B2B startups scale after the first ten. Grounds distribution strategy in real company examples.

  • Content/SEO is a surprisingly dominant B2B channel (Vanta, Amplitude, Figma, HubSpot).
  • The core B2B channels: self-serve inbound, sales-assist inbound, outbound, content, paid, partnerships.
  • Pick and systematize the one channel that compounds for you.
  • Distribution strategy should follow evidence, not fashion.
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It answers 41 questions

  1. How do I actually get my first 10 customers when nobody has heard of me?
  2. How do I write a cold email that people actually reply to?
  3. How do I land my first enterprise customer when nobody has heard of us?
  4. How do I run a sales call without sounding like a pushy salesperson?
  5. Why does everyone say 'distribution is more important than product'?
  6. Where do I find the very first people to even talk to about my product?
  7. Cold email or cold LinkedIn/DM, what works better for reaching first customers?
  8. Is cold outreach even worth it, or is it just spam that hurts my brand?
  9. Should I focus on one channel or spread across many?
  10. How did real successful startups actually land their first customers?
  11. What sales process should I follow if I've never sold anything before?
  12. How do I build a targeted list of the right people to cold email?

And 29 more across the hub.

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