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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

1. Before the launch: ask paying customers for a quote you may publish, and ask them to share on the day.
2. 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.
3. 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)