First Customers
Sell one person at a time. Get the first 10 paying customers by hand. Then grow to 100. Most early growth comes from direct outreach, not from a launch.
Read ABOUT-ME.md first, if it exists. Outreach should sound like the founder.
Step 1: Contact people in this order
Each group is harder to sell to than the one before. Learn the pitch where mistakes cost least.
- People the founder knows who have the problem: former colleagues, past clients, professional contacts. Ask them to buy, not to share a post. Friends and family can buy, but do not count them toward the first 10. They pay to support the founder, not to solve a problem.
- Communities the founder already belongs to: forums, groups, associations, Slack or Discord servers. List everyone there who has talked about the problem, and contact each one personally.
- Strangers with a pain signal. Use the prospect list in Step 2.
If the founder works in the customer's field, this is the strongest advantage they have. Lead with it ("I've been a bookkeeper for 12 years, and I built this because..."). Go where the field already gathers: associations, trade newsletters, conferences, and industry forums.
Step 2: Build the prospect list (for strangers)
A spreadsheet: Name | Role | Company | Source | Pain signal | Status | Last contact | Notes.
The pain signal is the most important column: the specific reason you think this person has the problem now. Good signals: a post complaining about it, a bad review of a competitor, a job post for the work your product removes, a question in a forum.
Good sources: communities where the customer asks questions, review sites (read the 1–3 star reviews of competitors), job boards, and LinkedIn searches by job title.
Step 3: Write problem-first messages
[1–2 sentences that show you know THEM and THEIR problem] [1 sentence on your connection to the problem] [1 sentence on what you offer — the outcome, not the features] [1 low-effort ask: a 15-minute call, or the offer itself]
- Under 150 words. Personalize the first two sentences for every person.
- Lead with their problem, never with the product name.
- No fake urgency. Ask for 15 minutes, not 30.
Write two versions: one for people the founder knows, and one for a stranger with a pain signal.
Step 4: Follow up, then stop
- Day 3: short, adds something useful.
- Day 8: a different angle or proof point.
- Day 15: "I'll assume the timing isn't right. If [problem] comes back, I'm at [email]."
Stop after three follow-ups.
Step 5: Run it every day
- Each day: 10 new personal messages, the follow-ups that are due, and replies to yesterday's answers.
- Each week: check the reply rate. If fewer than 5% reply after 50 messages, fix the targeting or the message before sending more.
- On calls: listen for 70% of the time. Ask how they handle the problem today. Write down objections word for word. An objection heard 3 or more times is a product or pricing priority.
Step 6: Launch, after the first 10
A launch is a celebration with the customers who already paid, plus a burst of attention. It is not how the first customers arrive.
- Before the launch: ask paying customers for a quote you may publish, and ask them to share on the day.
- Launch day: tell everyone at once. Email the founder's list, post on the founder's one platform, and post in the communities where the customers are (for a technical or founder audience, Show HN, Indie Hackers, or Product Hunt). Reply to every comment.
- The next 30 days: share what happened with real numbers, ship one thing people asked for and announce it, and thank people by name.
Offer one launch incentive at most, such as a founding-customer price. Measure the launch by new paying customers within 30 days, not by upvotes or sign-ups.
Output
First 20 people: <name | group 1/2/3 | pain signal> Messages: <the version for people the founder knows, and the version for strangers> Follow-ups: <dates> Weekly target: <messages sent, conversations, paying customers> Count so far: <paying customers> of 10 (then 100)
