How do you get your first customers?

Where do first customers come from?

First customers almost always come from five places: people you know, online groups where your buyers hang out, direct messages to strangers, useful posts you write, and partners who already serve your buyers. They do not come from a big launch or from ads.

Lenny Rachitsky looked at how fast-growing B2B companies like Slack, Asana, Gusto and Figma found their first ten customers. Almost all of them mixed two things: their own network and the places their customers already gathered. Press was rarely how they got started.

The same pattern shows up for consumer apps. In his study of how big consumer apps got their first 1,000 users, most found early users through a single strategy, and no one found success with more than three. So pick one or two places and go deep.

Old-school, in-person ways still work too. Events, meetups and local groups get noticed because people are tired of their feeds.

• Your network

  What it looks like:

  Friends, past coworkers, old classmates, people who follow you

  Good when:

  You have worked in the industry you sell to

• Communities

  What it looks like:

  Slack groups, Reddit, Discord, LinkedIn groups, local meetups

  Good when:

  Your buyers ask questions in public

• Cold outreach

  What it looks like:

  Short emails or DMs to people who fit your buyer exactly

  Good when:

  You can name the job title or type of person you serve

• Content

  What it looks like:

  Posts that answer the questions your buyers ask, about once a week

  Good when:

  You can write or talk on camera, and can wait a few weeks

• Partnerships

  What it looks like:

  Someone who already serves your buyer shares you with their list

  Good when:

  A coach, agency, tool or group already has your buyers' trust

What does "do things that don't scale" mean?

It means getting customers by hand, one person at a time, in ways you could never repeat with thousands of people. Paul Graham's essay on this is still the best explanation: early on, users will not come to you, so you have to go get them.

His favorite example is Stripe. Instead of asking people "Will you try our beta?", the founders said "Right then, give me your laptop" and set it up on the spot. Airbnb's founders went door to door in New York to help hosts take better photos of their homes.

Theanna started the same way. Before launch, Nomiki Petrolla, the founder, posted every day for about four months and named exactly who it was for in every post. Theanna got its first 100 paying customers without paid ads. Before the software existed, she sold the same help as coaching, and the product grew out of that.

• Set up the product for your customer yourself, on a call, while they watch.
• Do part of the work by hand behind the scenes before you build it.
• Send a personal thank-you note to every new customer.
• Focus on one narrow group first, like one job title or one city, before going wide.
• Check in with each early customer every week and fix what bugs them.

How many people should you reach out to?

More than you think. Most people you reach will not reply, and most who reply will not buy. Low reply and close rates are normal early on, so plan for many conversations for every customer you close.

A real conversation means a reply, a call or a meeting, not just a message sent. You will send a lot more messages than that to get those conversations.

Do not wait to feel ready. Steli Efti at Close gives a simple first step: in the next 24 hours, ask at least 10 people to become customers. What they say matters less than starting the habit.

The same goes for posts. One post is not a test. Nomiki Petrolla's advice to founders who wrote one post and saw nothing: write a hundred, then judge it.

What do you say when you reach out?

Keep the first message short, about them, and easy to answer. Say who you are, the one problem you think they have, and ask one simple question. Do not pitch your whole product.

Tell the truth about why you are building it. Personal stories beat polished pitches. Here are scripts you can copy and change to fit:

• To someone you know: "Hey Sam, I'm building a tool that helps [type of person] with [problem]. You came to mind because you deal with this. Could I ask you a few questions on a short call this week?"
• To a stranger: "Hi Jordan, I saw your post about [problem] in [group]. I'm working on a fix for exactly that. How are you handling it right now?"
• In a post: "Last year I [had this problem] and [what it did to you]. I'm building a fix and looking for five people who have felt this too. If that's you, comment below."
• Asking for an intro: "Do you know anyone who runs [type of business] and struggles with [problem]? I'd love a quick intro. Here's a two line blurb you can forward."
• On the call, ask about the last time the problem happened, what they did, and what it took to fix. Listen more than you talk.
• If they light up, ask for the sale: "I can set this up for you this week for [price]. Want to start?"

