Article · Long-form guide

Startup Handbook: Customer Acquisition Channels

Julian Shapiro · julian.com Free Beginner

A blunt, practical guide from Demand Curve's founder on which paid and organic channels fit which business, and why most startups can't profitably buy ads early on.

  • Most companies cannot profitably acquire on Meta/Google without high margins or strong referrals.
  • Match the channel to your product's format, targeting, audience, and device.
  • Great creative and a promise-keeping landing page beat obsessive targeting.
Open on julian.com ↗

It answers 14 questions

  1. Should I even be running paid ads at this stage?
  2. How do I know if my paid ads are actually profitable?
  3. Where do I find the very first people to even talk to about my product?
  4. What makes a paid ad actually convert?
  5. What's the best channel to launch on, Product Hunt, Reddit, Hacker News, or LinkedIn?
  6. How do I pick which paid channel to start with?
  7. How do I get my first users for the MVP?
  8. How do I build a targeted list of the right people to cold email?
  9. How much budget do I need to test a paid channel properly?
  10. How do Indian D2C brands keep paid acquisition sustainable as CACs rise?
  11. I'm a solo technical founder and hate selling. How do I get my first customers without becoming a salesperson?
  12. How do I launch in India where there's no single 'Product Hunt moment' that reaches Indian founders and buyers?

And 2 more across the hub.

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