Article · ~15 min read

How today's fastest-growing B2B startups found their first ten customers

Lenny Rachitsky · Lenny's Newsletter Freemium Intermediate

A data-backed teardown of how companies like Figma, Gusto, and Vanta actually sourced their earliest customers. Replaces guesswork with real patterns.

  • Only three sourcing strategies power nearly all very-early B2B growth.
  • Tap your personal network first (Gusto's first 10 were friends/YC batchmates).
  • Reach influential users via direct outreach (Figma cold-emailed top designers).
  • Start with the highest-trust channels and work outward.
Open on lennysnewsletter.com ↗

It answers 14 questions

  1. How do I actually get my first 10 customers when nobody has heard of me?
  2. Where do I find the very first people to even talk to about my product?
  3. Where do I find people to interview when I have zero audience?
  4. What's the best channel to launch on, Product Hunt, Reddit, Hacker News, or LinkedIn?
  5. What sales process should I follow if I've never sold anything before?
  6. How do the fastest-growing B2B companies find and scale their distribution?
  7. I only have a landing page and a waitlist, how do I turn signups into paying customers?
  8. How do I find my first 10 customers to sell to when I have zero network and no inbound?
  9. How many people should I actually reach out to before I expect to close my first 10 paying customers?
  10. Everyone says do things that don't scale, but where's the line between that and just wasting weeks doing manual work?
  11. How do I launch in India where there's no single 'Product Hunt moment' that reaches Indian founders and buyers?
  12. How do I sell to enterprises and large companies as a tiny unknown startup they have never heard of?

And 2 more across the hub.

Read with it

  1. A tactical follow-on covering the channels and motions top B2B startups scale after the first ten. Grounds distribution... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~15 min read How to win your first 10 B2B customers Lenny Rachitsky
  2. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  3. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  4. The authoritative handbook on founder-led sales, written for technical/first-time sellers building B2B SaaS. Readable free... foundingsales.com Book · book (~400 pages) Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-to-Market Handbook Peter Kazanjy
  5. An Indian founder story where the early demand test was manual, cold emails and direct outreach to find the first customers... Prime Venture Partners Podcast Podcast · ~50 min How Khadim Batti Built Whatfix Into a Global SaaS Leader Prime Venture Partners
  6. When your first ten will come from cold outreach, this guide gives you the full mechanics: building a target list, qualifying,... Close Article · Multi-chapter guide The Ultimate Startup Guide to Outbound Sales Steli Efti
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