There are a few things harder when building startups than getting your first few customers. When you're on a standstill, getting momentum is incredibly hard. Going from zero to one takes an incredible amount of effort—you have absolutely no credibility, no proof points.
So to help you out I went through 24 ways of getting your first customers using 24 different examples from this show.
Why you should listen:
- Figure out how to land your first few customers. You are guaranteed to find at least one example that works for you.
Keywords
customer acquisition, startup strategies, community building, persistence, experimentation, free services
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:35) Stay22 - Pay your Customers
(00:02:25) Reddit - Creating your Community
(00:02:58) Rappi - Seeding Supply
(00:04:04) Wattpad - Seeding Demand
(00:05:05) Cameo - Finding Someone With an Audience
(00:05:43) Noibu - Showcasing the Value of the Platform
(00:06:41) Bridgit - Showing up in Person
(00:07:24) Rewind - Attaching to an Ecosystem
(00:08:36) Clio - Adding Friction to the Funnel
(00:09:06) Wealthsimple - Lunch & Learn
(00:09:29) Athennian - Classic Customer Discovery
(00:10:00) Carbon Robotics - Presales from Customer Discovery
(00:10:34) StackAdapt - Creating Custom Software
(00:11:21) ApplyBoard - Identifying Power Users
(00:12:27) Forma AI - Sheer Force of Will
(00:15:01) Blockthrough - Starting with an Obvious Problem
(00:16:25) GoBolt - Finding Problems Close to You
(00:17:08) Shopify - Building a Waitlist & Showcasing the Product
(00:17:43) Fullscript - Cold Emailing
(00:18:30) Spellbook - Running Experiments Exceptionally Quickly
(00:19:27) Legion - Finding a Design Partner
(00:20:18) Knak - Consulting
(00:20:54) Dabble - Building Distrobution
(00:21:55) Zeffy - Making the Product Free
Send me a message to let me know what you think!