How do I test which channel works best?

Treat each channel as a small test. Run it for one to two weeks, count what happens, then keep the winners and drop the rest.

1. 01

   Write down who your buyer is

   Describe one narrow buyer in one sentence, like "owners of dog grooming shops in Texas" or "heads of sales at small software companies." Every test below targets only them.

2. 02

   Pick two or three channels to try

   Choose from your network, communities, cold outreach, content and partners. Start where your buyers are most active: LinkedIn if you sell software to businesses, TikTok if you sell a consumer product. If you have no network, start with communities and cold outreach.

3. 03

   Set a number for each test

   Decide how many people you will reach in each channel, for example a set number of messages in one week. Write down the date you start and the date you will stop.

4. 04

   Track replies, calls and sales

   Use a simple sheet with one row per person: channel, date, replied yes or no, booked a call yes or no, paid yes or no. These three counts tell you almost everything.

5. 05

   Run it for one to two weeks

   Send every message you planned. Do not judge a channel after two days. Follow up once with anyone who did not reply.

6. 06

   Compare and decide

   Look at which channel turned the most messages into calls and the most calls into sales. Do more of that channel. Drop the ones that got nothing, and change the message on the ones that were close.

7. 07

   Run the next round

   Start the next one to two week round with your best channel plus one new idea. Most tests will not work, and that is normal. Each round teaches you what to try next.

• Replies

  What it tells you:

  Your message and your list of people are a fit

  If it is low:

  Make the first line about their problem, or pick a better list

• Calls booked

  What it tells you:

  People care enough about the problem to spend time on it

  If it is low:

  Ask a smaller question, or offer a shorter call

• Sales

  What it tells you:

  Your offer and price make sense to them

  If it is low:

  Ask what stopped them, then change the offer, not just the pitch

How do you turn conversations into paying customers?

Ask for money sooner than feels comfortable. Free users tell you what is nice. Paying customers tell you what is worth it.

If the product is not done, offer a preorder. Close suggests a steep early discount with free setup and hands-on help, and a refund if it does not work out. You can also run the service by hand at first and charge for that.

On price, Close gives a simple rule: write down your first gut price and multiply it by three. Their reasoning is that your product is too cheap if you never lose a deal over price.

Expect more than one conversation. Most people do not buy on the first call. Talk to them again, show what you changed, and ask again.

• End every good call by booking the next meeting, on the call.
• When someone gives feedback, act on it fast and go back to that same person within 2 to 3 days.
• Send a short follow-up the same day with the price and how to pay.
• If someone says no, ask why. That answer is worth more than the sale.
• Ask every happy customer for one intro to someone like them.

First customers: B2B vs B2C, what's different?

The steps are the same, but the numbers and the pace are not. B2B means a few buyers who each pay more and take longer to decide. B2C means many buyers who each pay less and decide fast. Nomiki Petrolla tells founders that B2B sales can take 3 to 12 months to close.

Pick one to start. Doing both at once early on splits your time in half. Theanna learned this the hard way: at about $10K a month in revenue, an accelerator pushed Nomiki to sell to businesses. She lost time because no business was ready to buy yet, went back to selling to people, and later her first business customer came to her.

• First goal

  B2B (selling to businesses):

  About 10 paying customers

  B2C (selling to people):

  Your first 1,000 users

• Best early channels

  B2B (selling to businesses):

  Your network, cold outreach, intros, partners

  B2C (selling to people):

  Communities, friends inviting friends, creators, in person

• How they buy

  B2B (selling to businesses):

  Calls, demos, sometimes more than one person says yes

  B2C (selling to people):

  On their own, often in minutes

• What to count

  B2B (selling to businesses):

  Replies, calls booked, deals closed

  B2C (selling to people):

  Signups, people who come back, people who pay

• Doing things that don't scale

  B2B (selling to businesses):

  Set it up for them, check in every week

  B2C (selling to people):

  Reply to every user, invite people one by one