Going from zero to one

Hey there,

Getting the first customer for your company is so hard. It is a question all of us entrepreneurs grapple with: “How do I get my first 10 customers?“.

This is true for both B2B and B2C companies. However, it has more relevance in B2B where your initial customers can be a serious springboard for growth.

While you may have already cracked this problem and have tons of customers, I thought it would be nice to exchange notes on what works to get the first 10 customers in B2B.

So, to start things off, I have penned down what worked for us at Flexiple to get our first 10 customers. I would love to hear from you on how you went about it :)

Firstly, the channels

In the early days, we got customers in broadly three ways:

1. Launch platforms: Like Product Hunt, ShowHN, etc.

2. Using our personal network: Structured sales by the founders.

3. Referrals: Customers bring more customers, by providing testimonials & case studies, referrals, etc.

Few other points to note:

1. Paid marketing: Early on paid marketing is not the best. Well, it takes time to identify your ideal target audience. Without an accurate audience, paid marketing can be a huge cash leak.

2. SEO: Is more long-term investment & takes time. So, while investing early makes sense, expecting it to deliver the first customers is tricky.

Overall, the goal was not to think of scale immediately. Instead, our goal was to do whatever we could to just get our first 10 customers.

Diving deep into launch platforms

So, I find launch platforms to be a great place to either build initial momentum or to amplify it further.

In the former case, a good launch can give initial users to convert to customers. In the latter, the initial customers can support the launch and help recruit the next set of customers.

However, it is a BIG error to solely depend on launch platforms. They are super unreliable:

→ “doing well” on launch doesn’t guarantee customers

→ “doing poorly” doesn’t mean you can’t get customers elsewhere

Here are some platforms that we used initially:

A. Pure launch platforms: Some include Product Hunt, ShowHN, Beta List

B. Communities: Subreddits (Entrepreneur, Startups, Marketing, etc.), IndieHackers, Dev.to, Hashnode

C. Social platforms (OBVIOUS): LinkedIn, Twitter

I feel I can write a lot more about how one can ace the launch. Having launched many products, I have sensed certain patterns. I will write that in a future newsletter.

Personal network outreach

Most guides & experts don’t talk enough about this. Most likely because it has manual effort involved and doesn’t sound cool.

I find it to be the most reliable method in one’s early days. Because, people in one’s personal network have more reason to help and also inherently have more trust. Most importantly, they are more likely to reply to a mail or call :P

In this context, I find LinkedIn to be a huge asset to leverage our network. It just helps identify the exact people who can put you in touch with the right person in the right company. Just priceless in B2B.

So, here how I find it can be made into a replicable process:

STEP 1: Make a list of target companies

For e.g. Say your target audience is startups, then a database like Crunchbase is a great starting point. Shortlist companies by their funding size, recency of fundraise, industry, etc.

STEP 2: Search each on LinkedIn

Now, for each startup, we can check if we have a 1st or 2nd-level connect on LinkedIn. A 1st level connect is great. But even in the case of a 2nd level connection, we can request them to connect us with their direct connect.

Thereafter, here’s how I decide the next step:

→ If the person is active on LinkedIn (a proxy is for e.g. 500+ connections), reach out on LinkedIn

→ If not, reach out over email

STEP 3: Reach out

Now, I follow simple rules on the outreach

→ Don’t pitch my product directly. Start with a common past or interest => Make it a conversation.

→ Find an organic entry point to suggest how my startup could be useful to them

→ Try to understand if they are the right point of contact or if they connect me with the right person in the company

Thereafter, it is a just a simple case of continuing the personalization and repeat, repeat & repeat :)

Just got to note the points that resonate with each person. These can be used in future conversations and to also tweak the website copy accordingly!

Personal network outreach

This process helps me land a customer eventually. But, that’s just the beginning.

The goal is to ensure success by doing whatever is possible. A success would translate into:

• A referral

• A testimonial

• A case study

Hitting the trifecta would be perfect. That gets the growth engine going :)

Best,
Karthik

P.S. Please consider forwarding this to a friend! It would really help my two startups.

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